Amazon Interview Questions

Tell a time when you had to go beyond the call of duty to get a job done.

As a lab assistant for my data structures class this past summer, I was assisting this student who was struggling in performing basic iteration. Although class was over, I noticed he was still struggling with the concept. I empathized with how frustrating it must have been, so I proceeded to help even though it took 40 minutes past my allotted time. I put all of my attention to the student and proceeded to explain as slowly as I could have. I remained patient even though I had to repeat myself several times, and did my best because I know what it's like to struggle with issues. This happened while multiple people came to me with other questions. In the end he was able to grasp the concept. He thanked me, and I felt the joy of what it means to help someone and get the job done despite staying overtime.

Tell me about a difficult decision you've made in the last year.

I was offered to work as a software engineer intern for a mortgage company in S.F. However, I was already handling another part-time job and going to school full time. This decision was tough because I would end up more busy than I am. However, I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to get my hands dirty with new tech. I ended up taking the offer because I wanted to challenge myself to become tenacious, organized, and more responsible to handle work and school at the same time. I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to gain industry experience. I don't regret my decision. Even though I've been more busy, I've become more focused and organized in doing my work. I've learned debugging and code-reading and writing skills and practices, and what it feels like to work on a product that customers will see.

Give example when you showed initiative and took lead.

My friends and I wanted to make a video game together this summer. I was the programmer and had to implement whatever ideas my friends had. Unfortunately I noticed that motivation was slowly diminishing for the project. However, I took the initiative to work hard and continue on developing code for the project even though there I had uncompleted parts from my teammates. When I ended up getting stuck I started politely requesting work from my teammates. I also worked with my teammates to schedule tight yet accommodating deadlines, and did my best to empathize with them as they live out their busy schedules. Thanks to that, my team and I were able produced a small demo for our friends to play back at home.

Describe a situation which you were able to use persuation to successfully convince someone to see things your way.

My friends and I were working on a video game this past summer, and I was the programmer, and was in charge of coding and implementing any design idea my friends had. My friend would always tell me amazing ideas but would be extremely tough to implement given my current knowledge of CS. Yet, because of how awesome all of his ideas were, I proceed by listening thoroughly and holistically. I would then analyze the pros and cons of his ideas when it comes to implementing them. Then, I would think about my code, and persuade my friend to modify his idea to end up with a better goal. I ended up

Tell me about yourself

My name is John, and I study computer science at UC Berkeley. Apart from being a full-time student right now, I'm doing two part time jobs. I'm a software engineer intern for a mortgage company in SF working on the front-end. I'm also working for an on-campus nonProfit organization called Hesperian. I want to work those jobs because I wanted to be challenged, gain more tenacity, and test my organization skills. I wanted to gain hands-on experience on working in industry now and dive into tech I don't know much about. I rely a lot on hard-work, motivation, and a desire to grow over talent any day, and I'm always ready to learn any tech for any part of the stack. I love working with people as I've gotten to know more classmates this semester, and am always ready to work with a team to accomplish something.

Tell me about a time when you had too many things to do and you were required to prioritize your tasks.

This entire past spring semester I experienced this feeling. My courseload was extremely high; I had to implement 10 projects by myself, six midterms, multiple problem sets and a part time job with another extracurricular. Even though the semester was grueling, I grew nonetheless. To survive the semester, I first developed a mindset to stay focused at all times while taking breaks only if necessary. I learned to stay organized and developed a habit of starting any homework and project early as soon as they are released and when I had time, and organize time in my calendar to attend office hours. Resultantly, it was a tough but great learning experience, and even though I started an internship a month ago alongside another part-time job, I have been able to meet all of my deadlines.