Amazon | SDE 2 | Recent Interview Experiences | 2026 | Set-64

Question

Amazon SDE2 L5 Interview Experience

The process started with an online assessment, after which I was contacted by a recruiter. There was also a prep discussion before scheduling the interviews. The loop consisted of four rounds, each around an hour long, with a mix of technical and leadership principle discussions.

 

Round 1 (DSA + LPs):

The DSA part had two questions.

The first one was a variation of string validation problem involving checking whether brackets are balanced.

The follow-up was to find the minimum number of removals required to make the string valid, which leaned towards a BFS-based approach.

 

The leadership discussion in this round focused on learn & be curious and deliver results.

 

Round 2 (LLD + LPs):

This round was centered around designing a pizza ordering system using a decorator-style approach.

 

Leadership questions here were around ownership and customer obsession.

 

Round 3 (HLD – Hiring Manager + LPs):

This round focused on designing a video streaming platform like Netflix.

 

Leadership questions were more around insist on highest standards and earn trust.

 

Round 4 (Bar Raiser – DSA + LPs):

This round had a variation of the classic 2-sum problem.

The follow-up made it more interesting: if an exact sum is not possible, find two items whose sum is максимально close but does not exceed the target.

 

A big focus in this round was not just solving the problem but asking the right clarifying questions upfront.

 

The leadership discussion here revolved around invent & simplify and dive deep.

 

Overall, the process emphasized both problem-solving and how well you align your experiences with leadership principles.

 

Verdict: Hire