I applied online. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (San Diego, CA) in Dec 2021
Interview
After applying, recruiter reached out after 1 week to discuss the role and process. She was pretty raw and didn't have much info. Was emailed instructions to complete a timed (2 hour) test that focused on how to solve typically engineering management problems such as architecture, project management, etc. I thought this was the best and most realistic/relevant part of the interview process. I did well on this and recruiter reached out 1 week later about setting up last (virtual) round interview, consisting of 5 interview sessions, 1 hour each: 4 with SDMs (some Senior and some not). I believe I did well on 3 of them but bombed on one as the questions were pretty tough and I couldn't give a good response. Unfortunately I came to find out that the interview I didn't do well on was likely the the hiring manager for the role :-/
Only one tech-focused interview which consisted of meeting with a couple Senior SDEs. This was pretty straightforward but they asked too many questions and rambled on and didn't give me much time (20 min) to work on the system design, which luckily wasn't difficult. Still had to rush and couldn't finish with optimal solution or had time to discuss it.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Mostly around LP in the format of "tell me about a time...".
One system design question was focused around designing an inventory system.
Phone screen, 5 1 hour interviews for loop
Each hour was dedicated to 2 LPs. System design was more collaborative than i anticipated which was a pleasant surprise. The phone screen mostly focused on my previous experiences
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Standard LP based scenarios, system design was actual system the team owns
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Tokyo) in Feb 2026
Interview
The interview process is straightforward but intense.
First interview was with another Software Dev Manager in the same team. After that the famous loop interview where I had to take 5 interviews in a row over two days ( using paid holidays at work ). Recruiter gave a lot of information about possible questions and helped with materials. However, I had to use same stories few times as the different interviewers asked same questions few times.
Everything is okay, I had a good time during the interviews and it was a good exercise. However, I simply do not understand why they have to call to reject? I am not a customer to be obsessed with. A straight cut rejection via email works better than taking time out of my busy schedule.
If they used this time to share some feedback, that would be useful. If they do not share any reason why I have to continue formal small talk just to get the rejection on my face?
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
A time you were driving toward a goal and realized more than halfway in that it may not be the best goal.
Had 1 round of System design interview. I thought the interview went ok, if not bad, it went decently well. Received a rejection response, while asking to apply 6 months later.
