What questions are asked in an Amazon interview?

In an Amazon interview, you can expect a mix of behavioral, technical, and situational questions. These questions are designed to evaluate your technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, and alignment with Amazon’s Leadership Principles. Here’s a detailed look at the types of questions commonly asked, broken down by category:

1. Behavioral Questions (Leadership Principles)

Amazon places a significant focus on its 14 Leadership Principles, and many interview questions are based on these principles. The behavioral questions are designed to assess how you demonstrate these values in your work.

Common Behavioral Questions:

• Customer Obsession:
  • "Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond for a customer."
  • "How do you ensure that the customer's needs are always at the forefront of your decisions?"
• Ownership:
  • "Describe a situation where you took full ownership of a project."
  • "Tell me about a time when you had to make a tough decision with limited information."
• Bias for Action:
  • "Give me an example of a time when you had to take quick action in a difficult situation."
• Invent and Simplify:
  • "Tell me about a time when you simplified a complex process."
• Dive Deep:
  • "Give an example of a situation where you had to dive into the details to solve a problem."

How to Prepare: Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers and ensure that your examples clearly demonstrate how you applied Amazon’s Leadership Principles.

2. Technical Questions (Coding and Algorithms)

If you're applying for a technical role, expect coding challenges and questions that assess your understanding of data structures, algorithms, and problem-solving skills. You may be asked to write code during a live coding session or solve problems on a collaborative platform.

Common Coding Questions:

• Arrays and Strings:

  • "Find the longest substring without repeating characters."
  • "Rotate an array by k steps."

• Sorting and Searching:

  • "Implement binary search."
  • "Merge two sorted arrays."

• Dynamic Programming:

  • "Find the maximum sum of non-adjacent numbers in an array."

• Trees and Graphs:

  • "Find the lowest common ancestor of two nodes in a binary tree."
  • "Determine if a graph is bipartite."

• Linked Lists:

  • "Reverse a linked list."
  • "Detect a cycle in a linked list."

• Recursion and Backtracking:

  • "Solve the N-Queens problem."
  • "Generate all possible subsets of a set."

How to Prepare: Practice coding problems on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank. For a structured approach, use resources like Grokking the Coding Interview by DesignGurus.io, which covers the key coding patterns commonly asked in Amazon interviews.

3. System Design Questions (For Senior Roles)

For more senior positions, especially software development engineers or architects, you’ll be asked system design questions to evaluate your ability to design scalable and reliable systems.

Common System Design Questions:

• Design a URL Shortener:
  • "How would you design a system like bit.ly that generates unique short URLs?"
• Design an E-Commerce Website:
  • "How would you design an e-commerce platform like Amazon.com?"
• Design a News Feed System:
  • "How would you design a scalable news feed system like Facebook?"
• Design a File Storage Service:
  • "How would you design a distributed file storage system like Dropbox or Google Drive?"

How to Prepare: Focus on system scalability, reliability, and performance. Break the system into components such as databases, load balancing, caching, and fault tolerance. Resources like Grokking the System Design Interview by DesignGurus.io are excellent for preparing for system design questions.

4. Bar Raiser Questions

One of your interviewers will be a Bar Raiser, a senior Amazon employee trained to uphold the company’s hiring standards. Their questions often focus on leadership, ownership, and problem-solving in complex or ambiguous situations.

Example Bar Raiser Questions:

• Leadership:
  • "Tell me about a time when you had to lead a team through a difficult challenge."
• Dealing with Ambiguity:
  • "Describe a situation where you had to make a decision without having all the information."
• Handling Failure:
  • "Give me an example of a time when you failed. How did you handle it, and what did you learn?"

How to Prepare: Be ready to provide examples that demonstrate your ability to lead, make decisions, and take ownership. The Bar Raiser interview is critical, as they play a key role in the hiring decision.

5. Situational and Problem-Solving Questions

Amazon interviewers may ask situational questions to see how you would handle challenges and make decisions in hypothetical situations.

Common Situational Questions:

• Decision-Making:
  • "What would you do if you were leading a project and found out midway that the project requirements were changing?"
• Conflict Resolution:
  • "How would you handle a situation where two of your team members have a disagreement on the best approach to solve a problem?"
• Innovation:
  • "If you were tasked with improving a process in your team, how would you go about identifying inefficiencies?"

6. Role-Specific Questions

Amazon customizes its interview questions based on the specific role you're applying for. Here are a few examples based on different roles:

• Product Managers:
  • "How do you prioritize features when developing a new product?"
• Data Scientists:
  • "How would you design an A/B test to measure the effectiveness of a new feature?"
• Operations Managers:
  • "How would you improve efficiency in one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers?"

How to Prepare: Understand the specific challenges of the role you’re applying for, and prepare to discuss how you’ve handled similar challenges in the past.

7. "Why Amazon?" Questions

You’ll likely be asked questions to gauge your motivation for working at Amazon and how well you understand the company’s mission and culture.

Example Questions:

• "Why do you want to work at Amazon?"
• "How do you align with Amazon’s Leadership Principles?"
• "What excites you most about the work Amazon is doing?"

How to Prepare: Show that you’ve done your research on Amazon’s culture, products, and innovations. Highlight how your values and experience align with the company's mission.

Summary of Common Amazon Interview Questions:

1. Behavioral Questions: Based on Amazon’s Leadership Principles.
2. Technical Coding Questions: Focused on algorithms, data structures, and coding problems.
3. System Design Questions: For senior roles, focusing on designing scalable systems.
4. Bar Raiser Questions: Focused on leadership, ownership, and decision-making.
5. Situational Questions: Testing how you handle real-world challenges.
6. Role-Specific Questions: Tailored to the specific job you’re applying for.
7. "Why Amazon?" Questions: Understanding your motivation and fit for Amazon’s culture.

To prepare for an Amazon interview, practice both technical and behavioral questions using the STAR method and study system design principles if you're applying for a senior technical role.