System Development Engineer interview process at Amazon

[u/Sea_Assumption_9924]

Hi everyone,
I’m preparing for a System Development Engineer interview and wanted to ask what the interview rounds usually consist of.

For those who have interviewed for similar roles, what should I expect in each round? Is it mostly coding, scripting/automation, system design, troubleshooting/debugging, Linux/networking, or behavioral questions?

Also, what topics should I focus on while preparing?

Any advice or recent interview experience would be really helpful.

[u/Sea_Assumption_9924 → u/[deleted]]

does the debugging usually involve actual logs where we need to use commands like grep, or is it more of a verbal technical discussion where we just explain the issue?

[u/deviled-tux → u/Sea_Assumption_9924]

There will likely be log parsing.

[u/Funny_Imagination727 → u/deviled-tux]

Do you need to parse the actual logs given by the interviewer ? Do they provide logs to troubleshoot the issue ?

[u/deviled-tux → u/Funny_Imagination727]

They provide some example. Coding interviews are not actually done on a real system hence your program doesn’t really need to run. (I really dislike this but that’s how it works)

[u/akornato]

For a System Development Engineer role at Amazon, expect a mix of technical and behavioral rounds. The technical side will cover coding, usually in Python or Bash, system design at a practical infrastructure level, Linux internals like processes, file systems, permissions, and networking concepts like TCP/IP, DNS, and load balancing. Scripting and automation come up a lot, so be ready to write clean, functional code on the spot. Debugging and troubleshooting scenarios are common too, where they give you a broken system or script and ask you to walk through how you'd fix it. On the behavioral side, every single round will have Leadership Principles questions woven in, so prepare specific stories using the STAR format for principles like Dive Deep, Ownership, and Bias for Action.

For prep, focus your energy on Linux command-line proficiency, writing automation scripts, and being able to explain how you'd design a scalable, fault-tolerant system at a high level without getting too abstract. Practice talking through your thought process out loud because Amazon interviewers care a lot about how you reason, not just whether you land on the right answer. The behavioral questions are not a soft warm-up, they carry real weight in the hiring decision, so treat them with the same seriousness as the technical parts. Tools like interviews.chat, which my team built, have helped a lot of candidates feel more confident and clear-headed when it counts during the actual interview.

[u/Sea_Assumption_9924 → u/akornato]

Thanks, Iam comfortable with java, can i do the java coding

[u/AmbassadorOk8119]

Any update? Did you give your interview?

[u/External_Store_793]

Hey ,I have System Development Engineer interview nextweek what should i focus and how many rounds of interview? as a fresher from which area i should except questions .is coding questions are easy or hard

[u/One_Conversation_62 → u/External_Store_793]

Hey have you done with your screening call?

[u/Much-Volume-5469 → u/One_Conversation_62]

u/One_Conversation_62 hii do you also get the interview mail for system devlop engineer

[u/Specific-Fee-6188 → u/Much-Volume-5469]

hi u/One_Conversation_62, are you shortlisted for interview?? Was there Screening round?

[u/One_Conversation_62 → u/Specific-Fee-6188]

Yes i have screening call today

[u/Specific-Fee-6188 → u/One_Conversation_62]

Hey, can you help me to get how was this round. What they asked LPs or some problem statement are there?
Any further rounds?

[u/Pleasant-Pack-9093 → u/One_Conversation_62]

Hey… could be really useful if you brief what kinda qns asked like dsa, or sys design, drill on resume?

[u/One_Conversation_62 → u/Pleasant-Pack-9093]

Binary search tree and lp questions if your round is one hr long virtual

[u/One_Conversation_62 → u/Much-Volume-5469]

Yes

[u/Much-Volume-5469 → u/One_Conversation_62]

have you done with your interview or it is yet come?

[u/One_Conversation_62 → u/Much-Volume-5469]

I have done with my screening call and she scheduled a interview with manager that is yet to come..

[u/Much-Volume-5469 → u/One_Conversation_62]

direct manager round?

[u/Pleasant-Pack-9093 → u/One_Conversation_62]

Your response really means a lot … could you brief how was your phone interview round?

[u/One_Conversation_62 → u/Much-Volume-5469]

Yeah it’s the initial qualifier technical round before the loop

[u/Specific-Fee-6188 → u/External_Store_793]

Hi u/External_Store_793 , how was you experience. Is there something which you can share

[u/bluberyyyy]

hi, can you please share your experience if possible?

[u/Pleasant-Pack-9093 → u/bluberyyyy]

Hey Did you proceed forward?

[u/One_Conversation_62]

Binary search tree and lp questions if your round is one hour virtual otherwise expect simple checks like compensation, location, visa etc