Amazon Off-Campus SDE-1 Interview Experience

First-round interview for an Amazon SDE-1 / Intern opportunity through off-campus hiring. Before the interview, there was an online assessment based on a new pattern.

The interview itself lasted around 60 minutes and covered Amazon's Leadership Principles along with two DSA problems. The focus was not just on getting the correct answer but also on explaining the approach and discussing possible optimizations.

Interview Process

Round 1: Leadership Principles and DSA

1. Leadership Principles (Around 10 minutes)

The interview started with a brief introduction, followed by behavioral questions based on Amazon's Leadership Principles. This part focused on how I approach situations, make decisions, and handle challenges.

2. DSA Coding (Around 50 minutes)

The remaining time was spent solving two coding problems. The interviewer expected me to explain my reasoning, compare brute-force and optimized approaches, discuss time and space complexity, and consider edge cases while writing the code.

The questions were based on the following topics:

• Tree: Maximum Subtree Sum (with a slight modification).

• Sliding Window: Minimum Window Substring.

Both questions required a clear understanding of the underlying concepts and the ability to explain the solution step by step.