Amazon Software Engineer (SDE) Interview Prep

The Amazon software development engineer (SDE) interview tests three things together: coding, design, and how you work, through Amazon's Leadership Principles. Most candidates over-prepare the coding and under-prepare the stories. Practicing with an engineer who works at Amazon now helps you balance both.

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How the Amazon interview works

Online assessment. Timed coding problems, often followed by a work-style survey. Many new-grad and early-career candidates start here.
Phone screen. Live coding with an engineer in a shared editor, plus a Leadership Principle question or two. Some candidates go straight from the assessment to the loop.
The loop. A set of back-to-back interviews. Expect data structures and algorithms coding, an object-oriented or low-level design problem and, for SDE II and above, a system design round. Every interviewer also asks principle-based questions.
The Bar Raiser. One interviewer from outside the team who checks you raise the bar. They may ask technical or behavioral questions, often both.
The debrief. Interviewers compare written feedback and make the decision together.

Common question themes

Arrays, strings and hash maps: Most coding rounds start here. Practice explaining your approach before you type.
Trees and graphs: Traversals, shortest paths and problems you can model as a graph.
Heaps and sorting: Top-K, merging and scheduling style problems.
Object-oriented design: Design the classes for something like a parking lot or a library system, then extend it when requirements change.
System design (SDE II and above): Design a service end to end, such as order tracking or a URL shortener, and talk through scale and trade-offs.
Leadership Principles: Ownership, Dive Deep and Deliver Results come up often. Have real project stories ready.

How to prepare

Talk while you code. Interviewers grade how you reason, not just whether the code runs.
Test your code out loud with a small example and an edge case before you say you are done.
Prepare your Leadership Principle stories with the same care as LeetCode. They count in every round.
Ask clarifying questions first. Jumping straight into code is a common reason strong coders fall short.

Practice with mentors who work at Amazon

Everyone below lists Amazon as their current employer on their ADPList profile. Open a profile to see their sessions and book a time.

What mentees prepare with Amazon mentors

Themes that come up in reviews mentees left for mentors who match this page.

Resume review before applying. Making the resume match the role so it gets you to the first interview.
How the process really runs. What each round is looking for, and what happens after the loop.
Behavioral answers and stories. Picking the right examples and tightening them so the interviewer can dig in.
Breaking into big tech. Moving in from a startup, another industry or straight from school.
Coding and technical rounds. Talking through a problem out loud, and practice on coding and design questions.
Mock interviews with feedback. Mentees run a practice round and go through the feedback right after.

From mentee reviews

“He shared valuable insights to help me prepare for my upcoming interview, and we even ran a mock Q&A, which gave me practical takeaways and boosted my confidence.”

Mentee review of Shalauddin Ahamad Shuza, Software Engineer II

“Moeez provided outstanding guidance for my interview prep, covering both technical strategy and behavioral alignment.”

Mentee review of Moeez Khan, Software Development Engineer

“I am incredibly grateful for the outstanding guidance and support during our mock coding and OOD interview sessions.”

Mentee review of Raju Ansari, SDE

Warm up with AI interview practice

Rehearse your answers out loud with ADPList's AI interviewer before you meet a mentor.

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Frequently asked questions

What is in the Amazon SDE online assessment?

Usually timed coding problems, and for many roles a work-style survey based on the Leadership Principles. The exact format depends on the role and level.

Does the Amazon SDE loop include behavioral questions?

Yes. Each interviewer is typically assigned Leadership Principles to cover, so expect behavioral questions alongside coding and design in every round.

Is system design part of the SDE I interview?

Usually not. System design is typically expected from SDE II and above, while SDE I loops lean on coding and object-oriented design.

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