So yeah as the title says, I'm looking for typical Amazon Web Service job interview questions. I'm new to the world of AWS, and have never been required to answer questions about it before. That's why I need help.

I'd appreciate every "question" you respond to this thread, including the ideal answer. Just to save me the time I need for googling

Title pretty much sums it all. A recruiter reached out to me for an L6 Sr industry value specialist role within cloud economics.

I'm fairly confident about my industry expertise however I don't necessarily work in the cloud space. My line of work often touches cloud projects, but that's not the chunk of what I do and as a result I don't have technical expertise to understand in depth details of cloud infrastructure.

In the recruiter screen, the recruiter kept telling me to emphasize my industry expertise however, when I got the prep notes, it talked a lot about knowing cloud technicalities.

I have the phone screen with the hiring manager coming up, and I've been told it's more of a functional interview. I've read up on the LP's and understand how the general loop structure works, but none of that would be relevant if I can't clear the phone screen.

Just curious if anyone is familiar with a similar role, and if they know how in depth your technical expertise must be to make it past the phone screen. Also, if the questions are functional or technical in nature, do they still need to allude to leadership principles to be considered successful answer? TIA!!!

I have been in devops for five years in CI/CD/build/release and datacenter infrastructure and was a programmer for many years before that.

Unfortunately, my lack of AWS experience is killing me in the job market. I had a brief contract a few years ago doing AWS fulltime but that's barely relevant.

I interviewed recently and kinda froze up around some of the open-ended questions like "what have you done in AWS?" If I finished my Certified Solutions Architect courses beforehand, I would have done much better.

I was curious about the sorts of interview questions and expectations around AWS I should expect before I put myself out there further.

I have an interview coming up for an install tech, I actually work in a fulfillment center already so this would just be a transfer technically. I had an interview before but I did fairly poorly, the leadership principles is what tripped me up the most. They rely heavily on that, it's like 95% of the three one hour long interviews. I at least know what to expect so should be better equipped, just wanting to know if there's any tips on making it through this time

I generally think the interview should be a little easier for transfers but what can you do, maybe I just had bad managers doing it

Hello! Not sure if this is the right place to post this question. I have an interview coming up where I am required to have basic knowledge about AWS. I am completely clueless as to where to begin in order to learn. AWS seems to have a lot of services. What are the most important ones? How do I learn them? Can anyone help?

Hi Fam,

I need your help and suggestions here, please. I had an interview this afternoon for AWS Solutions Architect role in Amazon. The Hiring Manager asked me to explain how the home router is set up and configured using a specific IP address. After explaining that, he asked further what Multi-tier architecture was, and I tried to explain it using the Onion/Defence In-depth principle, and he stopped me that he got what I was trying to explain.

Now, he asked me to update my resume and send it to him for further discussion. I am not sure of what to do and the type of questions to expect from him. I need insight on how to proceed.

Kindly oblige if you know any questions or tips that I can use to prepare for my next interview. There was no question about the Leadership Principle, though.

Thank you.

The question was, if you were building Amazon.com, with it's large amount of traffic, how would you build the website? (including, load balancers, web servers, etc).

I said I would have auto-scaling load balancers, auto-scaling web-servers, and an auto-scaling database. Whilst also incorporating a shopping cart/checkout system but not sure exactly how that would be scaled.

Hi, I know there are quite a few posts here asking something similar but I’m at a bit of a loss. Is there a big difference between the SDE interview process at AWS vs Amazon? From what I’ve gathered AWS’ process looks something like this:

• phone screen

• phone interview

• virtual 5-6x interviews

Is there no online assessment prior to the phone screen like an Amazon interview?

The position I’d like to apply for is a Front End Developer role. What kind of prep would I need for each of those stages? Will I be asked about practical front end knowledge? Data structures/algorithm/leetcode style knowledge? Is there a bare minimum I should know architecture wise (I don’t have AWS experience but could at least learn some of the basics of how it fits in)?

Aside that I’ve reviewed the leadership principles/STAR and prepped answers regarding my experiences through that lens.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and potentially providing me feedback.

I just got an email saying I’m moving on to the phone interview for the Cloud Support Engineer - Network Device position. For anyone who’s been through this, what should I expect? Do they ask LeetCode-style questions, or is it more general networking Q&A? Thank you.

Location: US

Hello there!

I recently scored an interview as a Solutions Architect Associate with one of the offices in Europe. I'm extremely stoked for the opportunity and consideration. My only issue is that I'm not certified yet, although I'm grinding through Adrian Cantrill's course and have what I believe to be a reasonable grasp on how the console functions and theories behind the systems (Obviously I have a lot more to learn).

I really would like to know what I should be expecting and particular areas I should focus my studies/refresh on. Any and all tips/ stories are absolutely welcome.

I also just want to say thank you to all of you in this community, everyone has been so friendly and helpful with all of my questions. I really appreciate it.

