Amazon Interview Experince
Summary
I had an SDE 2 interview experience with Amazon involving an Online Assessment, two technical rounds with DSA and behavioral questions. I was ultimately rejected but gained valuable insights and confidence.
Full Experience
Leetcode community helped a lot its time to payback.
Online Assessment (OA)
- ✅ Q1: Network of computers in a circular connection, sync them (Easy)
- ✅ Q2: Cost optimization – Sort costs, make all elements unique in an array (Hard)
- ✅ Work simulation questions – Answered instinctively
🔹 Outcome: Cleared OA, got an interview call in 2 weeks
Round 1 (Technical + Behavioral)
Started with introduction & work experience
Behavioral questions
DSA Question: Implement LRU Cache
Used Doubly Linked List + HashMap
Made some mistakes under pressure. I have solved similar question but fumbled under pressure. It was my first interview after long time. Should have had some mock interview before.
Round 2 (Technical + Behavioral)
Started with intro + behavioral questions
DSA Question 1: LCA-like problem (Solved well)
DSA Question 2: Find distance between two nodes in a binary tree
Gave a decent solution, but not optimal
More grilling on behavioral responses
Round went well better that first round.
📢 Result: Reject ❌, but recruiter encouraged reapplying after 3-4 months
Interview Questions (3)
Cost Optimization: Make Array Elements Unique
Given an array of costs, sort them and make all elements unique with minimum total cost/operations. (Original text: 'Cost optimization – Sort costs, make all elements unique in an array')
Implement LRU Cache
Implement the LRU (Least Recently Used) cache data structure.
Distance Between Two Nodes in Binary Tree
Find the distance between two given nodes in a binary tree.
Preparation Tips
Learnings & Takeaways
- ✅ Practice DSA with a stopwatch ⏳
- ✅ Do mock interviews beforehand 🎯
- ✅ Prepare structured behavioral responses 📝
Bright Side:
This interview helped to understand with some more pratice I can do it.
In just 2 weeks, I leveled up in DSA & System Design 💪
I was 80% there, and now, with this confidence, I'm actively applying! 🚀