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      Principal Software Engineer Interview

      2 Apr 2019
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Santa Cruz, CA
      No offer
      Negative experience
      Easy interview

      Application

      I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Santa Cruz, CA) in Apr 2019

      Interview

      The experience was discouraging. First, I applied for the job and then followed up a week later; no response. I followed up again and the Amazon recruiter said that he would forward it to another recruiter. This person didn't respond to his email until I try to get the ball rolling sometime later. He finally responds and then schedules an interview and I talk to him and all is well. So, he said that I will be contacted by the interview coordinator in a couple of days. This doesn't happen for around three more weeks. When I finally get this phone/online interview setup, I then find out through LinkedIn that the interviewer is a young college grad with barely 6 months of experience. When I talked to him, he did not bridge the gap over to real-world problem solving interviewing techniques that can only come with years of experience. When taking the coding test, he was focused on coding syntax and off the top of my head, I couldn't remember the name of some basic Java method because I hadn't coded in that language in about five months and had to look it up. After a few minutes of hearing his repeated concerns in this area regarding this simple coding question, I decided that I wanted it to end the interview. He then stated that there has to be a coding skills verification for this position and I know that of course but didn't want to tell him that I wanted to be interviewed by someone else and preferably in-person as I live only one mile from that office. When interviewing senior people, they really need to get someone senior to interview properly. Those always go well for me and I probably would have made it to the next round if that was the case as I have been in this profession for decades. The entire experience from initial contact to the end of the interview was unpleasant for me and I just wanted it to end.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Explain how you resolved an issue in a Production system. Sort an array of numbers.
      Answer question
      4

      Other Principal Software Engineer interview reviews for Amazon

      Principal Software Engineer Interview

      21 Feb 2025
      Anonymous interview candidate
      New York, NY
      No offer
      Neutral experience
      Average interview

      Application

      I applied in-person. The process took 6 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (New York, NY) in July 2024

      Interview

      8 rounds. 6 technical, one hr and one behavioral. Couple system design, couple coding and one past experiences round. System design is not too hard but you have to have meaty past experiences to justify the position.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      How would you speed up responses of the suggested producta system.
      Answer question
      1

      Principal Software Engineer Interview

      29 May 2024
      Anonymous interview candidate
      Seattle, WA
      Declined offer
      Positive experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I applied through an employee referral. The process took 3 days. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Mar 2024

      Interview

      Tough but fair series of interviews. Definately what I would expect at this level. Seven interviews with different parts of the team as well as the bar raiser who definately raised the bar. Questions went beyond the role itself to more leadership type questions.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Managing software developers in a crisis situation.
      Answer question

      Principal Software Engineer Interview

      2 Feb 2024
      Anonymous employee
      Accepted offer
      Positive experience
      Difficult interview

      Application

      I interviewed at Amazon

      Interview

      The interview process includes behavior, bar raiser, coding and system design. About 8 interviews in total and each one is about 1 hour. The whole procedure is about 2.5 months long.

      Interview questions [1]

      Question 1

      Describe a case that you had conflicts with your team and how did you resolve it?
      Answer question