Hello Everyone, 

Ever since I posted about my offer with Amazon, I have been asked a LOT about the interview process and how to prepare. So, I thought I could post a comprehensive guide for the process. Please be advised that I will not be covering the basics of leadership principles, STAR format and loop interview process in this post. This is a more in depth post about the actual process and some nuances that are not available online. 

1. HR Phone Screen: This is the first round of the interview process with an Amazon recruiter on call. The recruiter will mostly ask basic questions about your resume and experience and pass you on to the next round if they think you are a good fit. I had two different experiences in this round. For the position I got hired for, the recruiter said I don’t need to do the HR phone screen since she thought I was a good fit already. In another instance, I had the HR phone screen but the recruiter ghosted me. So it is hit or miss. On paper, Amazon has a 48-hour response time promise for this round. 

2. Technical Phone Screen: I got a little lucky in this round because the interviewer was informed late and she asked questions from the top of her head. Even then, it was really technical, asking about my workflows, thought processes and experience with various software. I have been told horror stories of intense technical grilling, especially by SDE roles. So I would highly suggest preparing well. I used ChatGPT for this purpose. Some of my prompts were:

   1. I am interviewing for <job posting link> with <interviewer linkedin link> on a technical phone screen. What kind of questions can I expect?

   2. I am interviewing for <job posting link> with <interviewer linkedin link> on a technical phone screen. <job description line> is a core responsibility. What kind of questions can I expect? On paper, Amazon has a 48-hour response time promise for this round.

3. Recruiter Counselling Call: If you pass the technical phone screen, the recruiter will schedule what I call as a counselling call with you. They will discuss the loop structure, STAR format and leadership principles (LPS). There is a good chance they might tell you what leadership principles (out of Amazon’s 14) and technical competencies (TCs) will be needed for this role. 

4. The Loop: Amazon loop interview is basically a panel 4-6 interviewers with each one given an hour to test you on LPs and TCs associated with the role. The hiring manager assigns LPs & TCs to each interviewer to test your abilities. Here is a typical amazon interview panel:

   1. Hiring Manager

   2. Bar Raiser: From a completely different team, has veto power to overturn the panel’s hiring decision

   3. Cross-Functional Stakeholder

   4. Teammates/Peers

   5. Management Personnel

This is how I would prepare for my loop if I were to do it all over again, assuming I am confident about the job description expectations. My prompts to ChatGPT were:I am interviewing for the role of <job posting link> with Amazon. <linkedin profile link> is a loop interviewer. What kind of questions can I expect?

I am interviewing for the role of <job posting link> with Amazon. The LPs & TCs associated are _____. What questions can I expect?

Get creative with prompts. Use multiple AI agents. It’s all worth it, the more the better. Amazon expects all answers in STAR format unless specifically said “scenario based question”. STAR is basically a Situation-Task-Action-Result format. The time I recommend for each answer is 6-10 minutes, with a 20-20-40-20 split. Amazon has a 5-day response time promise for this round and I heard back on day 4. 

Personal Advise:

1. Make at least 15-20 STAR format stories. Match LPs to stories, not the other way around. One story can be associated with multiple LPs. 

2. I recommend not repeating stories within the loop BUT I did repeat two stories twice and I was okay. 

3. Don’t be nervous, but at the same time don’t make small talk unless reciprocated. Interviewers are very formal and serious at Amazon. They are trained to do so. 

4. Carry a single page notes sheet with summary of all stories. 

5. Use as many numbers as possible. 

6. Ask ChatGPT to review, rate and polish all your STAR format answers. Repeat this for every answer until ChatGPT rates it 4.5 or above.

Hey everyone I’m interviewing for an internship at AWS and I have my final interview coming up and I was wondering if there’s any tips anyone would recommend on impressing the interviewer to secure the job. I’m pretty confident in my behavioral skills but I don’t really have a lot of experience in AWS (I’m surprised I passed all previous rounds) so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

For context I’m a junior studying compsci interviewing for the CSA internship

Thought I'd give another name dump for those prospective workers out there. Interviewed recently for a role at AWS that I applied to about a month back.

Got contacted by a recruiter a week or so later, going over the typical intro questions. She mentioned I'd be taking an assessment, then interview with the hiring manager, then a rotation of about 5 other people over 5 hours. She sent me basic info on their benefits which were not actually that great. They really liked to emphasize their generic "leadership principles" and "vestment growth" as if it was anything special, encouraging me to familiarize myself with them to help with interview prep.

The assessment was multiple choice over different sections, namely my course of action in example scenarios, some behavioral trite like choosing between "I am more of a team player" or "I am detail oriented," and a technical evaluation. None of it was entirely difficult, but took me just over 90 minutes to get through the ridiculous amount of questions. Passed and got set up for the first interview.

