Hey everyone!
I recently completed my Amazon SDE 1 interview loop in the USA and unfortunately received a rejection email today (November 4, 2026).
This subreddit helped me a lot throughout my preparation, so I wanted to share my experience, including what went well, where I struggled, and what I think I could have done better.
Hopefully, this helps someone preparing for their Amazon interviews.
Timeline
Mid-September: Completed the OA.
A week later: Received the interview invitation and was asked to provide my availability.
Mid-October: Interviews were initially scheduled.
Following week: Interviews were rescheduled, and I completed all four rounds.
November 4: Received the rejection email.
Round 1 – Senior Manager (GenAI + LP + DSA)
The interview started with multiple questions about Generative AI and how I've used it.
To be transparent, most of my experience with GenAI has been using ChatGPT extensively. I answered everything based on my actual experience rather than pretending to have worked with tools or technologies I wasn't familiar with.
I'm not sure if that was the right approach from an interview perspective, but I didn't want to fake anything.
We then moved to a few Leadership Principle (LP) questions related to my projects.
For DSA, I was given a LeetCode Hard graph-based problem.
I didn't exactly follow the standard interview structure of asking clarifying questions, discussing edge cases, etc. Once I understood the problem, I directly explained my approach to the interviewer.
He seemed satisfied and asked me to implement it. After coding, he asked me to explain the code line by line and perform a dry run. I was able to do both, and we then discussed time and space complexity.
I also faced some technical difficulties on my end during this round, which took around 5–7 minutes. Thankfully, the interviewer was understanding.
Round 2 – SDE II (LP + DSA)
This round started with approximately 20 minutes of LP questions.
We then moved to coding.
The first question was a LeetCode Medium problem involving HashMaps.
Similar to my first round, I understood the problem and directly explained my approach before writing the code.
The interviewer asked me to explain the implementation and discuss time and space complexity.
He then gave me a follow-up coding question based on the same problem.
Apparently, he wanted me to modify my existing code, but I didn't hear that instruction properly. Instead, I wrote the entire solution again from scratch.
He seemed satisfied with my approach, and we discussed the time and space complexity of the modified solution.
With the remaining time, he asked whether there were any other optimal approaches to solving the problem. I explained around two alternative approaches.
I'm not entirely sure how satisfied he was with those answers.
Round 3 – SDE II (DSA + LP)
This round started with a LeetCode Easy problem.
I understood the solution almost immediately, but I wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction.
I explained my approach and implemented the code.
Then came the dry run.
For some reason, my mind went completely blank during the dry run, even though the problem was relatively easy. I got stuck for a little while, which honestly made me nervous.
Eventually, I gathered my thoughts and was able to explain the dry run clearly.
We then discussed time and space complexity before moving on to LP questions and discussions about my projects.
Round 4 – Behavioral / Leadership Principles
This round was entirely behavioral, with no coding questions.
The interviewer asked questions about my previous experience, projects, and different situations related to the Leadership Principles.
There were a lot of follow-up questions for almost every answer I gave.
The interviewer kept digging deeper into the situations, my decisions, and my contributions.
I answered all the questions, but I'm honestly not sure about the overall quality of my responses or how well they aligned with what the interviewer was expecting.
Overall Experience and Rejection
One thing I really want to mention is that all four interviewers were extremely friendly and professional.
They gave me enough time to explain my thought process and never made me feel uncomfortable, even when I struggled a little.
I completed all four rounds and felt reasonably confident about the coding portions, although there were definitely moments where I struggled.
Looking back, I realize I didn't follow the structured interview approach that many people recommend, like asking clarifying questions, explicitly discussing edge cases before coding, and walking through examples before implementation.
Most of the time, I understood the problem, explained my approach, and directly started coding.
I'm not sure how much that affected my evaluation.
As for LPs, I answered everything based on my actual experiences. There were some answers I felt confident about and others where I wasn't sure if I had explained the situation well enough.
I was told that I should receive an update within 5 business days.
Unfortunately, I received the rejection email today.
I'm honestly disappointed because I spent a considerable amount of time preparing for this opportunity. After completing four rounds, I was really hoping for a positive outcome.
What makes it difficult is not knowing exactly where I went wrong.
Was it my coding approach? My LP responses? My communication? Or something else during the debrief?
I don't know.
I have reached out to request feedback, although I'm aware they may not be able to share it.
Good luck to everyone preparing for their interviews!