Amazon Interview Guide: Process, Questions, and How to Prepare

Most software engineering candidates go through five to seven stages at Amazon. Amazon says the process usually takes three to six weeks, and longer for senior roles.

The main stages are a resume review, an online assessment, a phone screen, and a set of interviews called the loop. A group meeting called the debrief then decides the result.

This guide covers each stage, what the interviewer grades in it, the reported timeline after the loop, and how to prepare.

The Interview Process

Two details are worth knowing.

First, the loop size changes by level and by team. Amazon's own SDE II page describes four interviews of 55 minutes each. Amazon also says candidates meet two to seven employees.

For the stage by stage detail, read What is the Amazon interview process?.

Second, behavioral questions are not saved for one session. Every interviewer asks them. Amazon says each person assesses different parts of your skills and experience.

Many people describe the path as three rounds. They mean the screen, the loop, and the Bar Raiser session. That is a shorter way of counting the same stages.

Two answers explain that framing: How many rounds are in an Amazon interview? and What are the three rounds in an Amazon interview?. See also What are the three rounds of Amazon interview?.

The Online Assessment

The online assessment is a timed test you take alone in a browser. Amazon's own SDE II page describes about 90 minutes of work, with two coding questions and about 20 minutes of system design scenarios.

The same page describes an 8 minute work style survey tied to the Leadership Principles.

The coding questions are standard data structure work. Arrays, strings, hash maps, sorting, heaps, and graph traversal all appear. Grading is automatic, so passing test cases is what counts.

Some candidates report extra parts, such as a short code debugging section or logical reasoning questions. Those parts are not given to everyone, and Amazon does not publish the full list.

For what candidates report, read What Is the Amazon Online Assessment Like?.

The Phone Screen

Candidates report a phone screen of 30 to 60 minutes with a recruiter, an engineer, or the hiring manager. Technical roles usually get one coding question in a shared editor. Behavioral questions come with it.

Explain your plan before you type. Amazon asks for working code in a real language, not pseudo code, as its own guidance says.

Amazon tells candidates to expect a decision within two business days of the phone screen. What happens at the first Amazon interview? describes this call. For the range of questions across the whole process, see What questions will be asked in an Amazon interview?.

The Coding Round

Two of the loop sessions are usually coding. Each runs about 45 to 60 minutes. You write code in a shared editor while the interviewer watches.

The interviewer grades four things. The first two are whether you ask clarifying questions and whether the code runs. The last two are the running time and memory, and your reason for the approach.

One reported question gives a list of delivery routes and a limit, then asks for the best pair under that limit. Candidates report that many questions use Amazon operations, such as deliveries or warehouse stock. Read the question twice and name the data structure it needs.

Candidates report that behavioral questions take 10 to 15 minutes of each coding session. Plan for that, and do not spend the full hour on code. The question types by round are listed in What questions are asked in an Amazon interview?.

If your pattern recognition is slow, practice by pattern instead of by problem count. The course Grokking the Coding Interview groups problems into the patterns that repeat in these rounds.

The System Design Round

System design appears for SDE II and above. New graduates are more often given low level design, which means designing the classes and methods of one small program.

Candidates report questions built on Amazon products. Examples include Amazon Locker, a product recommendation service, an order tracking system, and a video streaming service.

Take Amazon Locker as the example. The interviewer wants to hear how you assign a package to a free locker, and how you create and check the pickup code.

You also need an answer for the hard cases. Say what the system does when every locker is full, and what happens when nobody collects a package. Failure cases are graded, not only the scaling plan.

Interviewers also ask for numbers: the request rate, the storage, and the size of one record.

The format is explained in What is an Amazon system design interview?. Reported questions are listed in What are the top system design interview questions for Amazon interview?. Grading is covered in What Interviewers Look for During a System Design Round at Amazon.

The Behavioral Round

Behavioral questions appear in every session, not only in one. They are built on Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles, which are the written rules Amazon uses to describe how it wants people to work.

Candidates report that each interviewer is assigned two or three principles. Answer with the STAR method, which means Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Amazon asks for numbers in the result, because it prefers data to opinion.

Common questions ask for one story each. Examples are a time you decided without all the data, a time you disagreed with your manager, and your hardest problem.

Prepare 10 to 12 stories and map each one to two principles. Expect deep follow up questions on the same story. The interviewer will ask what the numbers were, what you would change, and what the other person said.

