How Amazon interviews
These are the Amazon loops we have researched. Each one lists the rounds, what they test, the follow-up questions to expect, and how to prepare, with the sources we used.
- Backend Engineer
- Mid-level · 5 rounds · 5 h 10 min
- Product Manager (Non-Technical)
- L5 · 7 rounds · 6 h 15 min
- Program Manager
- L5 · 7 rounds · 6 h 15 min
- UX Designer
- L5 / UX Designer II · 4 rounds · 4 h
What Amazon says about its interviews
Amazon publishes a two-question, 90-minute coding assessment for SDE II applicants. Amazon SDE II Interview Prep
Amazon officially describes a 60-minute senior-leader phone screen split between Leadership Principles and functional product-management questions. Amazon Product Manager Interview Prep
Amazon officially describes a 60-minute senior-leader screen split between Leadership Principles and functional program-management questions. Amazon Program Manager Interview Prep
Amazon Backend Engineer interview
Amazon SDE II preparation starts with the online assessment, then four 55-minute loop interviews. Build fluency in algorithms, maintainable object-oriented code, and scalable service design. Leadership Principles are assessed throughout: bring specific decisions, customer impact, and lessons that withstand repeated probing.
The 5 rounds
Online assessment: coding
Practice the assessed 90-minute coding stage: complete two problems and protect time for independent verification.
Expect: First algorithmic problem with implementation and complexity. Second independent problem with boundary-case verification.
Follow-ups: “How does the algorithm behave at the largest input size?” “Which boundary would invalidate the current approach?”
Coding and problem solving
Combine a concise Leadership Principles example with a correct algorithm, clear complexity and a deliberate verification pass.
Expect: An algorithmic problem following a short ownership discussion.
Follow-ups: “What data changed your decision?” “How does the implementation handle skewed or streaming input?”
Maintainable code and object design
Express a clear domain model in code and extend it without breaking its invariants.
Expect: A validation or streaming component extended with a new rule.
Follow-ups: “How would you add a payment method or time window?” “What happens when callers repeat the request?”
System design and customer trade-offs
Build a practical service design with a clear data model and explain the consequences of its failure modes.
Expect: A high-volume service with a reliability or consistency constraint.
Follow-ups: “What happens during a partial regional failure?” “Which metric tells you the design is hurting customers?”
Leadership Principles and Bar Raiser
Demonstrate consistent judgment across customer impact, disagreement, failure and delivery; make every claim traceable to your actions.
Expect: A customer-focused decision under competing constraints. A disagreement followed by commitment. A failure with a measurable correction.
Follow-ups: “What would your colleague say you got wrong?” “What mechanism prevented the same failure recurring?”
What candidates and sources report
- Amazon publishes a two-question, 90-minute coding assessment for SDE II applicants. Amazon
- The SDE II assessment also evaluates system design and work styles. Amazon
- The official SDE II loop comprises four interviews of 55 minutes each. Amazon
- The technical bar includes syntactically correct, maintainable code and system-design reasoning. Amazon
- Leadership Principles are assessed alongside technical work rather than only in an introductory conversation. Amazon
How to prepare
- Rehearse the assessment: Complete two unseen problems in 90 minutes. Review Amazon’s system-design and work-style assessment sections before the real OA.
- Pair coding with ownership: Open a coding mock with a three-minute customer-impact story; then complete the solution, complexity analysis and dry-run.
- Implement an extensible component: Write a validator or windowed aggregator, then introduce a rule change. Keep one state owner and trace invalid inputs.
- Design for a named failure: Build one end-to-end service on the board. Introduce overload or partial failure and defend the recovery behavior.
- Build an LP evidence bank: Prepare eight distinct decisions spanning customers, disagreement, failure and delivery. Retell each under repeated why and what-changed probes.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not chase a difficult optimization while the second task is untouched.
- Do not confuse example correctness with general correctness.
- Do not substitute principle names for evidence.
- Do not stop after only explaining the optimal idea.
- Do not enumerate design patterns instead of writing the flow.
Questions to ask your interviewers
- Which Leadership Principles are most visible in this team’s day-to-day trade-offs?
- What production responsibility does a new SDE II take on?
- What customer or reliability problem should this hire improve first?
