My Complete Amazon Interview Experience (2 Rounds) 🚀

Round 1: GenAI + Problem Solving

Duration: ~1 hr 20 mins

Flow:

• Started with a basic introduction (“Tell me about yourself”)
• One LP question: “Tell me a scenario where you solved a very complex problem that helped your team/project.”
• Then moved to GenAI discussion: “How do you use GenAI in your daily work?”
• Deep dive into one of my projects
  • Interviewer initially felt it wasn’t very useful for future scope
  • I clarified the intent, approach, and data requirements
• Another LP question
• Conceptual GenAI question: “How can we reduce/remove hallucinations in LLMs?”

DSA Question (Medium–Hard)

• Completely new problem (not from standard platforms)
• Took ~2–3 mins to understand
• Asked a couple of clarifying questions

Approach:

• Started with brute force
• Faced some difficulty explaining (interviewer wasn’t very supportive here)
• Eventually aligned on the approach
• Stated TC: O(n²)

Optimization:

• Asked for hint → got direction to use a map
• Thought through and proposed an improved approach
• Asked to code it

Coding:

• Implemented using two maps + adjusted logic
• Code worked fine
• Explained TC & SC clearly

Better Approach (given by interviewer):

• Use single map + sliding window

Closing:

• Asked if I had questions → discussed role & company
• Asked for feedback → redirected to HR
• Ended with a polite goodbye

Round 2: Technical Round

Duration: ~1 hr 15 mins

Context:

• Joined ~5 mins late due to space issues
• Interviewer was chill and didn’t question it

Behavioral (LP)

• “Tell me about a project where you did something exceptional.”
  • Shared my recent work → interviewer was genuinely impressed
  • Follow-up questions → answered confidently

DSA Problem 1

• Read problem aloud + explained understanding
• Asked clarifying questions

Approach:

• Brute force → explained with TC/SC
• Optimized to O(n) time, O(n) space
• Further optimization discussion toward O(n), O(1) (with hint)
• Coded the best approach within time

DSA Problem 2 (DP)

Process:

• Explained problem + brute force
• Justified complexity

Optimization:

• Proposed DP solution
• Explained reasoning clearly

Coding:

• Implemented solution (minor syntax issues, acceptable)
• Slight confusion in TC/SC but handled discussion

Final LP

• “Tell me a time you earned your team’s trust.”
  • Answered with structured impact → good response

Questions to Interviewer

• Intern work scope
• Real-world impact
• Role flexibility (SDE ↔ Cloud)

Got detailed answers.

Key Takeaways / Advice 💡

• Prepare LP questions properly (structured + impact-driven answers)
• Be very clear with your resume—anything can be questioned

DSA Prep Strategy

From multiple experiences, one thing is clear:
👉 It depends heavily on the interviewer

So prepare broadly, especially:

• Arrays & Strings
• Linked Lists
• Trees
• Graphs
• Dynamic Programming
• Heaps

Overall:
Focus on communication, clarity of thought, and staying calm under pressure. Even if you don’t reach the most optimal solution, your approach and reasoning matter a lot.

That’s my experience 👍

Note:

I won’t be sharing the exact DSA questions asked in the interviews. From my experience (and after talking to others), it doesn’t really help much anyway. Interview questions vary a lot, and you’ll most likely face a completely new problem.

Instead of focusing on what might be asked, it’s far more useful to focus on how you approach and solve problems—your thinking, clarity, and communication matter much more.