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Amazon software engineer interview

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Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#111

Post by 64bitbrain »

"It was never communicated which languages the coding test would be limited to before I started it. Those I could choose from were C, C++, Java and a couple of others, which ruined my plans to use Go or PHP - the languages I was the most proficient in. So I ended up choosing Java."

Similar thing happened to me. I was never told or asked which programming language I would prefer. I click the link, filled some info and I landed on programming question with only two choices C or C++. I was like wait?! Though, I tried to solve the problem, but couldn't finish on time. I contacted the recruiter about this and I never heard anything back. All I got was email, Sorry you didn't qualify. I really liked the Hackerrank interface, but I was disappointed in lack of language options I was given.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#112

Post by rdtsc »

Mine was more fun (I shared this before, so sorry if you have to read it again):

Didn't call on the agreed date for phone interview. Then when visiting on-site, future manager, probably the main person I should have been talking to, wasn't there. Quickly assembled together an interview schedule in 20 min with people who , except maybe two, seemed distracted and just wanted to go do something else. Forgot about me during lunch. So was left sitting in an office for an hour without anyone checking on me (eventually got up and started wondering the hallways hoping someone would stop me and ask me -- "Hey I don't think you belong here" and I was hoping to reply with a silly joke about trying to steal AWS's root CA private keys). Then of course they promised to call back with a decision in 2 days, which was more like 2 weeks. Didn't get an offer, no surprise (I did get snarky about the "leadership principles", they probably didn't appreciate that), but it did make a good story I like to tell every time interviews come up.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#113

Post by dpark »

lj3 wrote: post #95
dpark wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why not integrate an applicant into a team for a day and have pair programming sessions? I'm not sure what you think you'll learn in one day like this. You're throwing someone into a high-pressure peer-programming session with someone they don't know and a codebase they've never seen. In order to get them to complete anything you're probably going to have to stage a bunch of stuff and basically give them a fake ass…

> I also don't think you should expect to get real work out of someone before you hire them, either. This has grown on me. It's a lot of time invested per company, but it's still a hell of a lot less time than the interview prep mentioned in the article. It's also more pleasant, since I'm programming something real instead of the fibonacci sequence.

I don't honestly think you're going to get much more than Fibonacci in a one day pair programming session on an unknown codebase. It's just too much to learn before you can really accomplish anything. Beyond one or maybe two days it just becomes an unreasonable request, regardless of whether they pay you.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#114

Post by lj3 »

dpark wrote: post #113
lj3 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I also don't think you should expect to get real work out of someone before you hire them, either. This has grown on me. It's a lot of time invested per company, but it's still a hell of a lot less time than the interview prep mentioned in the article. It's also more pleasant, since I'm programming something real instead of the fibonacci sequence.

I don't honestly think you're going to get much more than Fibonacci in a one day pair programming session on an unknown codebase. It's just too much to learn before you can really accomplish anything. Beyond one or maybe two days it just becomes an unreasonable request, regardless of whether they pay you.

Oh, I think I misunderstood what you meant by "get real work" out of somebody. IMHO, pair programming isn't getting real work out of somebody. I'm with tptacek on this one: take home programming tests. Specifically, tests where they give you specs for something and you build it however you like.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#115

Post by yomly »

catchmrbharath wrote: post #106
yomly wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I believed people valued coming up with the solution on the spot. So I 100% agree with this. Being intuitively clever and being able to apply what you know is intrinsically valuable: Think of the extreme, imagine someone who is unable to apply something they've learnt unless it's exactly in the context they learnt it. That said, I think it's often underestimated how valuable prep is. Some people even get a bit salt…

I am not talking about inventing data structures or an algorithm on the spot. It takes some amount of time to find the right data structure and the algorithm. I felt that the interviewers are not ready to give that time. Say you have not seen a particular dynamic programming problem. It takes some time to get to the fact that there is a recursive solution to it, and then apply DP to it. For a person who has seen that…

The thing is, that Amazon/Facebook/Google are in the unique position of having too many applicants, not too few.

