The Amazon OA (online assessment) is the first step for Amazon software development engineer (SDE) jobs. For new grad roles it has a coding assessment with 2 problems (about 70 minutes), a Workstyles Assessment (about 15 minutes) and a Work Simulation (about 60 minutes), and Amazon says to set aside up to two hours. Internship OAs skip the Work Simulation and take about 90 minutes. Experienced SDE II candidates get 90 minutes for 2 coding questions, then system design scenarios and a short Work Style Survey. Amazon logs your browser use during the coding assessment and needs your webcam and, in North America, a photo ID.
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From Amazon's own hiring pages and the test platform's help pages, checked November 3, 2026. Anything that comes from candidate reports says so. Your invitation email wins if it says something different.
| What it is | The first step for full-time and internship SDE roles; it checks coding, problem solving and Amazon's Leadership Principles |
|---|---|
| New grad format | Coding assessment (about 70 minutes), Workstyles Assessment (about 15), Work Simulation (about 60, with 120 allowed) and a feedback survey (about 5). Set aside up to 2 hours |
| Internship format | Coding, Workstyles and the survey only: about 90 minutes in total |
| SDE II format | 2 coding questions in 90 minutes, about 20 minutes of system design scenarios, and an 8-minute Work Style Survey |
| Coding problems | 2 problems on data structures and algorithms; Amazon looks at your problem solving and the clarity, maintainability and efficiency of your code |
| Languages | Your choice, including Java, Python, C++, C#, JavaScript, Go, Kotlin and Swift |
| Platform | HackerRank for the coding part; Amazon's practice test and sample coding challenge are hosted there |
| Monitoring | Amazon logs your browser use, and print screen ends your session and locks you out. HackerRank tracks copy and paste, tab switches and code similarity by default |
| Webcam and ID | Parts of the OA need a webcam; candidates in North America need a student or government ID |
| Device | Laptop or desktop with at least 5 Mbps; Amazon does not recommend phones or tablets |
| Results | An email after each section says whether you move on; skipping the feedback survey delays results |
| Retakes | No published rule; candidate reports conflict (see the questions below) |
| Free practice | Amazon's 2-question practice test (not scored), a sample coding challenge you can repeat, and an OA prep course |
Amazon describes each part of the OA on its own hiring pages. Your OA email tells you which parts you get.
Two data structures and algorithms problems in the HackerRank editor. On SDE II, Amazon says efficient solutions earn more points than brute force, and code must compile for every question to move forward.
Tip: Get a correct version that compiles and handles edge cases, then optimize. If you get stuck, move on and come back.
You choose which statements describe how you work, for example whether you prefer clear structure or new things to learn. It is built around Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles.
Tip: Amazon says no practice is needed and asks you not to overthink. Answer honestly and keep your answers consistent.
A simulated day as an Amazon SDE: emails, videos and chat messages from virtual teammates, with wikis, code snippets and roadmaps to check. For each scenario you rate 4 to 5 responses or pick the best one.
Tip: Open the work materials before you rate. Amazon says the OA measures its Leadership Principles, so read them once beforehand.
Fictional situations with simulated peers, managers and stakeholders. You rate the most and least effective actions. There is no whiteboard or diagram.
Tip: Think about the concepts Amazon names: designing for maintainability, trade-offs and dealing with ambiguity.
A multi-file task in a VS Code-style editor, paired with one standard coding question. Amazon's HackerRank instructions say it includes an optional AI assistant designed not to give full solutions. Candidates report it in 2026, but not everyone gets it.
Tip: Read the README and run the tests first, so you know what done looks like before you change code.
A short required survey at the end, about 5 minutes. Amazon says skipping it delays your results.
Tip: Wait for the confirmation page. If it does not appear within 2 minutes, close the browser and contact your recruiter.
Amazon publishes no passing score. HackerRank, which runs the coding part, scores coding questions by the test cases your code passes, including hidden ones, so partial credit is possible. Amazon grades clarity, maintainability and efficiency too, and its SDE II page says optimized solutions earn more points than brute force.
You get an email after each section telling you whether you move on, so check your spam folder. For a two-part OA, Amazon says to contact it if no completion email arrives within 24 hours of a part. If you move forward, Amazon reaches out directly. Candidates report hearing back in as little as a day or two, and longer when a submission goes to manual review.
For SDE II, a passed OA leads to an interview loop of four 55-minute interviews, and Amazon says the outcome comes within 5 business days of the loop.
The free practice test has 2 questions, is not scored, and runs on the same HackerRank editor. Amazon's sample coding challenge can be repeated as often as you like. Use them to learn the run button and the input format.
