Amazon Sde-1 Interview Experience (Verdict : selected)

Online Assessment (OA)
Coding: 1 Easy and 1 Medium DSA question
Work Style Assessment: Standard Amazon Leadership Principles (LP) questions (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree)

Round 1: DSA (onsite)

• Technical: Detonate the Maximum Bombs (follow‑up: variation involving a directed graph)
• Behavioral (STAR‑based): Deadline‑related – Tell me about a time you handled tasks with a strict deadline

Round 2: DSA + Project Discussion (onsite)

• Technical: Aggressive Cows (follow‑up on time and space complexities)
• Behavioral (STAR‑based): Same question again – Tell me about a time you handled tasks with a strict deadline (different interviewer, same question)

Round 3: Hiring Manager (Gen - AI) (virtual)

• Technical: Next Greater Element (follow‑up on complexity)
• Gen AI Discussion: How do you make the best use of LLMs? Do you verify/validate the results? If yes, how? Tips for using LLMs efficiently (1–2 additional related questions)

Round 4: Bar Raiser (Leadership Principles Focus) (virtual)

• Behavioral (STAR‑based):
  • A scenario where you had to deep dive (with extensive follow‑ups)
  • A scenario where you missed a commitment or deadline (with deep probing)
  • A scenario where you had to convince someone of your approach

This interviewer really grilled me on every answer, but I made sure to clearly explain the situation, my reasoning, and the outcomes.

Overall Experience:

I really enjoyed interviewing at Amazon. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!

Update – selected