Common questions with model structures are in What are the top behavioral interview questions for Amazon?. The motivation question appears in almost every loop. Write that answer down in advance.

Two answers cover it: Why join Amazon interview questions? and Why are you interested to join Amazon?. A worked example is in Why Amazon interview question answer?. The version that asks about you is Why should Amazon hire you?.

The Bar Raiser Session

One interviewer in the loop is a Bar Raiser. This is a trained interviewer from a different team who does not need the role filled.

Amazon says every hire should be better than half the people already in similar roles. The Bar Raiser applies that standard. The session is mostly Leadership Principles, and the questions are based on your previous answers.

You are not told which interviewer this is. Treat every session the same way. The role and its influence in the debrief are covered in What is the Amazon Bar Raiser?.

Every interviewer also writes feedback and records a rating before the group meets. How those ratings are used is explained in What is the Amazon interview rating?.

After the Interview

Interviewers write their feedback before they discuss you with each other. The group then meets for the debrief. Candidates report that the debrief happens within one to three days of the loop.

Amazon states publicly that you can expect a decision within five business days of the onsite interviews. Candidates often report longer waits when a team is still choosing between two people.

Reported timelines are in What happens after final interview at Amazon? and When can I expect my Amazon interview results?.

Rejections are usually a short email or call from the recruiter with no detailed feedback. Amazon does not publish a fixed waiting period before you may apply again. Candidates commonly report six months to a year, decided per person by the loop.

Send one polite message to your recruiter if a week passes with no news. The steps between the loop and the offer are in What happens after an Amazon interview?.

Some candidates are also offered a Candid Chat. This is an optional, informal talk with a volunteer from an Amazon employee group.

Amazon says it lets you ask questions without using interview time. Its purpose is explained in What is candid chat at Amazon?.

How to Prepare

• Learn the Leadership Principles by writing, not reading. Write 10 to 12 STAR stories and put a number in every result. Map each story to two principles.
• Practice coding patterns, not problem counts. Two pointers, sliding window, heaps, graphs, and dynamic programming cover most of what the assessment and the loop ask.
• Check your own code out loud. Interviewers grade whether you test your solution with a small input before they mention the bug.
• Prepare design through failure cases. For each Amazon product, be ready to say what happens when one part is unavailable, not only how the system grows.
• Rehearse the first two minutes. Almost every session opens with your introduction. Copy the structure in How do you introduce yourself in an Amazon interview? and What to say in an Amazon interview?.
• Practice the follow up questions, not only the first answer. The course Grokking Modern Behavioral Interview covers the deeper questions Amazon interviewers ask.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many rounds does Amazon have? Most software engineering candidates go through five to seven stages. The loop itself is four to six interviews. Amazon's own SDE II page describes four interviews of 55 minutes each.

How hard is the Amazon coding interview? The problems are mostly medium difficulty and use standard data structures. The difficulty comes from doing coding and behavioral questions in the same hour. Amazon also asks for code that compiles, not pseudo code.

Does Amazon ask system design questions? Yes, for SDE II and above. New graduates are more often given a low level design question instead. The questions usually come from Amazon products such as Locker, ordering, and streaming.

How long does the Amazon interview process take? Amazon says three to six weeks is usual, with more time for senior roles. It also states a decision within two business days of the phone screen and five business days of the loop. Candidates report longer waits when a team is comparing several people.

Why do people fail the Amazon interview? The most common reported reason is weak Leadership Principles answers, not weak code. Stories without numbers, or stories about the team rather than your own actions, score badly. Prepare the behavioral part as seriously as the coding part.

Can I reapply to Amazon after a rejection? Yes. Amazon does not publish one fixed waiting period. Candidates commonly report six months to a year, and the length is set per person after the loop.

All Amazon Interview Questions and Answers

Company and role questions

• Can I use notes in an Amazon interview?
• What is the pass rate for Amazon interview?
• What is the chance of passing Amazon interview?
• Will Amazon hire you if you quit before?
• Who is the head of HR at Amazon?

Levels and pay

• What is the maximum salary at Amazon?

Guides for other companies are collected in the tech company interview guides hub.

Wondering how long the wait is at each stage? Read How Long Does It Take to Hear Back After an Amazon Interview?.