I applied through a recruiter. The process took 5 weeks. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Jan 2013
Interview
A recruiter reached out via an InMail on LinkedIn. I waited a few weeks to respond, and the by that time, the initial position had closes. However, they quickly suggested another opening. The recruiter set up an initial call where they described the position and the interview process.
They then scheduled a technical screen over the phone. This screen lasted 45 minutes and covered basic Business Intelligence knowledge. It required being in a quiet room with a pencil and paper to step through a number of exercises.
It took a while to hear back after that call, while the recruiter waited on feedback from the interviewer. Once the feedback was received, another call was set up with the hiring manager to go over the business requirements of the position. This call went very well and an on-site interview day was set up for the next week. Travel arrangements were easy and everyone was very friendly through the entire process.
The on-site interview cycle lasted 6 hours and covered a variety of skill sets and roles. These included the hiring manager, another employee in the same role as the opening, and a number of individuals with whom I would work closely in the role. The interview questions were challenging, but enjoyable and I gained an appreciation for the corporate culture.
The following week I received a verbal offer, and after a few days of negotiation I accepted.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Describe the system architecture for a recommendation engine based on a customer's previous shopping history.
The interview process was smooth and conversational. The interviewer was calmly asking questions about my previous work experiences and listened patiently. He even gave me ample time to frame my answers.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
1. Tell me about your previous work experience.
2. Asked few SQL questions
few rounds of interviews ranging between technical and conversational. Mostly in the form of " tell a story of time where ..." to show how you relate to amazon LPs
The first interview is a technical phone interview that assesses your skills in SQL and Python, specifically data analysis with python. The interviewer pastes the description of an SQL problem on the code editor and asks you to write your answer while describing your thought process. They give you hints when you're stuck.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Could you tell me the steps involved in the data analysis process?