✅ Amazon Review Panic!!!
Hello, I am a Freshman in college who was recently selected for a technical interview at Amazon. I am aware that these interviews are insanely hard, and I don't want to be a stuck out in the cold when it comes to coding techniques, jargon, etc. I only have 1 1/2 years of loose experience doing high-school level things in coding (mainly using c#), but that's besides the point. I am in the midst of a LARGE cramming session to prepare for the interview process in 2 weeks, starting with the online assessment, what are some good tips/ways to go about this? As a follow up, if I am not breezing through LeetCode questions, am I screwed? Thanks, - AJ
65 Replies
For my opinion, read starting there: https://discord.com/channels/143867839282020352/143867839282020352/1022382270583144448
Sernik#3664
Hi, I have an interview in an hour for an internship as a C# developer
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Is this for an internship?
Yes! :)
As a freshman I think you just need to show you are smart, passionate and have good critical thinking skills. They probably won't expect you to just nail hard algorithm questions with your current experience level. Ask lots of good clarifying questions, keep the energy level and enthusiasm high and show that the opportunity is exciting and important to you. Do your best and don't stress too much about it.
Although I don't know anything about what their online assessment will be like. @Scratch might know.
Don't forget to practice the soft skills too. Think about what projects you want to talk about and what points to make
Our leadership principles guide our questions, so they're good to know the traits that we're looking for: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/principles
amazon.jobs
Amazon's global career site
Oh, and even though it's tempting: Don't make jokes about peeing in bottles. Scratch had me pre-emptively fired for bringing it up.
Also answering in the STAR format helps us understand everything and take better notes. There's some info on that and some other tips here: https://www.amazon.jobs/en/landing_pages/in-person-interview
amazon.jobs
Interview
NOTE: Amazon is closely following the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), and implementing processes that promote candidate and employee safety. Out of an abundance of caution, our default process for on site interviews will now be conducted virtually. Learn more about our remote interview process.
Interviewing for a software engineer role that req...
In the Result part of STAR, the lessons learned are important imo, not just the factual outcome.
Going to need the backstory on this one
There is nothing much to say. I just know people are nervous and can forget about that part. When hiring an intern/junior, I appreciate seeing that they own their mistakes and learned from it.
(I'm in the weird situation where for my first interview as a dev, I was already senior.)
Where does peeing in a bottle come in?
Oh, that one! I was just joking.
Yes...joking about peeing in a bottle apparently
But I guess I meant it as "stay professional, don't try to be edgy"
Oh, no, the peeing in a bottle is because some amazon drivers and factory workers have been doing that, apparently, because they weren't allowed to have breaks.
Oh yeah, I heard about that stuff, some of my friends work in the factory
I endorse "don't mention peeing in a bottle" in your software developer interviews
Ok now I get it 
There is a method to my madness!
:) thank you guys, this is super helpful <3 @Yawnder @mtreit @Scratch
Not only to help me prep, but to take some weight of my shoulders of how much I should be working (lowkey thought about putting in 5hrs studying a day for the 2 weeks).
I have two blog posts on my own personal pet peeves about interviewing for junior positions. I ask the same question of intern candidates although my bar is significantly lower for their answers. This is part 2 which has the link to part 1. I don't know if it will be helpful or make things worse 🙂
https://treit.github.io/programming,/interviewing/2019/03/17/BitAndBytesPart2.html
Notes to self
Fundamentals I wish you knew: bits and bytes. Part 2.
Here’s a file. It contains a series of integer values, stored as binary. I’d like you to do some processing of each value. How would you do it?
I don't ask leetcode questions
But I really prefer candidates who know some fundamentals about how computers work
this might have already been said
but
TALK THROUGH YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS
YES
if you're stuck but not saying anything the interviewer will have no idea if you're close, or completely jammed
This 1000x
even if you don't actually solve the question it shows you can approach and break down problems
which is extremely valuable
YES
Far more valuable than solving the actual problem
Ok, well right now I'm trying to find something witty to say...
Just tell a dad joke
hehe. I don't have many of those yet. The kid makes me laugh, not the other way around 😄
What's blue and smells like red paint?
Blue paint.
What's brown and sticky?
A stick.
I'll see myself out.
What's green, red and turns at 15k RPM?
A frog in a blender.
I am going to refrain from the dead baby jokes of my high school years that were so awful but you couldn't help laugh and hate yourself forever
The worst ones were told by a female sheriffs deputy when I was in a cadet program to go into law enforcement. I still feel guilty for laughing.
Fair enough. I do miss laughing about non-PC jokes sometimes.
Why did the OOM killer have to go back to the farm?
He was all out of RAMs
Alright, here is your dad card.
oh no
this isn't true actually, they smell different. taste different, too
can have a blind smelling test
At the next meetupwhat you're telling us is that you huff paint Ero 
<:devious_hehe:911646971641602108>
Unknown User•2y ago
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Good luck on your interview. I'd be impressed to see a freshman land an internship. The fact they even scouted you shows you have real promise. So whether you get it or not, just remember you had those talents early on.
Love this joke with a passion
Thank you so much! If I do get it, I've got to come back to individually thank you all. :)
@here Just to give an update, I completely shit the bucket on the second question; however, on the first on I passed all the test cases! Proud of myself!
What level of "shit the bucket" on the second question? About how many cases passed?
0.
/15
Ah yeah
Not sure if it's what you were going for, but remember that a naive solution is better than none. Then you can work on figuring out how to optimize it
When I was a canidate for an Amazon interview they offered webinars and links to resources on how to prepare for the lengthy technical interview. The first round interview only required me to solve a relatively simple problem, and they also offered resources on how to practice problem solving. I only didn't make it because I didn't prepare at all.
I did prepare, however no matter what I did (going to webinars live, doing leetcode, working through reviews, all while very sick with the flu), I couldn't understand the linked list problems. Unfortunately, that's the type of problem that I got on the assessment.
I just got unlucky....
To add to my misfortune, I thought of a O(nlog(n)) solution AFTER i submitted the assessment. I submitted a O(n^2).
@here Second update, I GOT THE INTERVIEW!!!
great job!
Nice one!
Congrats.
In my first technical interview, I also pooped myself on a linked list problem.
Only advice I can offer is to really work on understanding recursion.
As a c# dev, what are your best tips for entering the workforce?
I think I want to specialize in c# development, so what types of things will I be "stuck" to?
Update #2: Got waitlisted; super bummed, but also proud! Thanks again for all the help and support @here
Waitlisted meaning...?
Ill attach the message
Thank you for the time you have invested in the Amazon recruitment process. We know that juggling school commitments and job interviews is a lot to manage. We’ve identified you as a qualified and talented candidate; however, our planning process is taking longer than expected, so we are unable to offer you a position with Amazon at this time.\
Ah 😐
Considering all of the layoffs happening across the industry, might be a bit of a tough environment.
yeah...
I know we've explicitly frozen hiring
Unknown User•2y ago
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We've just started hiring vs. laying off. I feel grateful for that in these times I can expect to see more colleagues and not fewer. Maybe it's a regional thing
Was this issue resolved? If so, run
/close - otherwise I will mark this as stale and this post will be archived until there is new activity.
Was this issue resolved? If so, run /close - otherwise I will mark this as stale and this post will be archived until there is new activity.very true!!
Closed!