Amazon Product Manager (Non-Technical) interview
Amazon publishes this loop in unusual detail: a 60-minute senior-leader screen, a writing assessment due two days before the loop, and five 55-minute interviews. Expect every conversation to combine Leadership Principles with functional evidence, while distinct interviewers probe product judgment, customer needs, metrics, stakeholder management, ownership, and the bar raiser. Build quantified stories and practice making decisions from customer and business evidence.
The 7 rounds
Product and Leadership screen
Learn whether the candidate has L5 product judgment and credible Leadership Principle evidence before the full loop.
Expect: Two or three past-experience probes paired with functional product follow-ups.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Writing assessment
Learn whether the candidate can structure a concise, data-driven product recommendation whose assumptions, alternatives, decision, and measures withstand asynchronous review.
Expect: A product decision memo with customer problem, evidence, options, recommendation, risks, and success metrics.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.”
Customer product judgment
Learn whether the candidate can work backward from a precise customer problem to a prioritized experience and credible business decision.
Expect: A customer journey and product concept balancing trust, convenience, and economics.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Metrics and business judgment
Learn whether the candidate can diagnose a business movement, use data to find the customer cause, and make a decision with guardrails.
Expect: A conversion or adoption movement requiring segmentation, causal hypotheses, and action thresholds.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Stakeholder management
Learn whether the candidate can earn trust, disagree with evidence, and align design, engineering, operations, finance, and leadership without direct authority.
Expect: Past examples of cross-functional disagreement, escalation, and durable alignment.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Ownership and delivery
Learn whether the candidate can take responsibility beyond boundaries, act with appropriate speed, and deliver a durable result when a product is off track.
Expect: Past examples of a failing launch, resource constraint, or neglected customer problem.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Bar Raiser judgment
Learn whether the candidate consistently demonstrates customer obsession, high standards, independent judgment, and learning across unfamiliar follow-up pressure.
Expect: Deep behavioral probes on a failure, an unpopular decision, and a high-standards intervention.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
What candidates and sources report
- Amazon officially describes a 60-minute senior-leader phone screen split between Leadership Principles and functional product-management questions. Amazon
- Amazon officially sends a writing assessment two days before the interview loop, but does not state the expected effort duration. Amazon
- Amazon officially describes five 55-minute loop interviews with product-management, stakeholder-management, writing, and Leadership Principles competencies. Amazon
- L5 practice should distribute functional and Leadership Principle signals across the five interviews rather than reserve leadership evidence for one final round. Amazon
How to prepare
- Practice product and Leadership screen: Run one 60-minute rep using two or three past-experience probes paired with functional product follow-ups. Use “Own product outcomes” and “Learn from the result” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice writing assessment: Run one 40-minute rep using a product decision memo with customer problem, evidence, options, recommendation, risks, and success metrics. Use “Structure the decision” and “Define success” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice customer product judgment: Run one 55-minute rep using a customer journey and product concept balancing trust, convenience, and economics. Use “Define the customer” and “Balance customer and business” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice metrics and business judgment: Run one 55-minute rep using a conversion or adoption movement requiring segmentation, causal hypotheses, and action thresholds. Use “Define the business signal” and “Set decision thresholds” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice stakeholder management: Run one 55-minute rep using past examples of cross-functional disagreement, escalation, and durable alignment. Use “Earn trust in disagreement” and “Show durable alignment” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice ownership and delivery: Run one 55-minute rep using past examples of a failing launch, resource constraint, or neglected customer problem. Use “Act beyond the boundary” and “Build a durable mechanism” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice bar Raiser judgment: Run one 55-minute rep using deep behavioral probes on a failure, an unpopular decision, and a high-standards intervention. Use “Examine failure honestly” and “Prove customer impact” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not substitute a memorized framework for the supplied facts.
- Do not hide personal decisions behind vague team language.
- Do not claim certainty beyond the evidence available.
Questions to ask your interviewers
- Which functional and Leadership Principle signals does each interviewer own?
- What format and scope does this team's writing assessment use?
- How does this role distinguish L5 product ownership from L6 scope?
