Process
Had an assessment with behavioral and technical questions from Networking, Database/Analytics, and OS.
Followed by a phone screen with similar behavioral and technical questions.
And a final 4-hour virtual interview round with behavioral and technical questions (this time from your area of expertise, e.g., Networking) and whiteboard.
Whiteboarding was conducted on a topic of your choice.
Questions
Difference between SQL and NoSQL
Difference Between Data Lake and Data Warehousing
Difference Between Database and Data Warehousing
Difference between OLTP and OLAP
What is caching in a database?
Different types of RAID and their differences
What is an IP address and its different classes?
OSI model
What is encryption and what is PGP encryption?
Symmetric vs. Asymmetric encryption
What is a compiler and an interpreter?
What is parallelism?
What is encryption and what is PGP encryption?
Symmetric vs. Asymmetric encryption
Tell me a time where you took more time to provide a better result.
Time where you developed any algorithms.
Your understanding of a Solutions Architect and how you think you are fit for it.
Virtual Interview:
Can you explain the difference between RDBMS and a Data Warehouse?
What data structure is used for indexing in SQL?
Write a query to get the maximum salary of employees within each department, using the Employees and Department tables.
When do we use NoSQL vs. SQL?
Explain a time where you received feedback from a customer and how you processed it.
Give me an example of a time you were able to deliver an important project under a tight deadline. Did you have to make any sacrifices to meet this deadline?
You made a bad professional decision. What was its impact, and what did you learn?
Can you describe a difficult interaction you’ve had with a customer? How did you deal with it? Thinking back, what would you do differently?
Tell me a time when you didn’t expect an issue and how you overcame it.
Why would some businesses use cloud services as opposed to on-premises computing?
Can you tell me about a time when you made an important business decision without consulting your manager? What was the situation and how did it turn out?
Why Amazon Solutions Architect?
What’s the coolest thing that you’ve learned on your own that you’ve then been able to apply in your job and to further perform your job?
Build a sample Netflix database with important dimensions and facts.
Can you get the most-watched movie by a unique customer from the above?
Tell me about a time when you not only met a goal but considerably exceeded expectations. How were you able to do this?
You failed to manage your project well and complete something on time.
You considerably exceeded expectations. What enabled you to do this?
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 49 interview experiences for the Amazon Solutions Architect role in United States.
Success Rate
Amazon's interview process for their Solutions Architect roles in the United States is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Amazon's Solutions Architect interview process in United States.
Amazon Work Experiences
- 1.0Great Pay, Crushing WorkloadSolutions Architect • Current EmployeeApril 1, 2021Pros: Great Pay and Career ProgressionCons: Incredible workload. Difficult ramp-up. Little help from management.
- 5.0If you love designing new technologies, this role is for youSolutions Architect • Current EmployeeDublin, Dublin, IrelandJuly 20, 2022Pros: - Flexible working. Working as a Solutions Architect in Dublin is very flexible overall. You are given a lot of freedom, however, you must show that you are delivering results. - If you love working with new technologies/architectures, you will love this role. - Career progression options are decent if you're trying to work your way up. The progression is based on what impact you have. - You are given time to learn new technologies as part of your working week. - Flexible working (at the moment). You can work a minimum of 1 day from the office, however, this can differ depending on what team you are on.Cons: Workload can get intense. You can get overloaded with work if you're not careful. Structuring your time is important, as you are your own timekeeper. Benefits are okayish. Definitely a lot of room for improvement, as other multinationals seem to get free lunches, wellness benefits, etc. To get a large increase in salary is difficult. I have heard of people threatening to leave to get higher salaries.
- 4.0Great place to work, weird business prioritiesSolutions Architect • Current EmployeeLondon, England, United KingdomFebruary 7, 2023Pros: * Office * Pay * Team * Work-life balance * TrainingCons: Amazon has leadership principles that are supposed to guide our work, in particular "Customer Obsession" & "Insist on the Highest Standards". The role relies on advocating for AWS products and services to potential customers, but those products are often severely lacking in required functionality. It makes it difficult to honestly recommend AWS services to customers when I know that better options are available. Also, the difference between how things are supposed to be and what is actually happening causes a bit of cognitive dissonance.
Amazon Interview Questions
