I had an online interview on September 13, 2024. The interview process involved solving two questions within 90 minutes. After that, I had two more segments where I had to make workday-related decisions. For example, I was asked to determine which databases I would use to build a voting system with product requirements for a 5-minute duration and display live voting counts.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Create a function that takes a slice of 32-bit integers and a number of channels, k, as input. The goal of this function is to split all the integers from the array between the channels (arrays) in such a way that it maximizes the sum of the medians of all the channels. It's important to note that each channel must hold at least one integer.
You are given a string `s` of length `n`. Your task is to return the next nice string based on lexicographic order of len n. A nice string is defined as a string in which no two adjacent characters are the same. For example, "abb" is not a nice string because "bb" are duplicate adjacent characters.
Please note that if the string contains "zz", it cannot be transformed into a nice string, and in such cases, you should return "-1". Additionally, the character 'z' cannot be increased as it is the last character and cannot be transformed into 'a'.
The recruitment process consisted of several stages:
Online coding – a one-hour session focused on solving programming problems and demonstrating practical coding skills.
Technical meeting – a two-hour in-depth discussion covering system design, problem-solving approach, and technical knowledge relevant to the role.
Soft skills meeting – a 90-minute conversation assessing communication skills, teamwork, and overall cultural fit.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
describe your current project, most interesting bug and feature.
the most important thing you are proud of.
slide-window algorithm, string parser
The technical round focused on a DSA problem about finding the closest points to the origin, where I was asked to explore multiple approaches like sorting, heaps, and quickselect. It felt straightforward, and I was ready for it thanks to the time I spent on PracHub brushing up on similar questions. The interview also included a behavioral section, but overall, I found the process to be very easy. Happy to say I received an offer, which I gladly accepted!
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
K Closest Points to Origin - given an array of points on the 2D plane and an integer k, return the k closest points to the origin (0,0). Walk through sort-by-distance O(n log n), heap-based O(n log k), and quickselect O(n) average; discuss when to prefer each based on the relationship between n and k.
Tough interview.
The Process: Automated Online Assessment (OA) with 2 coding questions and a system simulation, followed by a 4-round virtual Loop. Every single round started with 20 minutes of intense, behavioral behavioral questions diving into Amazon's Leadership Principles, followed by 25 minutes of technical coding or system design.
Amazon interviews are a test of mental endurance because you have to switch from deep behavioral storytelling straight into complex coding which can be so difficult. I used Apex Interviewer to practice the cognitive context switch. Running through their live-coding workspace helped me ensure my technical communication and architectural structures remained sharp and automatic, even after spending the first half of the interview defending my past project metrics. I fed the practice AI questions I extracted from glassdoor and gothamloop.
In the end, the offer was way lower than I hoped.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design the backend inventory tracking and placement service for a global fulfillment network, ensuring strict transactional consistency across multiple regional warehouses during peak shopping events.