Coding interview guide
Amazon online assessment: what's in it and how to prepare
The Amazon online assessment (OA) is the first technical screen for most software development engineer applicants. It combines a timed coding section with a work simulation and a work style survey that map to Amazon's Leadership Principles. Here is what Amazon's own prep pages say, what candidates report in 2026, and a two-week plan to get ready.
Amazon doesn't publish a scoring rubric for its online assessment. This guide combines Amazon's own interview prep pages (checked Nov 14, 2026) with candidate reports and prep sites. Where they disagree, we say so. Your invitation email is the final word on your format.
What the Amazon OA tests
Amazon's university hiring page says the OA evaluates coding skills, technical problem solving and the Leadership Principles. The SDE II page describes it as a check of coding skills, systems thinking, leadership style and preferred ways of working, and says it also helps match you to a role. Depending on the country the role is in, the assessment comes in one part or two.
For coding topics, Amazon points to its Software Development Topics page. In practice, the OA is mostly data structures and algorithms under time pressure.
Sections and timing
Amazon publishes different breakdowns for different levels. All times below are Amazon's own figures.
| Section | New grad / full-time SDE (university page) | SDE intern | SDE II |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 70 min (average) | 70 min (average) | 90 min, 2 questions |
| Work simulation | 60 min (average) | Not listed | Not listed |
| System design | Not listed | Not listed | About 15 min |
| Work style(s) | 15 min (average) | 15 min (average) | About 10 min |
| Feedback survey | 5 min | 5 min | About 1 min |
The SDE II page says you have seven days from the invitation to finish, that coding is the only timed section, and that you must complete every section to submit. The university page warns that skipping the feedback survey delays your results.
What candidates report in 2026. Two coding questions is still the most common report. In 2026, though, several candidates describe a 100-minute coding section with one traditional algorithm problem and one repository-based question: you read an existing codebase in a VS Code style HackerRank editor, fix bugs or finish a task with a built-in AI assistant, and hidden tests check the result. Other 2026 reports still describe two traditional problems. Reported work simulation lengths range from about 45 to 60 minutes. Amazon hasn't published one universal format, so the variation likely comes down to role, location and hiring cycle.
The coding section
- Platform. HackerRank, per Amazon's SDE II page. Amazon offers an unscored practice test with two questions, linked from its OA prep page. Take it before the real thing.
- Real code only. Amazon says to expect "syntactically correct code—no pseudo code." Your solution runs against test cases, including hidden ones you can't see.
- Rules. The university page allows publicly accessible online resources, but not login-protected sites or private repositories. It says browser usage is logged, asks you not to copy and paste, and warns that using print screen ends your session. Rules can differ by test and change over time, so read your own invitation.
- Difficulty. Candidate reports and prep sites put new grad and SDE I problems around LeetCode easy-to-medium and SDE II around medium-to-hard.
Patterns candidates report most
Reports vary, but prep sites that collect them list the same families again and again: hash maps and counting (Two Sum variants), sliding windows, sorting and merging intervals, heaps for top-k problems, BFS/DFS on trees and grids (Number of Islands style), stacks, linked lists, and some dynamic programming such as Coin Change. If the inputs are large, the hidden tests usually expect an O(n) or O(n log n) solution.
Work simulation, work style and the Leadership Principles
Amazon's prep page lists the work simulation but doesn't describe it. Candidates and prep sites describe a simulated day as an engineer: messages from teammates and managers, a bug report, a deadline conflict, a customer issue. You pick or rate responses. There's no coding. One October 2026 candidate found it more tiring than the coding section, because each choice means weighing technical issues, priorities, teamwork and risk.
The work style assessment asks how you usually work and what you prefer. Prep sites describe it as a situational judgment questionnaire with no right answers in isolation, and say Amazon looks for consistency with its culture.
To prepare, read Amazon's Leadership Principles once carefully. Prep sites tie most scenarios to Customer Obsession, Ownership, Bias for Action and Dive Deep. In practice, favor answers that put customer impact first, take responsibility instead of passing the problem on, use data before deciding, and escalate with a proposed fix rather than just a complaint. Answer honestly, since contradictory answers stand out.
