Amazon SDE 2 | L5 | Hyderabad
Summary
I recently interviewed for the SDE 2 (L5) role at Amazon in Hyderabad. The interview process involved multiple rounds focusing on DSA, LLD, HLD, and behavioral principles. Despite some initial challenges, I ultimately received an offer, which I believe was influenced by a strong HLD performance and thorough preparation for leadership principles.
Full Experience
Hey Everyone, I wanted to share my recent interview experience for SDE 2 (L5) at Amazon.
Background :
Education : Tier 1 (NIT) Non circuital background
YOE : 2 years 8 months
Current Company : Mid sized SAAS Product based company
Current Role : SDE 2 (got promoted in Nov last year)
A recruiter called me and asked if I was still interested for SDE 2 role at Amazon. I had applied multiple times, with and without referral. I gave and cleared an OA last year August but didn't get any update after that.
The same HR called and asked for my availability.
She mentioned that I would have to convince the panelists since my YOE is a bit less.
R0: Online Assessment
I dont remember the actual questions since I gave this OA long back. There were 2 DSA questions as far as I remember.
R1: DSA Round
2 DSA questions based on DP and Trees.
DP question was a variation of pick not pick condition.
Tree question was some form of child sum problem.
It was followed by leadership principles.
This round went good. I received good feedback from the HR.
R2: LLD Round
Design a Ride matching Service.
Followed by questions on 2 Leadership Principles.
I think I was not able to fully convince the panelist here. Because I messed up in the LPs as well.
I got the same feedback from HR, that the review was not that good.
Even though the feedback was mixed, the HLD round was scheduled. That was supposed to be an eliminatory round.
R3: HLD Round
Design a News Feed System.
The discussion went really good as I have been preparing for HLDs since forever.
Followed by same, questions on 2 LPs and this time I had prepared really well for this.
I felt this round went really great, the panelist was cool.
R4: Bar Raiser
It was postpones multiple times, I felt I lost my chance because of the LLD round.
But then it was scheduled. It was supposed to be a coding problem solving round along with deep dive sessions on my work and LPs.
After a brief intro, I got the coding question which was some variation of graph problem which I implemented using BFS. The panelist was happy with the round, it could have been followed up by Dijkstra implementation.
Last 20 mins were reserved for LPs. I was prepared well for that. And the panelist was really cool, he was taking time to ask follow up questions on that which I was able to answer. This round also went really good.
Once all the rounds were over, I wasn't sure I would be receiving the offer. But next day when I followed up with the HR, she gave the positive news. The HLD round panelist would be my manager and he was impressed by the interview and really pushed for my profile.
The whole process took around 1 month.
The HR also can make or break your interview process. I really appreciate her involvement in the process throughout, she is really awesome.
Interview Questions (2)
Design a Ride Matching Service
Design a Ride matching Service.
Design a News Feed System
Design a News Feed System.
Preparation Tips
I would advice to be well prepared with Leadership Principles as I think Amazon interviews really consider what we answer for LPs. My friend advised the same to me, I used to take it lightly. But I understood this after the LLD round.