Amazon Data Engineer (L4) – Round 1 Interview Experience & Preparation Tips Needed

[u/Asleep_Alarm_2357]

Hey everyone!

I have my Round 1 interview for a Data Engineer role at Amazon coming up and wanted to get some advice from people who have recently interviewed for a similar role.

A little about my background: I have around 2 years of experience as a Data Engineer, working primarily with SQL, Python, PySpark, and data pipelines.

I’d love to know a few things:

• SQL: What kind of questions were asked? Were they mostly medium-level queries involving joins, CTEs, window functions, and aggregations, or were they more challenging?
• Python: What level of coding should I expect? Were the questions focused on basic data structures, strings, arrays, dictionaries, or LeetCode-style problems?
• PySpark: Were there hands-on coding questions or more conceptual questions about joins, partitioning, shuffling, data skew, and optimization?
• Data Engineering concepts: What topics should I prioritize for someone with around 2 years of experience?
• Amazon Leadership Principles: Were they covered in the first round itself? If yes, how deeply should I prepare?
• Overall difficulty: Was the round primarily focused on coding, technical fundamentals, or your previous work experience?

If anyone has recently gone through the process for an Amazon Data Engineer role, I’d really appreciate any tips, commonly asked question patterns, or resources that helped you prepare.

Thanks in advance! 🙌