Job tips: How he landed a job at Amazon

What does it really take to crack a tough interview at Amazon India?

Coding skills, language skills or problem-solving skills?

Find out from Vivek Ruparel who recently got placed in the company...

Vivek Ruparel was quite happy when he cracked his first-ever interview on campus.

The thought of enjoying the college life in last year without the pain of multiple campus interviews seemed quite pleasant.

Vivek says he could crack the 'tough interview' because he was dedicated and disciplined in his interview preparation.

As he recalls "I used to practice at least six problems a day for two months before my interviews."

Vivek has completed his graduation from Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

In the following interview he tells us more about the selection process at Amazon, how he cracked the tough interview and shares his advice to future aspirants. Read on...

What companies did you get offer from apart from Amazon?

As Amazon was the first company in our campus, I didn't get a chance to sit for other companies. 

Now that you've cracked it, what do you think of the experience?

It feels great, especially when you hear your name in the final bunch of short-listed students.

If one puts his effort with full dedication, it does pay off.

Can you give us a brief account of what you felt was the toughest interview?

Since I have only gone through the Amazon interview process, the toughest has to be the one I gave at Amazon.

I can definitely share the toughest round I came across during my interviews.

It was a question based on arrays.

It was pretty tough. I was able to solve this question and I think this question sealed my place in Amazon.

What was your preparation strategy?

I ensured that I was not just going through the codes but also finding the solution and implementing them on my own, no matter how long it took.

According to me, that is the most important thing that helped me crack this interview.

One should regularly code and try cracking the online coding rounds.

I used to practice at least six problems a day for two months before my interview.

Also, I had to get familiar with all data structures and algorithms.

What resources did you consult? Where did you practice problems from?

• Geeksforgeeks is a must for data structures and algorithms.
• I used to do problems regularly in leetcode.com
• Careercup.com helped to go through the interview experiences.
• Referring the book Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job also helped.

What kind of skills do you think helped you getting this job?

For a coding professional, knowledge of CS fundamentals is very important .

My third round was completely on CS fundamentals.

It lasted for one hour and 15 minutes.

One should not ignore CS fundamentals when preparing for interviews.

Data structures and algorithms is equally important. Choose one site and keep coding regularly.

What's your advice to students who are aiming for similar placement offers as yours?

• Don't just go through the codes. First try it on your own, that's very important.
• Once you have cracked a problem, write it in a paper and check for the corner cases.
• For the coding part, once you have cracked a problem, always try to run the programme at one go.
• Focus on OS, DBMS (database management system) and Networking. If you get a good hold on these subjects, it will make you stand apart from other candidates.

What should one keep in mind while preparing a resume?

My resume had only one page in it. I would suggest to keep only relevant information in the resume.

In the interview round, one should be ready to answer any query on things stated in his/her resume.

Photo courtesy: Michael Dalder/Reuters

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