Amazon's SDE loop opens with an online assessment (coding plus work-style simulations), then sometimes a phone screen, then an onsite of four to six rounds. The whole process usually takes four to eight weeks. The OA can be skipped for senior/experienced hires, ex-FAANG, or repeat interview candidates, who start with a recruiter call instead.
Each interviewer owns 2-3 Leadership Principles and probes them with behavioral questions in STAR format, sprinkled across technical rounds, with typically one dedicated behavioral/LP round. The onsite includes a Bar Raiser: a trained interviewer from outside the hiring team who safeguards the hiring bar and holds veto power jointly with the hiring manager. A hire must be "better than 50% of their would-be peers." Interviewers grade on a 5-point incline scale (Strongly Inclined to Strongly Not Inclined). Decisions are made in a debrief meeting after the loop.
Coding uses Amazon's internal "Livecode" tool; code is never compiled or run during interviews. Most loops are now virtual, though some teams request in-person depending on role and location.
The interview loop
- Online assessment - Full-time: ~2 hours total (coding section ~70 min, work simulation ~60 min, work-styles assessment ~15 min, feedback survey ~5 min). Internship: ~90 min. Two coding problems plus work-simulation and work-style sections. An emerging AI-assisted OA variant exists for some candidates. Senior/experienced hires often skip the OA entirely.
- Phone screen (conditional) - Coding interview with an engineer plus LP questions. Candidates who pass the OA often skip this and go straight to the onsite loop; the phone screen is mainly for those who skip or aren't given the OA.
- Onsite loop - 4-6 rounds (SDE 1 skews 3-4; senior loops 5-6) of coding and system design, each with LP questions sprinkled in:
- Behavioral / LP round - The most important round for LP signal. Each interviewer owns 2-3 LPs.
- Coding rounds (x2-3) - On Amazon's internal Livecode tool, no code execution. DS&A problems.
- System design - Required for mid-level and up.
- Hiring-manager round - Technical + behavioral depth; the HM jointly holds veto power with the Bar Raiser.
- Bar Raiser round - One interviewer within the loop is the Bar Raiser, you won't be told which. A trained interviewer outside the team who guards the bar and jointly makes the final decision with the HM.
- Debrief - All onsite interviewers, the recruiter, and the Bar Raiser meet in a debrief to reach a hire/no-hire (and sometimes level) decision. Strong-LP/weak-technical candidates can be "recycled" to other teams with 1-2 extra rounds rather than a full re-loop.
What they look for
- Solid DS&A plus practical system design for mid-level and up
- Leadership Principles evidence in every answer, structured as STAR stories. Sprinkled across all rounds, with one dedicated behavioral round
- Ownership and customer obsession come through clearly
- The Bar Raiser and hiring manager jointly hold veto power; a hire must be better than 50% of current peers
How to prepare
- Prepare 8-12 STAR stories mapped explicitly to the 16 Leadership Principles.
- Expect LP questions inside technical rounds, not just the behavioral one. Each interviewer owns 2-3 LPs.
- Treat the Bar Raiser seriously. You won't know which interviewer it is, and they hold veto power jointly with the HM.
- Code is never run in Amazon interviews (Livecode tool). Practice writing correct code without execution.
- If you're senior or ex-FAANG, you may skip the OA and start with a recruiter call.
