Overview
Amazon's loop is mostly coding and, from mid-level up, system design. The thing that makes it different is the Leadership Principles. They come up in almost every round, not just a behavioral one, so expect half an interview to be about your past work.
Coding is LeetCode-style, and dynamic programming shows up in recent reports. System design questions tend to look like things Amazon runs: feeds, payments, streaming and recommendations. Some loops also have a low-level design round where you design classes instead of servers.
Below is what people get asked in each one and what to study. Each has its own guide with more detail and practice interviews.
System design interviews
The questions tend to look like things Amazon runs, like feeds, payments and streaming. You'll usually only get about half the hour for design, so get to the core quickly.
What people get asked
- Design a social media news feed
- Design an online checkout
- Design a music streaming app
- Design product recommendations
Coding interviews
Coding is LeetCode-style, and recent reports have a lot of dynamic programming. Some loops add a low-level design round where you design classes.
What people get asked
- Longest increasing run with a step limit
- Pick the most items within two limits
- Design the classes for a real system
- Merge and insert intervals
The rest of the process
Your recruiter will walk you through this, but here's the quick version.
| Stage | Length | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Online assessment | 1.5–2 hours | Two coding problems, or newer: one problem plus an AI-assisted task. Plus a work simulation and surveys |
| Phone screen | 45–60 min | Not everyone gets one. When it happens, it's usually one medium coding problem |
| Onsite loop | 4–5 rounds | Coding, system design, low-level design and a Bar Raiser. The hiring manager usually runs one of the technical rounds |
| Decision | Varies | Your interviewers meet and decide together |
Sources
We pulled this together from candidates' own write-ups of their interviews. They don't always agree, and things change over time.
- LeetCode Discuss: SDE-2 interview experience (2026, Prime Video)
- LeetCode Discuss: SDE online assessment with an AI-assisted task (2026)
- Taro: SDE II, Austin (Oct 2025)
- Taro: SDE II, Seattle (Oct 2025)
- Taro: SDE II, New York (Jun 2025)
- Taro: SDE 2, Bengaluru (Feb 2025)
- Blind: asked to design Amazon Locker
Practice Loop is an independent practice tool and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon.