Amazon Data Analyst interview typically runs 4–6 rounds: online assessment, recruiter screen, technical phone screen, onsite loop, and bar raiser. The process spans 2–3 months and is distinguished by its dual focus on SQL proficiency and Amazon Leadership Principles behavioral questions.
$88K
Avg. Base Comp
$177K
Avg. Total Comp
4-6
Typical Rounds
3-8 weeks
Process Length
What catches candidates off guard at Amazon is that they're effectively being evaluated on two parallel tracks simultaneously — technical execution and behavioral evidence — and a weak showing on either one is enough to end the process. We've seen SQL come up at nearly every stage, from the online assessment through the final loop, but the questions rarely stop at syntax. Multiple candidates reported being asked to reason through transaction-level problems, explain join behavior with sample tables, and then immediately pivot to a STAR story about a time they influenced a stakeholder with data. The ability to switch registers quickly — from query logic to business narrative — is what separates candidates who advance from those who don't.
A recurring theme across experiences is that Amazon interviewers probe for specificity in ways that feel relentless. One candidate described the behavioral portion as the interviewer "kept drilling deeper" to separate personal contributions from team outcomes. Another noted that having "several polished stories ready to adapt" was the key differentiator in the bar raiser round. The question set reinforces this: prompts like Damaged Televisions Shipment Investigation and Decreasing Payments aren't abstract puzzles — they're designed to see whether you instinctively frame problems around customer impact and operational ownership, which is Amazon's actual working language.
The non-obvious make-or-break factor is scale and specificity in your examples. Candidates who received offers consistently mentioned being prepared with metrics, concrete outcomes, and multiple Leadership Principle stories that could flex to different prompts. Those who didn't get offers often noted that the behavioral side felt harder than expected, or that they were surprised by how much the process cared about AWS familiarity, BI tooling, and data quality judgment alongside core SQL. Treat this as a role that demands both a working analyst and a mini-product thinker who can defend every decision out loud.
Synthesized from 18 candidate reports by our editorial team.
Had an interview recently?
Share your experience. Unlock the full guide.
Real interview reports from people who went through the Amazon process.
Share your own interview experience to unlock all reports, or subscribe for full access.
Sourced from candidate reports and verified by our team.
Topics based on recent interview experiences.
Featured question at Amazon
Write a query that returns all neighborhoods that have 0 users.
| Question | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Highest Salary | |
| Rolling Bank Transactions | |
| Customer Orders | |
| Comments Histogram | |
| Closest SAT Scores | |
| Top Three Salaries | |
| Monthly Customer Report | |
| Compute Deviation | |
| Experiment Validity | |
| Download Facts | |
| Random SQL Sample | |
| Subscription Overlap | |
| Button AB Test | |
| Month Over Month | |
| Prime to N | |
| Paired Products | |
| Upsell Transactions | |
| Swipe Precision | |
| Top 3 Users | |
| Longest Streak Users | |
| Bank Fraud Model | |
| Exam Scores | |
| Identifying User Sessions | |
| Encoding Categorical Features | |
| Rolling Average Steps | |
| Weekly Aggregation | |
| Network Experiment Design | |
| Bagging vs Boosting | |
| Completed Shipments |
Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
The process typically begins with an HR or recruiter phone call focused on background, motivation, and role fit. Recruiters often explain the full loop structure, set expectations for each stage, and coach candidates on Amazon's Leadership Principles and STAR-format behavioral responses.
Many candidates complete an online assessment before any live interviews, covering SQL multiple-choice and coding problems, and sometimes basic Python or statistics questions. The SQL portion is heavier than most candidates expect, and some assessments also include a personality or work-style section.
A live technical interview, often conducted on Amazon Chime, with a strong emphasis on SQL including joins, aggregations, window functions, transaction-style problems, and edge cases. Some screens also touch on basic Python, visualization tools such as Tableau or QuickSight, cloud and AWS fundamentals, and one or two behavioral questions at the end.
This round evaluates whether you understand the analyst role and can clearly articulate the business impact of your past work. Interviewers focus on resume walkthroughs, project scope and outcomes, communication style, and how your experience maps to Amazon's Leadership Principles.
The final stage is a virtual onsite with multiple back-to-back interviews covering SQL coding, analytical problem-solving, experimentation design, and cross-functional conversations with stakeholders such as PMs. Some loops also include an Excel or BI tool assessment, and questions may span data pipelines, database concepts, AWS services, and metrics definition.
Many loops include a Bar Raiser interview that is heavily behavioral and Leadership Principles-driven, conducted by a senior Amazonian outside the immediate team. Candidates should expect structured STAR questions with deep follow-ups on ownership, judgment, customer obsession, and cultural fit.