This is by no means vindicating their process, merely shedding some light on it. A bit like case studies and consulting...

Edit: though on that note, a good case study will extract / give a candidate the opportunity the opportunity to demonstrate key competencies aligned with consulting, much as in the same way solving some algorithm on the spot is a reasonable proxy for being a good googler. The only problem is it has a high false negative rate...

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#116

Post by jbooth »

yomly wrote: post #115
catchmrbharath wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not talking about inventing data structures or an algorithm on the spot. It takes some amount of time to find the right data structure and the algorithm. I felt that the interviewers are not ready to give that time. Say you have not seen a particular dynamic programming problem. It takes some time to get to the fact that there is a recursive solution to it, and then apply DP to it. For a person who has seen that…

The thing is, that Amazon/Facebook/Google are in the unique position of having too many applicants, not too few. This is by no means vindicating their process, merely shedding some light on it. A bit like case studies and consulting... Edit: though on that note, a good case study will extract / give a candidate the opportunity the opportunity to demonstrate key competencies aligned with consulting, much as in the sam…

They've got an absolute shit-ton of recruiters out there manufacturing those candidates. I've never done an on-site Google interview (never the right timing) but they hit me up once a year trying to drum up interest. And then every one of those drummed-up interview loops takes time from their engineers who could be working on stuff.

They could probably do better for themselves as businesses with an interview process that looked for skills that are necessary to get the job done (not white board big-o olympics) and sufficient to get the job done (not white board big-o olympics).

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#117

Post by lightbendover »

Retra wrote: post #96
soham wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting and valid points. I have some things to add. Disclaimer first: I'm a technical interview coach. We run http://InterviewKickstart.com , which provides structured and intense group programs for early and mid-career software engineers, with the sole purpose of preparing for technical interviews. In an ideal world, brushing up is all what it should take before going into interviews. Practicing Software Engine…

I've been pretty seriously studying CS for a while, and there's a trillion things I don't know. >If they ask you to merge sorted arrays and you don't know that Heap sort is the best way to do it, you've lost the interview no matter [...] ... no matter the fact that there are a hundred ways to sort an array, and you think you know the best one? Has it been proven the best, or is it just the best you know? How many way…

"Tell me more about the array you want me to sort" is the only valid initial response to "best way to sort an array." That said, the question posed had very little to do with sorting arrays and I'm not sure where your hostility came from.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#118

Post by cs2818 »

This whole prep for interview testing seems very unpleasant and of questionable value to me. Are these interviews in any way representative of day to day operations in the job you are applying for?

I worked as an independent software developer while doing my undergraduate in CS and was very successful just by using fundamentals I learned in courses and then reading and supplementing new things. I then transitioned into a PhD student role in robotics, where I regularly need to come up to speed on topics from all fields of engineering and implement solutions. I love learning and solving problems, but the types of coding interviews discussed seem so far from evaluating that. I produce reliable and novel things I am proud of that take a lot of work, but that would not be enough to pass these interviews.

I know employers need proof of a good fit and competence, but I just dread the day I have to go through one of these things.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#119

Post by kartickv »

blueatlas wrote: post #9

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.…

Agreed. If I have to prepare for an interview, that means that the interview isn't testing what I use every day in my work, which makes it a bad interview process. I could do something more useful with that time, and I no longer feel like investing time jumping through artificial hoops like I did in school and college.

Re: Amazon software engineer interview

#120

Post by dgemm »

khedoros wrote: post #53
outworlder wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. I have this feeling too, but I am not sure if it is warranted. Let's do a thought experiment: grab an engineer at random, don't tell the interviewers that they are already a colleague, and subject to the same interview process as everyone else. Now, is this engineer going to pass the interview? Maybe…

I know that Google's recruiters have told me that they often end up hiring candidates on their second or third interview attempts; even at a company with a fairly standardized interview format, they get a ton of what they consider "false negatives". It seems like a related phenomenon.

I believe that's intentional - they prefer false negatives over false positives.
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