Amazon Program Manager interview
Amazon publishes the Program Manager loop: a 60-minute screen split between program-management and Leadership Principle questions, a writing assessment due two days before the loop, and five 55-minute interviews. Prepare quantified examples of end-to-end delivery, mechanisms, risk control, stakeholder alignment, and customer impact. Functional cases should show how you turn ambiguous work into owners, dependencies, metrics, and corrective action.
The 7 rounds
Program and Leadership screen
Learn whether the candidate has L5 program judgment and specific Leadership Principle evidence before the full loop.
Expect: Two or three program-delivery stories with functional follow-ups on risks, metrics, and mechanisms.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Writing assessment
Learn whether the candidate can write a concise program decision with evidence, ownership, dependencies, risks, mechanisms, and success measures.
Expect: A program correction memo with current state, root causes, options, recommendation, owners, and metrics.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.”
Program mechanisms and delivery
Learn whether the candidate can turn a cross-functional objective into an executable mechanism with owners, dependencies, decision points, and recovery paths.
Expect: A multi-region program plan with dependency map, operating cadence, risk triggers, and recovery.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Dive Deep and course correction
Learn whether the candidate can diagnose a program miss from data, find the controllable driver, and build a durable corrective mechanism.
Expect: A program dashboard movement requiring segmentation, root-cause hypotheses, and correction thresholds.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Stakeholder alignment
Learn whether the candidate can earn trust, challenge senior partners, and align global technical and non-technical owners without direct authority.
Expect: Past examples of cross-functional disagreement, stalled ownership, and escalation.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Risk and adaptability
Learn whether the candidate anticipates program failure, acts at the right speed, and adapts mechanisms when conditions change.
Expect: Past examples of emerging risk, reversible action, and recovery under incomplete information.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
High standards and judgment
Learn whether the candidate raises program quality, owns failures, and uses independent judgment across unfamiliar Leadership Principle probes.
Expect: Deep probes on a failed program, an unpopular standard, and action beyond scope.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
What candidates and sources report
- Amazon officially describes a 60-minute senior-leader screen split between Leadership Principles and functional program-management questions. Amazon
- Amazon officially sends Program Manager candidates a writing assessment two days before a five-interview loop. Amazon
- Amazon officially describes five 55-minute loop interviews covering program management, stakeholder management, writing, and assigned Leadership Principles. Amazon
- Amazon defines Program Manager work around process gaps, research, testing, solution validation, global alignment, and bridging technical and non-technical stakeholders. Amazon
- Recent L5 candidates and employees advise preparing numerous quantified examples that can withstand repeated Leadership Principle follow-ups. Candidate report
How to prepare
- Practice program and Leadership screen: Run one 60-minute rep using two or three program-delivery stories with functional follow-ups on risks, metrics, and mechanisms. Use “Own the program outcome” and “Learn from execution” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice writing assessment: Run one 40-minute rep using a program correction memo with current state, root causes, options, recommendation, owners, and metrics. Use “Structure the program” and “Define control metrics” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice program mechanisms and delivery: Run one 55-minute rep using a multi-region program plan with dependency map, operating cadence, risk triggers, and recovery. Use “Define program success” and “Sequence critical work” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice dive Deep and course correction: Run one 55-minute rep using a program dashboard movement requiring segmentation, root-cause hypotheses, and correction thresholds. Use “Validate the signal” and “Design the correction” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice stakeholder alignment: Run one 55-minute rep using past examples of cross-functional disagreement, stalled ownership, and escalation. Use “Earn trust across functions” and “Show alignment worked” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice risk and adaptability: Run one 55-minute rep using past examples of emerging risk, reversible action, and recovery under incomplete information. Use “Anticipate failure” and “Improve the mechanism” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice high standards and judgment: Run one 55-minute rep using deep probes on a failed program, an unpopular standard, and action beyond scope. Use “Own a program failure” and “Prove durable impact” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not substitute a memorized framework for the supplied facts.
- Do not hide personal decisions behind vague team language.
- Do not claim certainty beyond the evidence available.
Questions to ask your interviewers
- Which program competencies and Leadership Principles does each interviewer own?
- What scope and format does the writing assessment use?
- How does this organization distinguish L5 execution ownership from L6 strategic scope?
