I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Amazon in Dec 2018
Interview
Application & Phone Interview:
Applied online. Got an email from HR for scheduling a phone screening interview. The phone screening went well with the hiring manager. Then there was a second phone interview setup for formal phone interview. This time, it's the same hiring manager who asked me to do some online typing to answer system design questions based on my past experience. There was no coding exercises even though I prepared for it. Since it's a SDM position, they would like to focus on system design instead of coding.
On-site Interview:
Before I went to on-site interview, I had to submit an essay with narrative style. I picked one of the two questions to write your narrative and submit it online.
On the interview day, there were total 7 people who met me in person including one lunch buddy. Each person spent 1 hour with me. They're SDM, SDE 2 & 3, etc. They're nice. The questions were mostly around Amazon leadership principles, and of course, there were some tough technical questions by the SDM 3 guy. All in all, it's a very lengthy process, and a long day to me. I was very tired at the end since I kept talking. The conversation speed was very fast between me and interviewer in most of cases.
About the Position Level:
One funny thing about the SDM position was I didn't know the level. I knew the SDM level after the interview was completed. The job posting didn't mention the SDM level. During the interview, no one had ever explained the level ladder of Amazon hierarchy. I googled it to find out the fact afterwards. The position I applied was a SDM level 6 position, which is pretty decent based on insiders.
Final Result:
HR told me after their discussion, they felt like I qualified for a SDM level 5, not for level 6. However they didn't have a SDM 5 open at that moment. I felt like the truth was that I didn't manage a team sizing bigger than what they expected. The level 6 SDM is supposed to manage 1 and 2 teams with total 15 - 20 people. I managed a team less than 10, and I told them the truth. To be aware, Amazon judged a candidate's capability based on this type of fact.
Overall it's a great experience with Amazon. I have no pity. I did my best.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Mostly leadership principle questions or behavioral questions. You can google it to find out many. Most of the questions are negative to start with, such as you want to accomplish things, but failed; how to manage your team member with bad performance etc. Technical questions like how to handle calls between clients and REST API services with increased volumes. It's going deeper and deeper once you answered it. Can't say any more here.
I applied online. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Amazon (Royal Oak, MI)
Interview
The interview questions were highly situational and focused on specifics from your experience. It was disheartening though for a few reasons. After the first question, which was a vague “give me an overview of your work history” I was then told that there was limited time and I may be interrupted to ensure time to get through all necessary data points. After that I tried to keep my answers high level and succinct, but was then told by the interviewer I was being vague in my answers. Had he never commented on my first answer I would have answered normally and not tried to limit my answers. Knowing the interview hadn’t gone well and not expecting a follow up, I was very disappointed to get an email from the recruiter that stated “we understand you may want feedback about the interview. We do not provide that feedback”. That shows the true character of this company. I’m not disappointed now.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Tell me about questions you would ask on an interview.
Tell me about a time you were proud of an accomplishment.
I applied through a recruiter. The process took 8 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Dublín, Dublín) in Nov 2018
Interview
there were 3 stages of the interview process:
screening - phone interview
coding - online with company representative
1 day onsite - 6 interviews mix of management, coding, architecture and people development
they were not super difficult but some were remote people connecting with some technical issues during the calls. some of the interviewers were connected from home sometimes making it difficult to unsedstand them
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
A lot of management and coding questions, handling conflict, development of people etc.