I applied in-person. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (San Francisco, CA) in Jan 2017
Interview
Amazon headhunter called, multiple phone screens, white-board coding interview (on executive level).
All was well, until the white-board coding test, which was easy, and I solved , per instructions.
Don't trust the "use any language or even pseudo-code" better be ready to compile at the end, and don't use any modern languages.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
background, management, technology experience; white-board coding test
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Santiago) in Dec 2021
Interview
The process is very thorough and takes a significant investment in time. That being said, they were very proactive into finding the right team to apply for, and I was given 3 different options. The interview process was very enjoyable, if not trivial, but I got to respect the depth and knowledge of the people I would be working with, as well as the importance that Amazon puts in its culture and values.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. Past experiences that demonstrate a good fit towards the company's leadership and culture.
2. Technical problems of the typical kind, aiming to analyze and solve for a code/architecture problem.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Sep 2019
Interview
A former colleague recommended me for the position. I had a phone screen with the hiring manager, followed by submission of written responses to 2 themes. I was invited for face-to-face interviews on site. I interviewed with the hiring manager, 3 of their direct reports, and one outside manager, per standard Amazon practice.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
All questions fell along the lines of Amazon's 13 Principles. All were "Target Selection Interview" (TSI) style.
Principal Engineer applicants have rated the interview process at Amazon with 3.2 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) and assessed their interview experience as 40% positive. To compare, the company-average is 57.5% positive. This is according to Glassdoor user ratings.
Candidates applying for Principal Engineer roles take an average of 19 days to get hired, when considering 6 user submitted interviews for this role. To compare, the hiring process at Amazon overall takes an average of 28 days.
Common stages of the interview process at Amazon as a Principal Engineer according to 6 Glassdoor interviews include:
Phone interview: 25%
One on one interview: 25%
Skills test: 13%
Background check: 6%
Group panel interview: 6%
IQ intelligence test: 6%
Other: 6%
Drug test: 6%
Presentation: 6%
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