Amazon SDE-1 Interview Exp

Hey everyone,
Super thrilled to relive the rollercoaster that was my Amazon SDE-1 interview experience. Because who doesn't love a multi-round endurance test where your sanity, problem-solving, and caffeine tolerance are all judged simultaneously? Let's dive into the magic!

Round 1 - Online Assessment

I had two DSA questions and several Leadership Principle (LP) questions. Miraculously, I managed to solve both coding problems without setting my laptop on fire and even pretended to be a functioning adult during the behavioral questions. Apparently, I fooled them well enough because within a week, I got the call — you know, the one where they tell you you're being blessed with entry into the legendary interview loop. Dreams do come true, folks.

Round 2 - DSA + Leadership Principles

Ah yes, the legendary interview loop—because what better way to test your soul than by starting with two DSA questions right off the bat? The first one was a delightful tree-based puzzle (Medium), just the kind of thing you dream about at 3 AM. Then came a string DP question (Medium-Hard), which of course, was as friendly as a cat that secretly hates you. And just when my brain cells thought they'd earned a break, bam—Leadership Principle questions! Because nothing says “fun” like recalling a time I "disagreed and committed" while my neurons are still recovering from recursive traversal. Thankfully, I managed to solve both DSA problems without summoning dark forces, and handled the LP questions like a seasoned STAR-teller.

Round 3 - DSA + Leadership Principles

This round? Oh, just a charming sequel to the second—because who doesn't love reruns with slightly different nightmares? The first question was a relaxing graph traversal challenge inspired by the ever-so-fun Flood Fill algorithm. Nothing like coloring pixels with DFS while my brain’s screaming “why me?” Then came a wholesome linked list classic—yes, the one where you get to copy a list with random pointers. Because clearly, solving puzzles with next and random pointers is what we all signed up for when we chose software development as a career: https://leetcode.com/problems/copy-list-with-random-pointer/. Of course, the round wouldn’t be complete without another round of Leadership Principle grilling. Because if you’re not explaining how you “earned trust” right after debugging pointer madness, are you even Amazon material? Still, somehow, I solved both DSA problems and navigated the LP questions like I had my life together. Fake it till you make it, right?

Round 4 - System Design + Leadership Principles + DSA

Ah, the final round—where things start off all warm and fuzzy with a friendly chat about my resume and projects. You know, just a light interrogation disguised as conversation. Then came the Leadership Principles—this time laser-focused on “ownership,” “problem-solving,” and everyone’s favorite: “handling ambiguous situations” (a.k.a. making decisions when you have zero idea what’s going on—classic Tuesday energy). The interviewer really leaned into some of my answers, like a detective trying to crack a cold case. But I smiled, nodded, and deployed the good ol’ STAR format like it was a Marvel superpower. And just when I thought I could coast to the finish line? Boom—plot twist. A DSA question appeared, dressed up in a fancy story, but spoiler alert: it was just the good old inversion count problem in disguise. Yep, Inversion-count-in-array-using-merge-sort. Managed to wrangle that one too, pretending I wasn’t mentally rearranging my post-interview nap schedule.

And then… drumroll... after a week of refreshing my inbox like it was a limited-edition sneaker drop, I finally got the call from the recruiter.

“Congratulations, you’ve been selected for the SDE-1 role at Amazon.”

Ah yes, the sweet reward for surviving a multi-stage brain olympics, decoding random pointer riddles, and narrating my life story in STAR format like it was a Netflix original. All worth it—because nothing screams inner peace like knowing you're now part of the system that made you jump through flaming algorithmic hoops.