Amazon SDE1 -> OFFER / INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE 👇

Throwback to My Amazon SDE-1 Interview Journey 🚀

Hey everyone!
I’m incredibly grateful for all the support and knowledge I’ve gained from this community over time. This post is a small way of giving back — especially for those currently in the pipeline or preparing for the SDE-1 role at Amazon.

I’ll be sharing my complete interview experience — from start to finish.

Profile Snapshot

• Experience: 1.5 years
• Previous Company: Mobility-based well-known startup
• Position Offered: SDE-1
• Total Duration: ~4 months
• Rounds: All were eliminatory

1. Online Assessment (OA)

I don’t remember the exact questions, but both required either a dynamic programming or mathematical approach. I solved them analytically using math.
Note: It took almost 30 days post-assessment to receive the next update.

2. Technical Round 1

Q1. Binary Tree Validation

Given a list of TreeNode objects (val, left, right), determine whether they form a valid binary tree.
Example:
[TN(1, 2, 3), TN(2, None, None), TN(3, None, None)] → True

🔹 It seems simple, but it’s a very elegant question.
🔹 I started from scratch — defining classes, clean variable names, modular functions, and explained everything as I went.

Q2. Drone Delivery Route

Problem described an array representing drone positions. I was asked to model an efficient delivery tracking logic.

🔹 Solved it within 8 minutes.
🔹 Explained my full thought process clearly — intuition first, code next.
🔹 By this point, the interviewers seemed very satisfied.

Leadership Principles (LP):

• A time when you went through fast-paced learning.
• How would you approach learning a new language/framework used in the company?

3. Technical + LP + Design Round

Leadership Principles:

1. A time when you did more than what was required, anticipating customer needs.
2. The most technically challenging task you’ve worked on.

System Design:

Design a flexible music playlist system — create and manage playlists, handle song playback, etc.
I began by discussing everything I was thinking out loud and explaining each step of implementation. However, I sensed that the interviewer wasn’t very engaged. Still, I stayed calm and continued articulating my thoughts clearly.

Feedback:

"Try to align better with the interviewer’s expectations, but DSA, design thinking, and code quality were strong."

4. Bar Raiser Round

The interviewer had 8+ years of experience.

🔹 Started with mutual introductions.
🔹 Asked about my past projects — I discussed two in depth.
🔹 Questions on architecture, tech stack choices, and alternative tools.

Eventually, he compared my stack with unfamiliar ones. I was honest and said:

"I’ve explored limited tools so far due to time constraints, but what I used worked well for my project needs with zero production issues. I’m always open to learning more."

My responses were clear, confident, and honest, especially around topics I truly understood — and I didn’t bluff where I wasn’t 100% confident.

Final Outcome 🎉

After 7 days, the recruiter called:

“You got very good response from HM and also other candidates were in the list, so we are going with you first, please let us know . We’d like to move forward with your offer.”

Of course, I said YES!

Happy to answer if you’re preparing for Amazon or similar interviews.
Feel free to DM or drop questions in the comments 🙌