Amazon SDE 2 interview

The SDE 2 rounds, in order

1. 1

   Online assessment · 90 min

   A timed test with two coding problems (easy-medium to medium) plus a work-style survey tied to the Leadership Principles; new-grad versions add a work simulation, making the block 2 to 3.5 hours.

   At SDE 2: Used by some companies for experienced hires (Amazon, Uber, Salesforce, Oracle). The bar is the same as for SDE 1 but the time is often shorter.

2. 2

   Phone / recruiter screen · 60 min

   Experienced hires usually get one live coding screen that also includes Leadership Principle questions; new grads often go straight from the OA to the final loop.

   At SDE 2: One or two problems, a little faster. Some companies mix in a design question.

3. 3

   Coding (DSA) × 2 · 55 min

   Each round is usually one or two medium problems (sometimes hard), and Leadership Principle questions open or close every technical round.

   At SDE 2: Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

4. 4

   Low-level design / machine coding · 55 min

   Object-oriented design such as a parking lot or a coupon system is common for junior candidates and sometimes shows up in the Bar Raiser round.

   At SDE 2: The core round at many product companies: working, modular, extensible code with validation, error handling and tests, finished on time.

5. 5

   System design (HLD) · 60 min

   System design is standard from SDE II and increasingly shows up in SDE I loops; SDE III and above often get two design rounds.

   At SDE 2: Present at most companies. A sound end-to-end design with sensible components and basic scaling is enough.

6. 6

   Behavioral · 60 min

   A round focused on Leadership Principles: four to six STAR stories, each mapped to one or two principles, with detailed follow-up probing.

   At SDE 2: Stories should show you owning features end to end and handling conflict maturely.

7. 7

   Bar raiser · 60 min

   A trained interviewer from outside the hiring team, usually not identified to you, who checks whether you raise the company-wide bar and can block a hire.

   At SDE 2: Behavioral depth with probing follow-ups; sometimes design.

What Amazon interviewers look for

• Concrete STAR stories with your own actions and measurable results, not what 'we' did
• Depth when probed on the same story
• Customer Obsession and Ownership, which Bar Raisers reportedly push on hardest
• Working, readable code with edge cases and complexity analysis
• Writing and running your own tests without being asked
• A clean object model that extends well in LLD
• Scalability, failure handling and operational thinking in HLD

Behavioral rounds are based on the Leadership Principles: Customer Obsession, Ownership, Invent and Simplify, Are Right, A Lot, Learn and Be Curious, Hire and Develop the Best, Insist on the Highest Standards, Think Big…. Questions for each one.

Coding questions to practise for Amazon SDE 2

Two or three rounds at medium to hard level. You are expected to reach the optimal approach with fewer hints and to test without being asked.

How the coding round is scored · The online assessment

System design at SDE 2

SDE I loops lean toward object-oriented LLD, though light system design now appears in most SDE I loops. From SDE II, HLD is standard; SDE III and above may get two rounds that go deeper on non-functional requirements. Prompts are often framed around retail or AWS problems.

• Rate limiter
• E-commerce (Amazon)
• Movie booking

All Amazon system design questions

Questions people ask