Amazon SDE-intern interview questions

I recently had the opportunity to interview with Amazon. The process consisted of a technical round that evaluated both my problem-solving skills and my understanding of modern technologies. In the DSA section, I was asked a question based on partition dynamic programming. The problem required identifying optimal ways to divide a structure (such as an array or string) into segments and applying DP to compute the best result. I approached it by defining a state, exploring all possible partitions, and building a recurrence relation. The interviewer focused on my thought process, clarity in explaining transitions, and time complexity analysis. In addition to DSA, I was also asked several Generative AI theory questions. These included concepts like Large Language Models (LLMs), differences between traditional machine learning and generative AI, and practical ideas such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and hallucinations. The discussion emphasized conceptual clarity and real-world applications rather than deep theoretical details. Overall, the interview experience was positive and well-structured. The interviewer was attentive to my approach and encouraged clear communication throughout the discussion.

Technical Round Duration: ~1 hour 10 minutes Method: Video Interview via Amazon Chime Focus: Problem-solving, logical reasoning, and DSA application Key Questions: A question that translated to detecting a loop in a linked list (approach + implementation) A Tree + Dynamic Programming question requiring optimization under constraints Obstacles: The questions were not direct and needed careful interpretation from a descriptive paragraph. Initially struggled with the first problem due to nervousness but managed to solve it after a hint in story format. Faced difficulty in the second problem as I had not practiced much on trees and DP; required multiple hints. Ended up with syntax errors and incomplete implementation due to time running out, but conveyed my final approach clearly.