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Amazon software engineer interview

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Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#11

one question. i'm a total noob in my 3rd year CS undergrad. I've just started prep to crack companies like Amazon. Any pointers or tips to get started?

Get the book, "Cracking The Coding Interview." It was the most valuable resource for me in preparing for technical interviews near the end of my time in undergrad.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#13
post #11

one question. i'm a total noob in my 3rd year CS undergrad. I've just started prep to crack companies like Amazon. Any pointers or tips to get started?

Get the book, "Cracking The Coding Interview." It was the most valuable resource for me in preparing for technical interviews near the end of my time in undergrad.

Yes, I bought it last week. But, couldn't answer through the questions because I didn't know the concepts and DS's. Could you answer these 2 questions?

1. Where did you learn how to implement the Data Structures and Algorithms?

2. Also, I'm in a dilemma between using Python and C/C++. Which one would you suggest?

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#14

If he signed an NDA, I probably wouldn't write a blog post about the interview process, that's a good way of getting fired for cause, since the late 1990s.

I thought the same before reading the post, but I must admit that the author of the post is very careful not to reveal any concrete details, so this may be more like subtle trolling of people who check enforcement of interview NDAs.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#15

one question. i'm a total noob in my 3rd year CS undergrad. I've just started prep to crack companies like Amazon. Any pointers or tips to get started?

The best prep you can do for getting a job at Amazon is to read up on what it's like to be an employee of Amazon.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#17
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get the book, "Cracking The Coding Interview." It was the most valuable resource for me in preparing for technical interviews near the end of my time in undergrad.

Yes, I bought it last week. But, couldn't answer through the questions because I didn't know the concepts and DS's. Could you answer these 2 questions? 1. Where did you learn how to implement the Data Structures and Algorithms? 2. Also, I'm in a dilemma between using Python and C/C++. Which one would you suggest?

> 1. Where did you learn how to implement the Data Structures and Algorithms?

Typically CS degrees would offer a course on this to give a starting point as well as the books and vocabulary to learn further.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#18
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get the book, "Cracking The Coding Interview." It was the most valuable resource for me in preparing for technical interviews near the end of my time in undergrad.

Yes, I bought it last week. But, couldn't answer through the questions because I didn't know the concepts and DS's. Could you answer these 2 questions? 1. Where did you learn how to implement the Data Structures and Algorithms? 2. Also, I'm in a dilemma between using Python and C/C++. Which one would you suggest?

Not the person you're asking but I previously passed the interview at Amazon.

If you don't know the concepts/data structures, just read more about them, either on the internet or from a book. The internet is usually sufficient for most things but if you want to go more in depth, CLRS is the book that most people recommend. I haven't read it personally. Don't feel bad if you can't answer the questions, a lot of it is practice, and if you don't know the concepts beforehand it's better that you just read the solutions.

1.) I learned in school 2.) It doesn't really matter, just use the one you're more comfortable with. If you're equally comfortable, I'd recommend Python because you're going to be writing on the whiteboard and I imagine C/C++ is more verbose, so you'll waste more time writing. Your hand might also get tired.

You can also go on careercup.com to get more questions after you're finished with the book so you can practice.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#19

one question. i'm a total noob in my 3rd year CS undergrad. I've just started prep to crack companies like Amazon. Any pointers or tips to get started?

Former Amazon employee, ironically. I suggest this for an overview: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnprogramming/comments/3gpvyx/al... and this for a huge list of problems (these exact problems have come up in my interviews with Google and Amazon): http://www.programcreek.com/2012/11/top-10-algorithms-for-co...

I thought Cracking the Coding interview was a bit underwhelming. Just study theory, know how to code and be able to answer generic interview type questions then you'll do great. Best of luck.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#20

In total I had a little less than one month to prepare for the interview. I can't help but to wonder if it was really worth it. Surely, his prep helped him get the job, but the entire prep stage he describes seems like a very high up-front cost. I've always felt that if I can't get through an interview with a little prep and my existing skills, I don't belong. You should know exactly why you want to work for Amazon.…

I tend to agree. In my opinion, if a job interview required me to brush up that much on a topic it either means:

a) the company is putting to much emphasis on "non-google" programming, which doesn't match reality (real software engineering isn't a closed book test).

b) I don't know the subject matter well enough and it would be a bad fit anyways.

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