I applied through university. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Feb 2012
Interview
2 phone interviews:
1st interviewer
1. given an array of integers how would you search an element?...I
said binary search. He asked what is it and time complexity.
2. He extended the above ques to n x n matrix where rows are sorted
and columns are not. How will you search an element. He dint ask me to
code.Just tell the algo and complexity
3. Built further on the abv ques. Now both rows and columns are sorted.
4. Abt my web apps project...abt HTTP request, servlets etc
5. Model a deck of cards(this is v common ques...u will find in glass door)
6. one thing you want to change abt amazon
7. abt dns server
2nd interviewer
1. tell about a project you are working on this sem. What technologies?
2. wht data stuc u knw?
3.write a function isSubtree(tree t1, tree t2) to check if one tree is
sub tree of other.
4. write a func that takes in array and an int k and find all pairs
that sum up to k
Surprisingly easy — I expected tougher questions, but the coding round felt more like a warm-up. The main challenge was a DSA problem about counting islands in a 2D grid, which led to a discussion on DFS versus BFS and handling large grids. Funny enough, I had revisited that exact type of question while prepping on PracHub, which made me feel more confident. The interview wrapped up with a behavioral round, and I accepted an offer, but ultimately decided to decline it for another opportunity. Overall, it was a smooth experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Number of Islands — given a 2D grid of '1's (land) and '0's (water), count the number of connected islands. Walk through DFS vs BFS, and discuss how to avoid revisiting cells (in-place mutation vs visited set) and what changes if the grid is huge and must stream from disk.
It started with an OA, and then after a few weeks, I got invited to four rounds of interviews: technical and behavioral at 3 of the 4, and behavioral only at one.
I applied online. I interviewed at Amazon (Calgary, AB) in June 2026
Interview
Online Assessment is the first step in the process. I didn’t have an HR phone screening and went straight to the OA after applying. It was sent to me about a week after I submitted my application.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The first question is LeetCode style algorithms question, and the second question gives a full stack repo (choice of Java, NodeJS, or Django) and asks to solve a backend issue which is causing a bug in the frontend. Unit tests must pass to pass the second question. You can run both backend/frontend indivdually or together