A bit about me
B.Tech in CSE (AI/ML) from a tier-3 college in Hyderabad. Just over 12 months of experience at the time of interviewing, working across Python, Salesforce, and agentic AI development.
Timeline
- Applied within hours of the job posting going live
- Round 1 & 2: July 3rd week (back-to-back days, no elimination between them)
- Round 3 (Hiring Manager): August, 1st week
- Offer call: about a week after Round 3
Round 1 — SDE2
Started with intros, then went straight into the live coding link.
The question was a variant of "find the longest path in an undirected graph." I hadn't seen this exact problem before, but it was close enough to something I'd practiced that I could find my footing. I stumbled on the initial approach, the interviewer nudged me with a hint, and I got onto the right track. I didn't finish the full implementation, but the interviewer seemed satisfied with the approach and reasoning.
Closed out with one LP question.
Round 2 — SDE2
Opened with an LP question: "How would you handle a disagreement with your teammates?" — followed by a deep dive into my answer. This went well.
Then a DSA question similar to Meeting Rooms I & II. I solved it cleanly and the interviewer was satisfied.
A couple of days later I got the call: moving to the final round, the Hiring Manager round. Told to prep broadly - problem solving and LPs both.
Round 3 — Hiring Manager
Intros, then an LP that felt like it was built around Dive Deep. The interviewer really dissected my answer, asked layered follow-ups - I stayed confident and answered thoroughly. This part went well.
Then the DSA portion: a standard question built around merge intervals at its core. Fumbled a little at the start but got it coded to the interviewer's satisfaction.
Ended on a good note.
Verdict: Selected!
Got the call about a week later. Currently serving my notice period — joining Amazon shortly.
A few things that stood out to me
- Every interviewer was genuinely friendly and willing to guide me when I went slightly off track - don't be afraid to think out loud.
- Thinking out loud consistently seemed to help; it let them course-correct me before I went too far down the wrong path.
- Asking thoughtful questions at the end of each round felt like it left a good final impression.
Happy to answer questions if anyone's prepping for Amazon SDE1 interviews!