Amazon

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II Interview Experience - Seattle, Washington

January 1, 2025

Neutral ExperienceNo Offer

Process

Very standard LeetCode + behavioral + system design interview process.

The Leadership Principles are the defining aspect of the behavioral, and your stories will be extra-excessively scrutinized. This is what sets their interview apart, so they take it very seriously. And it is what it is.

Definitely recommend having someone grill your answers before an interview.

Questions

Describe a time where you were able to deliver unexpected value for the customer.

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Interview Statistics

The following metrics were computed from 28 interview experiences for the Amazon Software Development Engineer (SDE) II role in Seattle, Washington.

Success Rate

14%

Pass Rate

Amazon's interview process for their Software Development Engineer (SDE) II roles in Seattle, Washington is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.

Experience Rating

Positive57%

Neutral32%

Negative11%

Candidates reported having very good feelings for Amazon's Software Development Engineer (SDE) II interview process in Seattle, Washington.

Amazon Work Experiences

A great learning experience

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: It is a good company to start your career, as it would get you into the performance-driven, get-stuff-done attitude fast.

Cons: Things are run at a different pace, which changes wildly from team to team. There is a lot of opportunity to be a self-starter and figure out your place in the organization. You have to make yourself useful and not wait for others to make you useful.

A great learning experience

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: It is a good company to start your career, as it would get you into the performance-driven, get-stuff-done attitude fast.

Cons: Things are run at a different pace, which changes wildly from team to team. There is a lot of opportunity to be a self-starter and figure out your place in the organization. You have to make yourself useful and not wait for others to make you useful.

Sink or swim environment. Very bad for snowflakes like myself

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Former Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: * Smart and motivated coworkers (especially in AWS). * Decent processes, practices, and internal tools. * Solid total compensation after factoring RSU value growth in the mid-2010s. * SDMs are very technically competent. * Work on technically sophisticated products used by millions.

Cons: The overall ethos of the company is not to value employees, in my observation, even high-performing ones. After the NYT article, they put some lipstick on the pig, but nothing really changed. I would say it is a good place if you are highly emotionally resilient, driven, and achievement-oriented.

Sink or swim environment. Very bad for snowflakes like myself

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Former Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: * Smart and motivated coworkers (especially in AWS). * Decent processes, practices, and internal tools. * Solid total compensation after factoring RSU value growth in the mid-2010s. * SDMs are very technically competent. * Work on technically sophisticated products used by millions.

Cons: The overall ethos of the company is not to value employees, in my observation, even high-performing ones. After the NYT article, they put some lipstick on the pig, but nothing really changed. I would say it is a good place if you are highly emotionally resilient, driven, and achievement-oriented.

Great with the right managers

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: Large, meaningful, impact projects. Flexible work schedule. Competitive pay.

Cons: Day 1 culture leads to stretch periods before a launch. On-call can be difficult depending on your team.

Great with the right managers

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: Large, meaningful, impact projects. Flexible work schedule. Competitive pay.

Cons: Day 1 culture leads to stretch periods before a launch. On-call can be difficult depending on your team.

A great learning experience

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: It is a good company to start your career, as it would get you into the performance-driven, get-stuff-done attitude fast.

Cons: Things are run at a different pace, which changes wildly from team to team. There is a lot of opportunity to be a self-starter and figure out your place in the organization. You have to make yourself useful and not wait for others to make you useful.

5.0
A great learning experience
Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee
Seattle, Washington, United States
May 11, 2015
Pros: It is a good company to start your career, as it would get you into the performance-driven, get-stuff-done attitude fast.
Cons: Things are run at a different pace, which changes wildly from team to team. There is a lot of opportunity to be a self-starter and figure out your place in the organization. You have to make yourself useful and not wait for others to make you useful.

Sink or swim environment. Very bad for snowflakes like myself

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Former Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: * Smart and motivated coworkers (especially in AWS). * Decent processes, practices, and internal tools. * Solid total compensation after factoring RSU value growth in the mid-2010s. * SDMs are very technically competent. * Work on technically sophisticated products used by millions.

Cons: The overall ethos of the company is not to value employees, in my observation, even high-performing ones. After the NYT article, they put some lipstick on the pig, but nothing really changed. I would say it is a good place if you are highly emotionally resilient, driven, and achievement-oriented.

3.0
Sink or swim environment. Very bad for snowflakes like myself
Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Former Employee
Seattle, Washington, United States
July 27, 2021
Pros: * Smart and motivated coworkers (especially in AWS). * Decent processes, practices, and internal tools. * Solid total compensation after factoring RSU value growth in the mid-2010s. * SDMs are very technically competent. * Work on technically sophisticated products used by millions.
Cons: The overall ethos of the company is not to value employees, in my observation, even high-performing ones. After the NYT article, they put some lipstick on the pig, but nothing really changed. I would say it is a good place if you are highly emotionally resilient, driven, and achievement-oriented.

Great with the right managers

Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee

Seattle, Washington, United States

Pros: Large, meaningful, impact projects. Flexible work schedule. Competitive pay.

Cons: Day 1 culture leads to stretch periods before a launch. On-call can be difficult depending on your team.

5.0
Great with the right managers
Software Development Engineer (SDE) II • Current Employee
Seattle, Washington, United States
July 29, 2020
Pros: Large, meaningful, impact projects. Flexible work schedule. Competitive pay.
Cons: Day 1 culture leads to stretch periods before a launch. On-call can be difficult depending on your team.

Amazon Interview Questions

Two Sum

Find two numbers in a given array that add up to a specific target value, and return their indices. Essentially, you need to efficiently locate the pair that satisfies the sum requirement.

Best Time to Buy and Sell Stock

You're given daily stock prices. Find the maximum profit you can make by buying and selling the stock once. You must buy before you sell.

ArraysDynamic Programming

Reorganize String

Rearrange the characters in a given string such that no two adjacent characters are the same. If such an arrangement is possible, return it; otherwise, return an empty string.

StringsGreedy AlgorithmsArrays

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