I applied online. The process took 3 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Durban) in Aug 2017
Interview
Firstly there was an online test that was elementary debugging.
This was followed by a telephonic interview that required live code writing and problem-solving. The questions were of decent difficulty however a background knowledge of the inner workings of java was required.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
The most difficult question was about how strings are implemented in Java, this required knowledge of the inner workings of java as a language and not the simple implementation of algorithms.
I applied through an employee referral. I interviewed at Amazon
Interview
The process started with a brief 30-minute phone screening with a recruiter, focusing on my background and resume.
After that, I was invite to a technical video interview with a senior engineer. This round lasted about 60 minutes, starting with a brief introduction, followed by a live coding challenge on a shared editor, and ended with a few questions about system design basics and my past projects.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Implement a function to find the first non-repeating character in a string and discuss its time and space complexity.
The interview process was straightforward with no surprises — three coding rounds (LeetCode medium difficulty), a system design round, and a cultural fit conversation. The interviewers were pleasant and the overall atmosphere was positive.
That said, it's worth noting that this format feels dated. Even before the rise of AI, LeetCode-style assessments were a questionable proxy for real-world engineering ability and cultural fit. In today's environment, where AI can solve most of these problems instantly, continuing to use this framework raises the question of what signal it's actually measuring.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
For coding it was ask very similar to number of islands (2D grid search) with a twist.
Leet code question medium to gard then they snack you with a web app that you have to debug with a Very limited ai assistant that won't give you the answer but will read the files and tell you what they do
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Leet code and assisted debugging and 15 pillar of Amazon leadership questions