I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Oct 2012
Interview
I applied through Amazon's website. I was contacted by a recruiter not too long after (< 2 weeks) to set up the first of two phone screens. There was about a week in between the two phone interviews, and after the second there was about another week before I got contacted to arrange the trip out to Seattle for the on-site.
The phone interviews were very standard SE interviews. We used an online text editor for coding questions, and there were also higher-level design and algorithm questions.
The on-site consisted of four technical interviewers with engineers on the team I was being interviewed for (Kindle) and a lunch with a manager of the same team. They asked more personal questions during the on-site than is typical (from my experience), but each interview focused around one technical problem to solve on the whiteboard. The lunch was also an interview with the interviewer asking so many questions I didn't get to finish my food, actually.
I wasn't too confident with my solutions (I was being sloppy and tripping over syntax), but I was contacted during my trip home from Seattle to extend an offer. I had an offer from my #1 choice though, so I ended up declining. The impression I got from the engineers I talked to is that you can get worked very hard at Amazon, and while the engineers would say that the policies were fair (since if you were working long hours you were working to fix your mistakes), when I pressed the issue they seemed to waffle a bit on it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Nothing too crazy. Standard data structures / algorithms / design type questions.
Great interview process with three rounds, including a technical assessment and a technical interview. The interviewers were professional and supportive throughout the process. The questions mainly focused on DSA, problem-solving, and core technical concepts. The discussions were engaging and provided a good opportunity to demonstrate technical skills. Overall, the process was well-structured, smooth, transparent, and a very positive experience.
I applied online. I interviewed at Amazon (Sydney)
Interview
I can't comment much. I submitted an application for the software engineer position, and not even a minute later, I received an auto rejection email from Amazon (never received an online assessment).
2 behavioral 2 coding not very difficult. Behavioral is tell me about a time you took responsibility beyond your role and biggest accomplishment. The process is exactly the guideline they posted for interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
tell me about a time you took responsibility beyond your role