A two-week Amazon OA prep plan
| Days | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1-2 | Take Amazon's practice test. Arrays, strings, hashing, sorting. |
| 3-4 | Two pointers, sliding window, prefix sums, binary search on the answer. |
| 5-6 | Heaps, greedy, intervals. |
| 7 | Timed mock: two medium problems in 70 minutes in a plain browser editor. Review every miss. |
| 8-9 | Trees, BFS/DFS on grids, graphs, union-find. |
| 10-11 | 1-D dynamic programming. Re-solve every problem you missed in week one without notes. |
| 12 | Leadership Principles and work simulation scenarios. Practice reading an unfamiliar codebase, running its tests and fixing one bug. |
| 13 | Full timed mock at the length in your invitation. |
| 14 | Light review of your mistakes, environment check, rest. |
For the problem list itself, pick from our Blind 75 vs NeetCode 150 guide. If you practice with Interview LLM, use it after a timed attempt: screenshot the practice problem, read the worked solution and complexity analysis, then re-solve it yourself the next day. During the real OA, follow the rules you agreed to.
Day-of checklist
- Environment. Use a laptop or desktop, not a tablet, in a quiet room with a stable connection. Have a webcam and ID ready if your invitation asks for them. Block two hours and close everything else.
- Language. Use the language you're fastest in, and know its standard library cold: hash maps, heaps, deques, sorting with a key.
- Constraints first. Read the input sizes before you code. With n up to 10^5, an O(n^2) solution will likely time out on hidden tests.
- Edge cases. Empty input, one element, duplicates, negatives, ties, and values large enough to overflow.
- Test beyond the samples. Passing the visible examples proves little. Add your own inputs, including a large one, before you submit.
- Manage the clock. If you're stuck, submit a brute force that passes some tests, move on, and come back. Code that doesn't compile scores nothing.
- Finish every section. That includes the survey.
Platform details such as hidden tests and partial scoring are covered in our guide to HackerRank, CodeSignal and Codility.
Sources (checked Nov 14, 2026)
- Amazon, Online assessment prep for SDE roles (university): amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/university/sde-oa
- Amazon, Online Assessment Prep: Software Development Engineer II: amazon.jobs/content/en/how-we-hire/sde-ii-oa-prep
- Amazon, Software Development Topics: amazon.jobs/.../software-development-topics
- Amazon, Leadership Principles: amazon.jobs/content/en/our-workplace/leadership-principles
- PracHub, Amazon intern OA experience (coding, work simulation, work style; Oct 2026): prachub.com
- PracHub, Amazon AI-assisted coding OA guide (Aug 2026): prachub.com
- Lodely, Amazon Online Assessment 2026 prep guide (Sep 2026): lodely.com
FAQ
How long is the Amazon online assessment?
Amazon tells full-time SDE candidates to set aside up to two hours of uninterrupted time. Coding alone is 70 to 90 minutes depending on level, and some 2026 candidates report 100 minutes, so check your invitation.
Is the Amazon OA on HackerRank?
Amazon's SDE II prep page says the coding happens in HackerRank, and its practice test link points to HackerRank. Candidates who received the newer repository-style question in 2026 describe a VS Code style editor provided by HackerRank.
Can I look things up during the Amazon OA?
Amazon's university OA page says you may use publicly accessible online resources during the coding assessment, but not sites that require a login or private repositories. It also says browser usage is logged, asks you to avoid copying and pasting, and says it expects the code to be your own. Rules can differ by test, so follow the ones in your invitation.
What happens if I don't pass?
Amazon's SDE II page says candidates who don't move forward are encouraged to practice and re-apply in six months. It also says you'll hear within two days of completing the assessment whether you're moving on.
Does the work simulation really matter?
Amazon says the OA assesses Leadership Principles alongside coding, and prep sites claim strong code alone doesn't guarantee you advance. Amazon doesn't publish how sections are weighted, so treat every section as scored.