I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (San Francisco, CA) in Sept 2019
Interview
I was contacted by an Amazon recruiter and had a first phone conversation with the recruiter a few days later. The recruiter said they'd skip the online assessment due to my experience level. Instead, they directly scheduled a phone interview a week later. Just a few hours after the phone interview, I got a positive response and an invitation to come onsite. Scheduling the onsite was a bit chaotic. First, there were several days of delay in getting the confirmation. Later, the recruiter called and said Amazon would have to reschedule, so we informally agreed on a new date. The formal invitation for the new date only arrived on the day of my interview. A day after the interview, I got a phone call by a recruiter saying that Amazon does not want to make an offer, that I could apply again in 6 months, and that Amazon has a policy of not giving any feedback.
While I generally enjoyed the onsite and thought things went quite well, I can only rate the experience as negative because Amazon refuses to give any feedback. Searching the net reveals this may indeed be a company-wide policy. Ironically, Amazon expects feedback to flow in the other direction, as they do send out surveys to candidates.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
The phone interview was conversational (no coding), and touched on experience and knowledge in various relevant areas: Modern C++, IPC, etc.
There were 4 interviews that started with a 30-35 min behavioral part, followed by a technical part of 25-30 min. A 5th interview was purely behavioral. Most behavioral questions were of the form "Tell me of a time when ..." The questions pertained to accomplishments, arguments with coworkers, etc. The technical parts of the interviews were not particularly difficult, but there was obviously also less time than in technical interviews at many other companies.
Tough interview.
The Process: Automated Online Assessment (OA) with 2 coding questions and a system simulation, followed by a 4-round virtual Loop. Every single round started with 20 minutes of intense, behavioral behavioral questions diving into Amazon's Leadership Principles, followed by 25 minutes of technical coding or system design.
Amazon interviews are a test of mental endurance because you have to switch from deep behavioral storytelling straight into complex coding which can be so difficult. I used Apex Interviewer to practice the cognitive context switch. Running through their live-coding workspace helped me ensure my technical communication and architectural structures remained sharp and automatic, even after spending the first half of the interview defending my past project metrics. I fed the practice AI questions I extracted from glassdoor and gothamloop.
In the end, the offer was way lower than I hoped.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design the backend inventory tracking and placement service for a global fulfillment network, ensuring strict transactional consistency across multiple regional warehouses during peak shopping events.
Initial screening call with recruiter followed by a 1 hr hacker rank question on DSA. The final round was a panel consisting of 4 interviews ranging from technical design, more DSA and behaviour questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a time when you disagreed with your team and how you resolved it
Online Application & Assessment: Candidates apply via amazon.jobs and may be asked to complete online assessments (work simulations or technical tests).
Recruiter Phone Screen: A 30-60 minute interview to discuss your background, interest in the role, and initial behavioral questions.
Technical Phone Screen (For Tech Roles): A 60-minute interview focused on data structures, algorithms, and coding in a shared editor.
Interview Loop (Virtual/Onsite): The final stage, usually 3-5, 45-60 minute interviews held on the same day or over a few days.
Behavioral Questions: These focus on past behavior (STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result) mapped to Leadership Principles.
Technical/Functional Questions: Problem-solving, system design, or domain-specific questions.
Bar Raiser Interview: One interviewer is a "Bar Raiser," a neutral employee from another team tasked with ensuring hiring standards remain high.
Hiring Committee/Debrief: Interviewers meet to discuss candidate feedback and make a hiring decision.