Sources checked 2026-08-10
Everything runs on the 16 Leadership Principles. Every interviewer owns a couple, a Bar Raiser from outside the team guards the bar with relentless dive-deep follow-ups, and STAR answers with real ownership and numbers are the currency.
4 of 6 stages you can practise here
Conversational and friendly
~118 min, often before human contact: 90 min for two coding questions, ~20 min system-design scenarios, and an 8-min Work Style Survey tied to the Leadership Principles. Section mix drifts by cycle.
45-55 min in a shared editor over Amazon Chime
Amazon's SDE-II page says four 55-minute interviews; the general guide says four to six 45-60 min rounds. Mix of coding, system design (SDE-II+), and behavioral. Every round blends technical work with LP questioning.
2 rounds you can practise
55 min, live in a shared editor
45-60 min, spoken over a shared virtual whiteboard
45-55 min, spoken
Interviewers meet for a structured debrief; each submits written feedback with an inclination mapped to LPs and competencies. Feedback typically within ~2 business days after a phone interview and ~5 after the loop.
Built from what Amazon publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.
OA timing (90+20+8 = ~118 min), "four 55-minute interviews," coding criteria ("scalable, robust, and well-tested code," no pseudocode), system-design criteria, and behavioral/STAR guidance.
Official technical topic list: data structures, algorithms, coding, OOD, databases, distributed computing, operating systems, internet topics, and general ML/AI.
The 16 Leadership Principles by name, including the two added in 2021 (Strive to be Earth's Best Employer; Success and Scale Bring Broad Responsibility).
Loop of "four to six" 45-60 min interviews, Bar Raiser wording, STAR method, 30-45 min phone screen, and debrief timeline (~2 business days after phone, ~5 after the loop).
Guidance on preparing STAR stories mapped to specific Leadership Principles.
Level differences at SDE-III/L6+ (added architecture depth, heavier LP weighting).
Amazon SDE leveling mapping (SDE-I = L4, SDE-II = L5, SDE-III = L6).
Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.