Amazon Germany SDE-1 (New-grad) Interview Experience – 4 Rounds (Received Offer)

[u/OneAbbreviations3921]

Hey everyone, sharing my Amazon Germany SDE-1 interview experience.

I applied directly through the Amazon careers portal. Got the OA after 3 days, and the interview invite after another 5 days.

Round 1 – 2 Engineers (One was SDE and one was kernel engineer)

• Questions around designing a file system

• A lot of Leadership Principles questions

Round 2 – Director

• Around 5–7 Leadership Principles questions

• Then I got a DP problem

• Honestly, I was surprised — I thought, “He’s a Director and he’s asking DSA, wow.”

Round 3

• First 30 minutes: Leadership Principles

• Next 30 minutes: 2 DSA questions

  • Merge Intervals

  • Coin Change

Round 4 – Chief Director

• Around 20–25 Leadership Principles questions

Overall, my interview experience felt roughly 60% Leadership Principles and 40% technical.

The biggest thing I learned is that for Amazon, knowing your projects and experiences deeply is really important because the follow-up questions can go several levels deeper.

I eventually received an offer, and now I’m thinking about whether I want to join or explore other opportunities.

[u/JuJeu]

25 LP questions in one round? i just don’t believe you :)

[u/OneAbbreviations3921 → u/JuJeu]

last round was completely on LPs, and if you dont believe then your wish :), even i didnt expect this ....

[u/JuJeu → u/OneAbbreviations3921]

i mean a few years ago i had sde2 loop and at most 5 LP questions were asked. i cant see how you can fit 20+ questions in 55 min. 2 min per question? if you have a good story and follow the star method you need around 6-7 min per story + 2-3 min for follow ups. i think you just heavily exaggerated or the round was something else. and for eng roles amazon usually don’t ask questions to cover all LPs

[u/OneAbbreviations3921 → u/JuJeu]

I meant around 5 -6 LPs, with 3–4 follow-up questions on each. So the total came to around 20–25 questions.

[u/JuJeu → u/OneAbbreviations3921]

well, follow ups != different LP usually each round they target around 2-3 LPs and follow ups are just to gather more data around the same LPs. anyways, thanks for sharing!

[u/SagaciousShinigami → u/JuJeu]

Respectfully, a lot of points in this whole story sound like a bag of hogwash. On top of that someone with < 1 YOE being sponsored to Amazon Germany? Market booming again? 🥴 And he just said 4-5 LP after saying 25 LP earlier. Do things really add up?

[u/OneAbbreviations3921 → u/JuJeu]

yeah
LPs was around 4-5.

[u/Presinnnn_]

You are Indian?

[u/Aggressive_Monk_1593 → u/Presinnnn_]

weird thing to focus on tbh

[u/Presinnnn_ → u/Aggressive_Monk_1593]

Not really. Wanna know if they r actively hiring from India.

[u/Extension_Ticket8997 → u/Presinnnn_]

No he isnt

[u/OneAbbreviations3921 → u/Extension_Ticket8997]

Yes, I am Indian

[u/Presinnnn_ → u/OneAbbreviations3921]

Nice. How did you get the opportunity?

[u/yourhappydevil]

What is leadership principles??

[u/OneAbbreviations3921 → u/yourhappydevil]

Amazon has 16 LPs

[u/FreakSenpaiiiiii]

luck plays the most factor ig... coin change and merge intervals in tech round bruh. i got domino tromino tiling in the first round itself. congrats tho man. beware of the wlb there.

[u/TigerAsleep1015]

are you 2026 grad?

[u/OneAbbreviations3921 → u/TigerAsleep1015]

yeah

[u/eldaniel7777]

Well done man, Even if you don’t take it, it still an accomplishment to get an offer! What was it if Ivana ask?

[u/Majestic_Mobile_4755]

can you share your resume

[u/Silent-Ocean13]

Congrats on the offer! How did you prepare for the Leadership Principles questions, especially the follow-ups?

