I applied online. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Amazon (Pittsburgh, PA) in Mar 2016
Interview
Two phone calls, two of them very technical.
First some SQL questions. I did OK on those: joins, basic normalization.
Then some datamart modelling: fact tables and dimension. Also describe the whole ETL process and rational behind the design decisions.
Also resume check and some leadership questions.
Then onsite interview.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
SQL, Datamart modelling, statistics (confidence, hypothesis tests). Also leadership principles and some questions about that: tell me about a time when you didn`t meet a date, or when you failed on a goal.
I applied through a staffing agency. The process took 1 week. I interviewed at Amazon in Feb 2016
Interview
I applied through the stuffing company, and the process took a week.It was an one hour phone interview. An economic and a data scientist interviewed me. They asked about my experience and some statistic questions.
I applied through an employee referral. The process took 2 months. I interviewed at Amazon (Seattle, WA) in Feb 2016
Interview
There were just two phone interviews. The first interview was a mix of code test, behavior and statistical questions. The code test was super easy as long as you were proficient in summarizing data and doing basic statistical analysis, such as aggregation, estimating missing values and linear regression. The second one was much harder and no question was necessarily related with my resume. I felt it was conducted by a senior BIE or data scientist. They hoped you could consider the problem more thoroughly and in a creative way. Of course, they also asked statistical questions, but I feel that was the easiest part.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
If we want to know whether people like a product, is there any statistical problems you can see when the analysis is based on their behaviors on the websites?
How do you combine text information into our recommendation system?
How do you compare models by data visualization?