Amazon mock interview: rehearse the real loop
An Amazon mock interview works best when it copies the real thing: one-hour rounds, Leadership Principle questions before the coding starts, a design round that pushes back, and a Bar Raiser who keeps asking "what did you do?" This page gives you a practice format you can run and a set of mock questions for each round. If you'd rather have an engineer who has sat on Amazon loops run it and score you, book one below.
SDE2, SDE3 or manager? Book a full mock loop with a Bar Raiser
What an Amazon mock interview should cover
A useful Amazon mock has four parts, because the real loop does.
[[table]]
Mock round | Length | Tests
Coding | 60 min | DSA + 2 LPs
System design | 60 min | HLD or LLD + 2 LPs
Bar Raiser | 60 min | LPs + 1 problem
Debrief | 15 min | Score and level
[[/table]]
Freshers can skip the design round or keep it light. If you're applying for SDE2 or above, don't skip it, since design is where most experienced candidates lose a level.
This page focuses on the mock format and questions. For a full explanation of all 16 Leadership Principles and how to build your stories, read our Amazon Leadership Principles interview guide.
The Amazon mock interview practice format
Run each round to the clock. The timings below follow what candidates describe from real 2026 loops.
Coding round (60 minutes)
[[table]]
Minutes | What happens
0 to 5 | Intro
5 to 20 | Two LP questions
20 to 55 | One or two problems
55 to 60 | Your questions
[[/table]]
The interviewer reads the problem once and answers clarifying questions. You talk through your approach before writing code, then code in a plain editor with no autocomplete. Leave five minutes to dry-run a test case. If you finish early, the interviewer adds a follow-up that changes a constraint.
System design round (60 minutes)
[[table]]
Minutes | What happens
0 to 15 | Two LP questions
15 to 25 | Requirements and scale
25 to 50 | Design and deep dive
50 to 60 | Failures and trade-offs
[[/table]]
For SDE2, the mock interviewer should interrupt at least twice with "what happens if this fails?" For SDE3, add a question about cost or migrating from an existing system.
Bar Raiser round (60 minutes)
Plan for about 40 minutes of LP questions and 20 minutes on one coding problem. The key difference from other rounds is depth. The interviewer picks one story and asks four or five follow-ups on it before moving on.
Amazon mock interview questions
These are practice questions in the style of real Amazon rounds. They're not leaked questions.
Coding mock questions
- Given a list of package weights and a truck capacity, return the minimum number of trips.
- Find the k closest delivery locations to a warehouse.
- Merge overlapping time slots for a set of delivery agents.
- Return the order in which to build services given a list of dependencies. Detect a cycle if there is one.
- Design an LRU cache, then extend it to expire entries after a time limit.
System design mock questions
- SDE2: Design a price drop alert system for a shopping app.
- SDE2 (LLD): Design the classes for a locker pickup system.
- SDE3: Design an inventory service that stays correct during a big sale with millions of orders an hour.
- SDE3: Design a recommendations pipeline that updates within a few minutes of a purchase.
Bar Raiser drill
Instead of a list of LP questions, practise the follow-up chain. Pick any one of your stories and have your mock interviewer ask these, in order:
- What was your specific role?
- What data did you look at before deciding?
- Who disagreed, and how did you handle it?
- What was the measurable result?
- What would you do differently today?
If your story holds up through all five, it's ready. If you stall at question two or three, the story needs more detail before your real loop.
Have an Amazon engineer run this format with you
How to score your mock
Amazon interviewers write feedback against each competency and give an overall hire rating. Score your mock the same way so the debrief is honest.
[[table]]
Area | Strong | Weak
Coding | Clean, tested | Hints needed
Design | You drive it | Interviewer drives
LP stories | Specific, measured | Vague, "we"
Level signal | Matches target | One level below
[[/table]]
The last row matters most for experienced candidates. A mock that ends with "solid SDE1" when you're applying for SDE2 tells you exactly where to spend the next two weeks.
Practising alone vs with an Amazon interviewer
You can run the coding format on your own with a timer. It's good for speed and pattern recall. It's much harder to self-mock design or the Bar Raiser, because nobody pushes back and you can't judge your own stories fairly.
A friend helps with the follow-up drill, as long as they're willing to keep asking "why?" An engineer who has interviewed at Amazon goes further. They know what a hire rating sounds like at each level, they'll catch the moment your story turns into "we", and they can tell you which level your answers are landing at. For SDE2, SDE3 and manager candidates, that level call is usually the most useful part of the mock.
FAQs
What is an Amazon mock interview? A practice interview that copies Amazon's real format: timed coding, system design and Bar Raiser rounds, each with Leadership Principle questions.
How many mock interviews should I do before an Amazon loop? Most candidates do two or three. One early to find gaps and one or two in the final week.
Should a mock include a Bar Raiser round? Yes, especially for SDE2 and above. It's the round candidates underestimate most.
Can I do an Amazon mock interview for free? You can self-mock the coding format with a timer. For design and the Bar Raiser, feedback from someone who knows Amazon's bar makes the biggest difference.
Walk Into Your Amazon Loop Ready: Take a Mock Interview
Practise the full loop with an engineer who has interviewed at Amazon. You'll get round-by-round scores, honest feedback on your stories, and a clear call on which level you'd be offered today.
Book your Amazon mock interview