Amazon UX Designer interview
Amazon’s current UX guidance specifies 60-minute sessions: a portfolio review, an interactive functional exercise such as a design whiteboard, and one-to-one Leadership Principles interviews with UX, product, engineering, and business partners. For UX Designer II scope, show end-to-end ownership, a customer-centered flow, production states, research evidence, and the ability to balance high craft with engineering and operational constraints.
The 4 rounds
Portfolio review
Learn whether the candidate can explain end-to-end design ownership, customer evidence, alternatives, production partnership, and impact across at least two projects.
Expect: A verbal portfolio narrative contrasting one complex workflow with one customer-facing journey.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Interactive design exercise
Learn whether the candidate can work backward from a customer problem, map a usable journey, and adapt it under operational and technical pressure.
Expect: A live whiteboard problem with customer segmentation, flow states, and an operational constraint.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Cross-functional design delivery
Learn whether the candidate can earn trust, challenge constraints, and get a high-quality customer experience shipped with product and engineering partners.
Expect: Past examples of design-engineering disagreement, research influence, and delivery compromise.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
Leadership Principles and judgment
Learn whether the candidate shows customer obsession, high standards, ownership, and learning beyond a single polished design success.
Expect: Deep probes on a design failure, an unpopular quality decision, and action beyond role boundaries.
Follow-ups: “Change one important constraint and ask what survives.” “Probe the weakest assumption and the evidence needed.” “Ask for the rejected alternative and decision threshold.”
What candidates and sources report
- Amazon officially states that the UX loop includes a portfolio review, an interactive functional exercise, and one-to-one Leadership Principles interviews. Amazon
- Amazon officially states that each UX loop session lasts 60 minutes and involves UX, product, engineering, and business interviewers. Amazon
- A current UX Designer II posting emphasizes field research, interaction design, prototyping, ambiguous problems, and collaboration with product and engineering. Job posting
- An official adjacent university guide asks designers to present at least two projects and reserve time within a 30-minute creative-materials presentation. Amazon
- L5 practice should combine customer-centered design craft with production constraints and quantified Leadership Principle evidence across the loop. Amazon
How to prepare
- Practice portfolio review: Run one 60-minute rep using a verbal portfolio narrative contrasting one complex workflow with one customer-facing journey. Use “Frame the customer problem” and “Show shipped impact” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice interactive design exercise: Run one 60-minute rep using a live whiteboard problem with customer segmentation, flow states, and an operational constraint. Use “Start from the customer” and “Adapt to pressure” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice cross-functional design delivery: Run one 60-minute rep using past examples of design-engineering disagreement, research influence, and delivery compromise. Use “Earn trust in conflict” and “Show delivery impact” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
- Practice leadership Principles and judgment: Run one 60-minute rep using deep probes on a design failure, an unpopular quality decision, and action beyond role boundaries. Use “Own a design failure” and “Raise the customer bar” as checkpoints; repeat after one changed constraint.
Mistakes to avoid
- Do not substitute a memorized framework for the supplied facts.
- Do not hide personal decisions behind vague team language.
- Do not claim certainty beyond the evidence available.
Questions to ask your interviewers
- Which functional exercise will this team use for the UX Designer II loop?
- How many Leadership Principles interviews are scheduled, and which partners will conduct them?
- What differentiates successful L5 design ownership from L6 scope here?
Sources
Research reviewed . Practice exercises are our own; they are not confidential interview questions.
- Amazon SDE II Interview Prep — Amazon
- Amazon SDE II Online Assessment Prep — Amazon
- Amazon SDE II Prime Video interview experience — Candidate report
- AWS SDE II assessment and loop experience — Candidate report
- Amazon Product Manager Interview Prep — Amazon
- Amazon L5 non-tech PM phone screen discussion — Candidate report
- Amazon non-tech PM product-case discussion — Candidate report
- Amazon Senior PM loop report — Candidate report
- Amazon Program Manager Interview Prep — Amazon
- Amazon L5 Program Manager interview discussion — Candidate report
- Amazon L5 non-tech Leadership Principle preparation — Candidate report
- Amazon Senior Program Manager, Last Mile Analytics — Job posting
- Amazon UX Interview Prep — Amazon
- Amazon UX Designer II, ShipTech — Job posting
- Amazon UX design loop discussion — Candidate report
- Amazon university UX interview prep — Amazon
Independent preparation using Amazon as a practice target. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Amazon.