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My Amazon SDE Interview – Why Bar Raisers Are No Joke
Summary
I shared my experience with the Amazon SDE interview, focusing on the rigorous Bar Raiser rounds and the importance of Amazon's Leadership Principles in behavioral questions, along with my preparation strategy and key takeaways.
Full Experience
Amazon’s interviews are known for their "Bar Raiser" rounds — and I learned exactly why during my own SDE interview process.
Behavioral: Amazon’s 16 Leadership Principles Matter
Each behavioral question related to one or more of Amazon’s principles. For example:
- “Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate.”
- “Describe a situation where you had to take ownership.”
I prepared 2–3 stories per principle using the STAR format:
- Situation
- Task
- Action
- Result
The Bar Raiser Round
The most intense and unique round. Here's what stood out:
- I was asked to justify my approach at every step.
- The interviewer probed deeply into edge cases and scalability.
- Trade-offs and alternatives mattered just as much as the final solution.
- It tested both technical ability and communication under pressure.
My Timeline
- Week 1–2: Refreshed core data structures and algorithms.
- Week 3: Built a behavioral prep doc based on Amazon’s principles.
- Week 4: Took mock interviews with peers and on Interviewing.io.
- Week 5: Completed the official process (1 OA, 2 technical rounds, 1 Bar Raiser + behavioral).
Interview Questions (2)
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a teammate.
Describe a situation where you had to take ownership.
Preparation Tips
Here's how I prepared, what happened during the interview, and key lessons for anyone targeting Amazon.
My Prep Strategy
Instead of randomly solving hundreds of LeetCode problems, I structured my prep:
- Focused on Amazon-tagged LeetCode problems (especially mediums).
- Revisited key patterns:
- Sliding Window
- Two Heaps
- Top K elements
- Greedy algorithms
- Practiced thinking out loud to simulate real interviews.
For behavioral questions, I prepared 2–3 stories per principle using the STAR format.