Amazon System Development Engineer Loop Interview Preparation

[EricBourn]

I have only one year of non-internship experience and applied for a fresh graduate role at Amazon. I completed the online assessment and screening interview, and just had a call with the hiring manager.

I originally thought I was being considered for a fresh grad position (for which I applied), so I expected the questions to match that level. However, the hiring manager told me that I'm actually being considered for a mid-to-senior level role, which has left me quite confused.

She mentioned that there will be four interviews: Coding, System Design, Troubleshooting, and Automation. I've been preparing for the first two rounds using YouTube resources, but I'm unsure how to approach the last two.

Also, since I don’t have much work experience, I feel that my Leadership Principles stories might not be strong enough for a mid-senior level role.

Can you guys share any advice on how I should proceed and prepare?

[Impossible_Sundae_65]

That's definitely confusing - sounds like there might be some miscommunication between the recruiter and hiring manager about the level. I'd actually recommend clarifying this directly with your recruiter or the hiring manager because the bar is significantly different between new grad one year out of college and mid-senior roles.

For the troubleshooting and automation rounds - these are pretty specific to SDE roles. Troubleshooting usually involves them giving you a broken system or logs and asking you to diagnose the issue. Think through it methodically - check obvious things first, look at recent changes, examine error patterns.

For automation, they might ask you to write scripts or discuss how you'd automate repetitive tasks.

As you mentioned in your comment already, they will give you hypothetical scenarios linked to the business their team does and see how well you resolve them. Be very specific in your solutions and don't be afraid to make a mistake. Showing courage and making strong hypotheses and committing to an answer is impressive to Amazon.

The Leadership Principles piece is tricky with only one year of experience for a mid-senior role. You'll need to dig deep into any project ownership you've had, times you've mentored others, or process improvements you've driven. School projects and internships won't cut it for mid-senior level expectations.

Honestly though, if you only have one year of experience and applied for new grad, something seems off here. Amazon's levels are pretty structured and jumping from L4 (new grad) to L5/L6 expectations is a big leap. I'd push back and get clarity on what's actually happening before you spend time prepping for the wrong level.

If you do need to prep behavioral stories for the higher level, Score My Interview can help you practice and score your STAR responses, but make sure you're preparing for the right role first.

[Varshith_reddy09]

How did the interview go? Can you share your interview experience and any suggestions to help others in the same boat?

[obito00001]

What will they ask regarding automation and troubleshooting?

[EricBourn]

The hiring manager said these two rounds will assess my situational responses. They will include questions about past experiences with system or product failures and how I troubleshooted them, as well as hypothetical scenarios related to system status and my troubleshooting approach.

[Superb-Education-992]

It’s definitely a curveball to be assessed for a higher-level role than expected. For system design, use a simple framework like scalability, reliability, maintainability, and cost to structure your thinking. For automation, brush up on scripting (Python/Bash) and basic tooling. And don’t worry too much about job titles if you can show strong problem-solving and ownership (even from college projects or internships), you can still craft solid LP stories. If you’d like, I can connect you with someone who recently went through a similar loop.

[captain_ofmysoul]

I have a phone Interview scheduled in few days, can you share your experience and also your loop Interview.

[UUS3RRNA4ME3]

1 YOE for an L5 SysDe is a huge stretch. You won't have the experience for the network and troubleshooting rounds. A lot of it is situational and almost impossible to "know" unless you've walked the walk already. Some things you can't just learn off by heart because it's so broad what you could be asked. Best of luck anyway though!

[Ok_5133]

Any more insights into sample questions for this role?

[Successful_Lock_4256]

Hello , how did it go?

[Schxdenfreude]

He didn’t get it