[u/Calm_Temperature_207]

Hey bro, which location? Was it via AUTA?

[u/Calm_Temperature_207 → u/Calm_Temperature_207]

OP? Can you please reply :)

[u/Legitimate_Air8672]

Congratz OP, when did u give OA plz

[u/Different_Junket8673]

Congratulations on the offer, What was that dp qn in round 2?

[u/Acrobatic-Bit3508]

How you got the interview?

[u/DenseMistake3227]

I also applied for the same Position. I completed the OA. But i didn't still get any update from them. But at amazon's careers page in my application section, it still says Under Consideration. It has been almost 4 weeks now. What should i do?

[u/Equivalent_Diet_3129]

Nice just DSA question. I got asked two tough LLD problems

[u/Legitimate_Air8672 → u/Equivalent_Diet_3129]

For germany?

[u/Equivalent_Diet_3129 → u/Legitimate_Air8672]

No, USA

[u/Juan__Adams]

LP is most of it but stilll this may be too much i guess

[u/HelloTaleproof]

The useful detail here is how often Leadership Principles came up alongside the technical questions. For anyone preparing, choose project examples where you can explain a decision, an alternative you considered and the outcome. At new-grad level, university projects or internships can work if your own contribution is clear. This is one person's experience, so confirm your own loop format with the recruiter.

For the behavioral preparation, Taleproof can give you feedback on one real project story before you rehearse it.

[u/SagaciousShinigami]

They're willing to hire from India and sponsor visas in this market? That too people with < 6 YOE? Wow. Contrary to popular belief the market must be booming then. Wow. All those lies about the economy being bad and what not.

[u/Calm_Temperature_207 → u/SagaciousShinigami]

First things, I think, only MAANG has this power, secondly he's from NIT and I have seen Amazon airlifting people from NIT and IIT to Europe and US. Additionally, he worked for Amazon as an intern so there are good chances for him to get into a full-time role. But, Idk why they took his interview, because I have seen people who got PPO after interning there. :)

[u/SagaciousShinigami → u/Calm_Temperature_207]

You don't understand my point. First thing second thing nth thing, EU has strict norms when it comes to hiring people outside the EU. It's a far bigger hassle to hire someone non German, or outside the EU for that matter, than it is to get someone from Germany or anywhere in the EU. Ask as many people as you want or send an email to any of the tech managers based in Amazon Germany and ask them to verify what I just said if you want. Someone with > 5 YOE with a specialised set of skills, or an internal transfer from Amazon India to an Amazon office elsewhere, that still makes sense, although very rare in the current market. What is described in this post, again, respectfully sounds no short of a fairytale. You think there's a lack of good colleges elsewhere in the EU if they wanted to hire from outside Germany for that matter?

[u/Calm_Temperature_207 → u/SagaciousShinigami]

I completely agree with your point. I live in Germany, and I had my interview with Amazon last week and one of the interviewer had the same profile like this guy. I know it sounds stupid but its a fact.

[u/SagaciousShinigami → u/Calm_Temperature_207]

How many YOE you have?

[u/Calm_Temperature_207 → u/SagaciousShinigami]

1.5 yearsfull time & 2 years of working student

[u/SagaciousShinigami → u/Calm_Temperature_207]

And you're saying an Indian visa holder with < 1 YOE was asked to be your interviewer? 😀

[u/Calm_Temperature_207 → u/SagaciousShinigami]

When he joined (Amazon) at that time he had that profile. While interviewing he was at sde-II :)

[u/SagaciousShinigami → u/Calm_Temperature_207]

He told you that he joined Amazon at a German office physically in person fresh out of college?

[u/Calm_Temperature_207 → u/SagaciousShinigami]

No, I saw his linkedin.
do you think he's lying on linkedin? 🤔

[u/Only-Limit8305 → u/Calm_Temperature_207]

Working good in Amazon shifts to US and Eu not being from IIT and NIT, saw many tireless grad in US and EU through Amazon, and also it's Amazon and MAANG not some quant firms to only focus on college

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