I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Nov 2013
Interview
The first part of the interview was quick. I applied online (via their careers page I think) and received a phone call within a week to schedule a phone interview.
The phone interview was pretty much what I expected, wasn't very difficult. They ask questions about your resume and experience and follow up with technical questions. Mostly CS theory questions like data structures and big-O notation. They also ask you to do some small coding exercises using collabedit.com. They gave me a problem to solve (can't recall what it was now) and after I answered they asked me to implement the algorithm using my language of choice.
A few weeks later I was flown to Seattle for an in-person interview. The position I was interested in is in California, but the in-person interview was still in Seattle... this was weird for me.
Anyway, the in-person interview was exhausting to say the least. It went from 10:30 to 3:30 if I recall. We didn't even really break for lunch. I *had* lunch -- we walked to a nearby restaurant -- but it was with an interviewer who quizzed me the whole time. It was an endless string of interviewers coming in and out. Each one with a slightly different flavour. This part is mostly what I expected, but the exhausting thing was that none of them were allocated enough time for their questions. I was essentially rushed for 5 hours straight. Before leaving, every single interviewer said "I usually take the time now to let you ask some questions, but as you can see the next interviewer is already waiting outside" and then he'd shake my hand and leave. I never did get a chance to ask my own questions.
I left the on-site interview feeling like I was not given a chance to show them how I could be an asset to the company. I few minutes after leaving the building and thinking back on my day, I had several "OH! That's what they wanted to hear.. dammit." moments which to me indicates a weakness in the interview process (or maybe just my interview skills).
The next day I got an email saying that they would not be making an offer.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Find the largest rectangle area on a bar graph. Example, if you had a graph of 1,4,5,3,3,5 the answer would be 15 (3x5) which is formed by the rectangle that is 3 high and spans from position 2 (1 based) to 6.
Initial screening call with recruiter followed by a 1 hr hacker rank question on DSA. The final round was a panel consisting of 4 interviews ranging from technical design, more DSA and behaviour questions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe a time when you disagreed with your team and how you resolved it
Online Application & Assessment: Candidates apply via amazon.jobs and may be asked to complete online assessments (work simulations or technical tests).
Recruiter Phone Screen: A 30-60 minute interview to discuss your background, interest in the role, and initial behavioral questions.
Technical Phone Screen (For Tech Roles): A 60-minute interview focused on data structures, algorithms, and coding in a shared editor.
Interview Loop (Virtual/Onsite): The final stage, usually 3-5, 45-60 minute interviews held on the same day or over a few days.
Behavioral Questions: These focus on past behavior (STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result) mapped to Leadership Principles.
Technical/Functional Questions: Problem-solving, system design, or domain-specific questions.
Bar Raiser Interview: One interviewer is a "Bar Raiser," a neutral employee from another team tasked with ensuring hiring standards remain high.
Hiring Committee/Debrief: Interviewers meet to discuss candidate feedback and make a hiring decision.
Recruiter screen. Then 2 coding interviews then onsite rounds (another coding question, then a system design question, then HM behavioral interview). System design was simpler than other companies. Coding was leetcode ish
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