When I joined the interview I could already tell how bad it would be when he explicitly asked me to only answer using the STAR method and to make sure I was very clear when using "I" or "we" in my responses. I initially tried to generalize some answers to my overall thought process, but was encouraged to be specific. I expressed that I have a lot of experience in a variety of situations, so my exact actions in one example are not indicative of how I'd handle everything. So I had to cherry-pick what things I could remember after years and he just had to deep-dive into every single aspect of them.

At the end of each answer, I was repeatedly asked to iterate on the overall impact I had on whatever the situation was, most of which I either already mentioned or implied. In one example, I was asked about "a time I couldn't deliver on an ask and how I handled it."

I talked about a time, somewhat recently, where I was asked to upgrade an application that hadn't been touched in 20+ years. That it was only used by 2 people in the entire company, the documentation dated back to '99 and the only person that ever managed it left in 2005. The company that created this application rebranded long ago and they don't even really handle it anymore. I stated it wasn't really feasible, if even possible, to update this, so I proposed various solutions to management that I would be happy to implement as an alternative. Was told they would discuss it amongst themselves and get back to me. I'm actually still waiting on their decision to this day, but I at least told them what I could do.

I would say this essentially answers the question, right? He kept asking what my impact was and why I haven't heard back from anyone yet. Um, because I can't control their decision or how long it takes, but I at least gave them their options?

"Don't you think just leaving this application how it is now is a security vulnerability?" Well, it has been running fine since I was in grade school, doesn't touch that much data, and I'm not going to just start making changes when it's not my call.

He didn't seem to understand the point I was making, so I said "well, let me give you a different example that I think will convey this better." As I started to go over it, he immediately interrupted me saying that it doesn't sound like what he's asking for, despite not even allowing me to actually explain anything.

It was overall a very stiff interview and did not remotely flow like a conversation. Felt as though he couldn't make any distinctions without me spoon feeding him. Maybe I could have chosen some better examples to speak on? I'm no stranger to questions like these, but this specific interview felt far too stringent for the kind of role it was. Didn't really ask for any kind of overview as it related to the role and I felt like my answers could not be understood beyond face value.

Got my rejection the next week. Already told myself I wouldn't be taking the job even if I got the offer, so not heartbroken over it. The role was listed in Seattle (I don't live there), but didn't 100% confirm if it was only on-site. Figured since there are definitely remote workers at Amazon, I'll give it a shot. Was told in my screening that it was on-site only, no WFH eligibility and no relocation assistance. Went ahead with it anyway to at least get some experience and insight on their hiring process. The hiring manager didn't even live in Washington though, so essentially the team was expected to be in office yet the boss gets a pass. Kind of glad now that I didn't waste my time further with the upcoming 5 interviews if they were all going to be like this. Not a fun endeavor.

Hey ladies and Gents, I hope you are having a great weekend...

Next Wednesday, I have a phone interview with AWS for an early start 2022 SA role ( for newly grads and early career pros ) I've passed the online assessment, and I've been doing to reading and research on the Leader Principles and the STAR method.

the thing is I don't have much experience to create stories to impress the interviewer and I don't want to B.S as well.

please any tips are welcome <3

Navigating the "Do you have any questions?" gauntlet at the end of an interview can be tricky. The usual "What's a typical day like?" feels uninspired, while venturing off topic might raise eyebrows.

Can someone suggest some of the smart questions one can ask to leave a lasting impression on the interviewer and thus boosting the chances of getting hired?

I recently had my technical interview for a DCEO L3 position and got an email the next day to schedule for the panel interview.

Does anyone have direct experience applying for this position who can tell me how extensive the behavioral portion of the interview is?

I am schedule to meet with 3 team members and 2 of which are Facility Managers and the third I’m unsure of (possibly the bar raiser)

I have tried to come up with as many examples as possible in the STAR format for the 6 Leadership Principles I was given by my recruiter but I’m just worried about how many different examples I might need. I’m hoping that it’s not just one behavioral question after another for 3 straight interviews but I would love any advice from those who have been interviewed for this same position.

I did my first 5-hour AWS interview loop yesterday and I'm a bit perplexed by it. In the preparation sheet that I was given by my recruiter I was told that I'd have 2 DSA interviews and 1 system design interview and the remaining 2 interviews would be behavioural interviews. Apart from the two 1 hour long behavioural interviews, every other interview I had had 30 minutes of leadership principles in it. So I spent a total of 3.5 out of the 5 hours doing leadership principle behavioural interview questions. I'm especially confused by the fact that my system design interview was only 30 minutes long. Is this normal? I was applying for an SDE role but in retrospect very little of the interview loop had any technical aspects to it.

Hi community, i'm expecting my loop interview to be scheduled sometime in the next 2 to 3 weeks. I read throughout the internet that it is enough to have 2-3 stories for each LP. However I find that hard to believe since there are at least 5 question for each LP which one could be asked by his interviewer.

14 principles (I don't consider 2 latest ones to be so relevant for the interview) x 5 possible questions per LP x 2 stories for each question. You are down to minimum of 140 stories.

Am i missing something here? Is my math off?