How to Land an SDE Internship at Amazon, from a former Amazon SDE Intern

Hey, hey [in]siders! Welcome to a special edition of my newsletter where you get “the [in]side track” on all things internships, college, early careers, and personal branding!

Summer 2026 Intern Recruitment SZN is upon us! One of the most coveted internships of the year is none other than Amazon and although, the internship applications haven’t dropped yet, it never hurts to start preparing early!

To help you all shoot your best shot, I sat down with a former Amazon SDE Intern to get “the [in]side scoop 🍨” on landing THE coveted SDE Internship from a former Software Developer Intern at Amazon. They broke down the entire process they went through to land their internship and spilled her insider tips on how they stood apart from the crowd.

(FYI: This individual’s identity has been anonymized for their privacy 😊)

Ready? Set? Go! 🏁 

The [in]side Scoop 🍨 with an Amazon SDE Intern

How did you find out about the Amazon SDE Internship?

I found out about it years ago. A couple of my friends had internships at Amazon, and they were upperclassmen. I realized this was a very doable goal for me because people I actually knew got into Amazon.

Before this year, I had already applied once. I made it to the final round but didn’t get the offer. By the time I applied the second time, I knew the whole interview process.

The first time, I hadn’t yet taken data structures and algorithms (I was taking those classes at the time). By the second time, I had a strong foundation.

I was so excited when I got the OA the second time because I already felt familiar with the process, even though I’d been rejected the first time.

The OA was Leetcode-style. Honestly, the OA was more difficult than the actual technical interview. There was a sorting problem and a dynamic programming problem, styled in an Amazon context (“Amazon needs to sort this thing for this thing”). I solved one completely, and on the other I passed about half the test cases. From reading Reddit posts, I knew that as long as you get one OA question right, you have a good chance at moving on. The questions were medium to hard difficulty.

Was Amazon a company you were always aiming for?

I actually kind of wanted to get into research, but by the time interview season rolled around, I hadn’t applied to that many companies. Amazon was one of the few I had applied to. It was something I went for because I felt like I could get it.

What did you do to polish your application for Amazon SDE?

I copied the qualifications from the job description and made sure they were in my application. While transitioning into tech, I searched jobs on Google, browsed descriptions, and looked at what qualifications were being asked for. Then I focused on building those skills.

What did the application/interview process look like?

I applied through the Amazon careers website at the end of August or early September, basically right when the applications opened. But I didn’t get my OA until the beginning of December.

This past cycle was a little different because we went straight from OA to the final round. The year before, it was OA → another OA (more behavioral-focused) → live technical and behavioral interviews.

For SDE new grad, the process is OA → phone interview → 3 interviews back-to-back in one day (mix of technical and behavioral).

One of my friends actually got in last year but had been waitlisted the year before. This year, she emailed the company, and they let her off the waitlist.

How did you prepare for your interviews?

Technical: I practiced Leetcode, used Neetcode’s website, followed their roadmap, and worked through the Blind 75 practice list. Since I was short on time, I focused on quality over quantity. I made sure to hit at least one medium in each category and then went for harder problems.

I didn’t do a ton of Leetcode, but I did targeted practice. It’s the same concepts behind easy, medium, and hard — for example, if it’s a hard array question, it’s still just an array question.

Even if the interview isn’t successful, it’s still good practice. Work at a level that’s stimulating and challenging.

Behavioral: One of my friends put me down as a reference for a job he applied to. When the recruiter called me, they said they could actually help me with mocks and behavioral prep. The recruiter had found me on LinkedIn, emailed me, and we connected. This was months before I even got the OA.

Once I got the OA, I scheduled a behavioral mock with the recruiter. Before that, we worked on my resume and behavioral answers. We did hour to hour-and-a-half-long meetings. At first, my answers were shaky, but I took the feedback, reworked my answers, and eventually felt more comfortable articulating them.

Another thing that helped was giving a lot of mock interviews to others (both technical and behavioral). I’d make notes about things I liked in their interviews and incorporated those into mine. I also interviewed people for my board of Women in Computer Science, so I got practice from the interviewer’s side as well.

What do you think was your “IT” factor that helped you get the job?

I had a really solid understanding of data structures and algorithms because I taught it. Teaching forced me to know the ins and outs and explain concepts in different styles. My interview question ended up being very similar to something I’d taught, so my foundation really came into play.

The interviewer even asked me, “If I changed one part of this question, how would you edit the code to make it work?” Because I could visualize it, I was able to solve it quickly.

I also had a really good connection with my interviewer and had done a lot of research on “Why Amazon.” I asked if I could share my “why,” and I told him what kind of work I wanted to do, why I appreciated the company, and how I saw myself fitting into the puzzle.

My takeaway: interviewers don’t know you. They’re meeting you for the first time, so you have to showcase all the great things about yourself. If you make it to the final round, you’re already qualified. Now you just have to prove you’re the right fit. Give them as much info and as many data points as possible to make their decision.

What advice do you have for students aspiring to be Amazon SDE interns?

Not just for Amazon, but anywhere in life: my favorite quote comes from a Stanford info session I went to two years ago for the Knight-Hennessy program.

One of the speakers shared how he applied to Stanford years ago but went to another school instead. That led him to his dream job, which led to another dream job, and eventually he ended up working at Stanford.

What is meant for you will come, as long as you keep going. I think that applies to everything in life.

What does the program look like once you’re in?

My favorite part of the internship was exploring Seattle. It was my first time living out of state, and I’m so grateful Amazon relocated me there. I got to experience so many new things and see so much nature.

I had a manager who led the team (about five or six people plus me, the intern). One teammate was my mentor — my point of contact for technical questions and guidance. I also had an onboarding buddy for non-technical and cultural questions.

How often you connect with them depends on the team. I checked in with my manager once a week (for project updates, learning, and career). I connected with my mentor daily to talk about updates, tasks, and doubts. My manager encouraged me to share where I saw myself in a couple of years. I also met with my skip manager (my manager’s manager) every other week.

The program was 12 weeks. The first two weeks were onboarding and learning. They gave us weekly paths to follow — things like setting up meetings, growing your network, or completing certain bootcamps and AWS courses.

By mid–second week, I was assigned my project. My mentor gave me an overview of what it was, why it mattered, and how it fit into the bigger picture. Not all intern projects get deployed, but mine was tied to a product they’re planning to build in the future.

Thank you so much to this Amazon SDE Intern for sitting down for this interview and un-gatekeeping what it takes to get into this prestigious, coveted program!

Want to be featured in the [in]side track? 🏎️ 💨 

Have you landed an internship or new grad role at a big Fortune 500, FAANG, YC-backed startup, or similar in tech, finance, or consulting? I’d LOVE to interview you and feature you to my audience of 78k+ on LinkedIn and 16k+ on Instagram! Email me with your LinkedIn link and a quick TL;DR of your internship or new grad story at [email protected] 💌