Updated by Amazon candidates
Software Development Engineer Intern Interview Experience
The weird part is you do not have to run the code, but that almost makes it harder because they really want the optimal answer right away. My interview problem was straight-up lowest common ancestor in a BST.
Interview process
I interviewed in March 2025 for the Seattle SDE intern role. My whole process was just an online assessment and then one interview, with no recruiter screen or extra technical rounds in between. That last interview packed everything into one session, about 25 to 30 minutes of coding and 15 minutes of behavioral questions. It felt really streamlined because they put all the evaluation into that one final conversation.
- Online assessment
- Final round
Interview rounds
5 questions across 2 roundsOnline assessment
2 questionsOverview
The OA was just two coding questions, one more like a normal BFS/tree traversal problem and one optimization problem about packaging and how to best process it.
Question types asked
Specific questions asked
Use BFS to traverse through a tree and find different nodes.
Solve an optimization problem about packaging and how to best process the packaging.
Final round
3 questionsOverview
The only interview round combined everything into one session, with about 25 to 30 minutes for coding and around 15 minutes for leadership principles, and I did not have to run my code.
Question types asked
Specific questions asked
I treated it like a tougher LeetCode problem and went for the optimal solution right away. I used DFS and compared the left and right side values to see whether they matched P or Q, then used that to identify the ancestor. They did not really add twists after that, so once I got to the optimal answer, that was enough.
Interview tips
I would prep for this like they want the optimal answer fast, not just something that works. You do not have to run the code, so it helps to practice talking through your logic really clearly on the spot. The coding felt more graph focused than other places I interviewed, and my actual question was lowest common ancestor in a BST. For the OA, I saw one BFS/tree traversal problem and one packaging optimization problem. I would also be ready for leadership principles, especially customer obsession and have backbone.
Company culture
It felt like they really value you being independent and not asking for help excessively. That was the main vibe I got from going through it.
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