Amazon SDE 1 interview Experience DSA Round
Summary
I recently interviewed for an SDE-1 position at Amazon. After clearing the online assessment, I had a combined Leadership Principles and Data Structures & Algorithms round, where I encountered two coding problems similar to LeetCode's 'Ladder and Bricks' and 'Evaluate Division'. The interview felt a bit unstructured, and while I solved both questions, I couldn't fully complete the second due to time constraints.
Full Experience
My Amazon SDE-1 interview experience began after successfully clearing the Online Assessment (OA) where I completed all questions. A week later, I received an automated interview invite without any specific details about the round's content.
Interview Round (LP + DSA Combined)
The interview kicked off with several Leadership Principle (LP) questions. I had prepared stories using the STAR format, but the questions felt quite vague, requiring significant effort to interpret and respond effectively.
Following the LP section, we moved into the coding segment:
1st Question:
This problem was very similar to the Ladder and Bricks problem on LeetCode. Fortunately, I had practiced it before. I explained both the Dynamic Programming (DP) and the priority queue (greedy) approaches. The interviewer didn't just want the solution; they asked multiple follow-up questions, delving deep into my reasoning process and how I arrived at those specific approaches so quickly.
2nd Question:
The second question was similar to Evaluate Division on LeetCode. I hadn't solved this particular problem previously, but I immediately recognized it as a graph problem. I proceeded to explain a DFS-based approach that utilized edge multiplication. The interviewer then probed into several edge cases, including situations where the start and end nodes were identical, which consumed more time than I anticipated. I started coding my solution but, unfortunately, couldn't finish it completely; I believe I needed just a couple more minutes.
Overall, it was a mixed experience. Although I managed to solve both questions, the interview felt somewhat unstructured, and I didn't leave feeling entirely confident. However, it definitely reinforced the importance of clearly articulating my thought process, rather than just jumping straight into coding.
Interview Questions (2)
The problem presented was akin to LeetCode's Furthest Building You Can Reach (Ladder and Bricks). It involves determining if one can reach the furthest building given a certain number of bricks and ladders, where each jump requires either bricks or a ladder.
This question was similar to LeetCode's Evaluate Division. Given a set of equations and their corresponding values, the task is to find the result of certain queries. This is essentially a graph problem where variables are nodes and equations are directed edges with weights.
Preparation Tips
My preparation focused heavily on practicing coding problems and, crucially, on understanding the underlying reasoning for choosing specific algorithms and data structures. I also dedicated time to preparing stories for Leadership Principle questions using the STAR format. The interview highlighted the importance of not only solving problems but also clearly walking through the thought process, effectively discussing edge cases, and managing time efficiently during the interview.