Amazon interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview

SDE - 2

Amazon
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5 rounds | 7 Coding problems

Interview preparation journey

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Journey
I received a LinkedIn message from an HR representative at Amazon regarding a job opportunity. The interview process consisted of a total of 5 rounds, including 4 technical rounds and one barraiser round. Successfully clearing all these rounds was essential to secure a position in the company.
Application story
After my resume was shortlisted, an HR representative contacted me through LinkedIn regarding the job opening. The subsequent interview process involved five rounds: an online coding round, a video call coding round, a High-Level Design (HLD) round, a Low-Level Design (LLD) round, and a bar raiser round.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
Selected because - Use creative and problem-solving skills - My success in selection is due to practice with Coding Ninjas - Attend mock interviews
Preparation
Duration: 6 months
Topics: Java, OOPs, Data Structures, Algorithms, System Design, Spring Boot
Tip
Tip

Tip 1: Focus on preparing for both Easy and Medium level questions to build a solid foundation.
Tip 2: Devote time to prepare for System Design and thoroughly understand your current projects.
Tip 3: Practice 2-3 coding questions daily, and remember that consistency is the key to improvement.

Application process
Where: Linkedin
Eligibility: 1+ years experience
Resume Tip
Resume tip

Tip 1: Ensure that all the information on your resume is accurate and readily accessible.
Tip 2: Highlight significant projects on your resume and emphasize the impact you had on each of those projects.

Interview rounds

01
Round
Easy
Online Coding Interview
Duration120 minutes
Interview date10 Jun 2021
Coding problem2

The first round was a 105-minute coding round, followed by a 10-15-minute work style survey. It consists of medium level coding problems.

1. Largest rectangle in a histogram

Hard
25m average time
75% success
0/120
Asked in companies
FacebookAppleAmazon

You have been given an array/list 'HEIGHTS' of length ‘N. 'HEIGHTS' represents the histogram and each element of 'HEIGHTS' represents the height of the histogram bar. Consider that the width of each histogram is 1.

You are supposed to return the area of the largest rectangle possible in the given histogram.

For example :
In the below histogram where array/list elements are {2, 1, 5, 6, 2, 3}.

alt text

The area of largest rectangle possible in the given histogram is 10.
Try solving now

2. Pair Sum

Easy
15m average time
90% success
0/40
Asked in companies
Media.netExpedia GroupQuikr

You are given an integer array 'ARR' of size 'N' and an integer 'S'. Your task is to return the list of all pairs of elements such that each sum of elements of each pair equals 'S'.

Note:

Each pair should be sorted i.e the first value should be less than or equals to the second value. 

Return the list of pairs sorted in non-decreasing order of their first value. In case if two pairs have the same first value, the pair with a smaller second value should come first.
Try solving now
02
Round
Easy
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date14 Oct 2021
Coding problem2

The first round was 1hour coding round on video call. It consists of one easy and one medium-level coding problem. The interviewer was very polite and helpful.

1. Move Zeroes To End

Moderate
30m average time
70% success
0/80
Asked in companies
Thought WorksSAP LabsMicrosoft

Given an unsorted array of integers, you have to move the array elements in a way such that all the zeroes are transferred to the end, and all the non-zero elements are moved to the front. The non-zero elements must be ordered in their order of appearance.

For example, if the input array is: [0, 1, -2, 3, 4, 0, 5, -27, 9, 0], then the output array must be:

[1, -2, 3, 4, 5, -27, 9, 0, 0, 0].

Expected Complexity: Try doing it in O(n) time complexity and O(1) space complexity. Here, ‘n’ is the size of the array.

Problem approach

I gave the single array traversal solution and the interviewer was satisfied with the approach.
 

Try solving now

2. Tiling Problem

Hard
45m average time
0/120
Asked in companies
OptumOlaAdobe

You have been given a board where there are '2' rows and 'N' columns. You have an infinite supply of 2x1 tiles, and you can place a tile in the following ways:

1. Horizontally as 1x2 tile
2. Vertically as 2x1 tile

Count the number of ways to tile the given board using the available tiles.

Note :
The number of ways might be large so output your answer modulo 10^9 + 7.

Here an example of tile and board for 'N' = 4 :

Tiling Example

Try solving now
03
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date22 Oct 2021
Coding problem1

In this round, I had a High-Level System Design interview conducted via a video call. The interviewer was supportive and helpful throughout the session.

1. System Design

Design Instagram 

Problem approach

Tip 1: Avoid using buzzwords without a proper understanding of their meaning; ensure you grasp the terms you mention.
Tip 2: Practice a minimum of 8-10 system design case studies to strengthen your skills in this area.
Tip 3: Thoroughly prepare the fundamental theories related to system design to enhance your overall knowledge.

04
Round
Easy
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date19 Nov 2021
Coding problem1

This round was a Low-level System design round. This was also a video call round. The interviewer was helpful.

1. System Design

Design Tic Tac Toe (Learn)

Problem approach

Tip 1: Avoid using buzzwords without a clear understanding of their meanings; ensure you comprehend the terms you use.
Tip 2: Engage in practice with 8-10 system design case studies to strengthen your skills in this area.
Tip 3: Thoroughly prepare the fundamental theory to enhance your overall understanding.

05
Round
Hard
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date6 Jan 2022
Coding problem1

In this round, I had the Bar Raiser interview conducted via a video call. The interviewer was supportive and helpful throughout the session.

1. System Design

Design debugger

Problem approach

Step 1: Initially, I provided a two-pass solution, but it was deemed inadequate.
Step 2: The interviewer then requested me to optimize the solution.
Step 3: Consequently, I presented a one-pass solution, which satisfied the interviewer.

Here's your problem of the day

Solving this problem will increase your chance to get selected in this company

Skill covered: Programming

How do you remove whitespace from the start of a string?

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