After posting my resume on a couple different job boards, a recruiter from Amazon contacted me, explaining the company felt I would be a good fit for a Software Development position. I sent them some availabilities for a phone interview, and one was set up for the following week. The interviewer called promptly, but did not introduce himself, which made hanging up when we were finished a little awkward. The interview itself lasted forty-five minutes and consisted of three technical questions prefaced by a request to describe myself. Oddly enough, it was that description that threw me off more than any of the technical questions. Each of the three questions were surprisingly easy. The first one stumped me initially and I was asked to solve it after the phone interview and email my code to the interviewer. The problem dealt with recursion and I think my nerves prevented me from keeping my head straight. Once off the phone, however, it was a breeze. The second and third questions were both simpler than I had expected, and I overcomplicated my solution to one. The recruiter pointed this out and I was able to quickly simplify. While interviewing with Amazon seemed really intimidating, the interviewer made it clear early on I was to use him as a resource in developing solutions; we were supposed to brainstorm together to come up with solutions. I will say, though, that the interviewer had something of an accent and phrased things a little strangely. During the problem that stumped me, I think he became rather irritated with me for not understanding what he was trying to say. I have a second phone interview scheduled. Hopefully I'll be able to make it through this one as well.

Surprisingly easy — I expected tougher questions, but the coding round felt more like a warm-up. The main challenge was a DSA problem about counting islands in a 2D grid, which led to a discussion on DFS versus BFS and handling large grids. Funny enough, I had revisited that exact type of question while prepping on PracHub, which made me feel more confident. The interview wrapped up with a behavioral round, and I accepted an offer, but ultimately decided to decline it for another opportunity. Overall, it was a smooth experience.