Practice pairs of problems in 70 minutes (90 for SDE II) on arrays, strings, hash maps, trees, graphs, and breadth-first and depth-first search. Aim for clean, efficient code that handles edge cases.
Amazon says the Workstyles Assessment needs no practice, but the principles are what the OA is built to measure. Reading them once helps in the Work Simulation, where you rate responses to workplace scenarios.
Use a laptop or desktop with a recent Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari, at least 5 Mbps and a working webcam, and have your ID ready in North America. Block out up to two hours and finish the feedback survey.
What Amazon monitors: during the coding assessment Amazon logs your browser use, and using print screen ends your session and locks you out. Parts of the OA need a webcam, which takes a picture of you, and North America candidates need a student or government ID.
HackerRank's layer: copy and paste tracking, tab tracking and MOSS code-similarity checks are on by default for every HackerRank test. Companies can add AI plagiarism detection, webcam photos, full-screen Secure Mode, Proctor Mode with screen recording, and a locked-down desktop app. Amazon does not say which of these it turns on.
Built-in AI: the newer code repository version includes Amazon's own AI assistant, which is designed not to give full solutions.
Lists of reported "Amazon OA questions" circulate, but you cannot know which problems you will get, hidden test cases decide the score, and HackerRank's MOSS check compares your code with other candidates' submissions. There is no answer key for the Workstyles Assessment either: Amazon says it wants the authentic you. Coding Copilot reads the exact problem on your screen and gives you an approach, a dry run and working code for it.
OphyAI Coding Copilot works on the coding part: one hotkey reads the problem on your screen, and the approach, complexity notes and working code appear in an overlay that screen sharing and recording leave out. In the live Amazon interviews after the OA, Space or Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + L transcribes the question your interviewer asks out loud. It does not hide from a webcam or from HackerRank's own tracking. Separately, the newer code repository task has Amazon's own AI assistant, which is designed not to give full solutions.
Amazon logs your browser use, ends your session if you use print screen, and takes a webcam photo of you, plus an ID check in North America. HackerRank tracks copy and paste, tab switches and code similarity by default, and companies can add AI plagiarism detection, webcam photos and screen recording. The OphyAI window is hidden from screen sharing and recording, but not from a webcam, a person watching, or the platform's own keystroke, paste and tab tracking.
Compare every platform: Can online assessments detect AI?
Coding Copilot in the OphyAI desktop app reads the coding problem on your screen with one hotkey and returns an approach, complexity notes and working code in your language.
Use OphyAI Coding Copilot on your real Amazon OA, not just to practice. Press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A and it snaps the problem window, even when other windows cover it, or press Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + S to drag a box around just the problem. The answer appears as a card in a floating overlay that macOS and Windows leave out of screen sharing and recording: how OphyAI read the problem, the code with line numbers, a dry run with edge cases, and the Big O. In the live Amazon interviews after the OA, press Space or Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + L and it transcribes the question your interviewer asks out loud.
What the OA watches: Amazon logs your browser use, and parts of the OA use your webcam. HackerRank also tracks copy and paste, tab switches and code similarity by default.
OphyAI Aptitude Test mode is not built for the Workstyles Assessment or the Work Simulation. It answers multiple-choice questions that have one right answer, such as math, logic and number series. Work style statements have no right answer, and the simulation asks for judgment calls, so answer those yourself.
Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + A snaps the problem window, even when other windows cover it, and Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + S lets you drag a box around part of the screen. In a live interview, Space or Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + L transcribes the question the interviewer asks out loud.
Answers show as a card in a floating overlay that macOS and Windows leave out of screen sharing and recording. It stays on top of a full-screen editor or browser and opens without taking the keyboard from your editor.
Each answer card shows how OphyAI read the problem, what to say first, the code with line numbers, a dry run with edge cases, and the Big O. Follow-ups remember the problem, so "now handle duplicates" updates the same code.
Free download. Coding Interview is on the Premium plan ($59 a month, 500 credits) and uses 15 credits per session. See everything it does
Hiding a window from screen share does not hide it from a webcam, a person watching, keystroke and paste history, tab or focus tracking, or proctoring software.
For new grad SDE roles, plan for up to two hours: about 70 minutes of coding, 15 for the Workstyles Assessment, 60 for the Work Simulation and 5 for a survey. Internship OAs take about 90 minutes. SDE II gives 90 minutes for coding, then about 20 minutes of system design scenarios and an 8-minute Work Style Survey.
Two coding problems on data structures and algorithms, work style statements, and for new grad roles a Work Simulation of workplace scenarios. SDE II adds system design scenarios where you rate actions. Some newer versions pair one coding question with a multi-file code repository task.
An interactive day in the life of an Amazon SDE. You get emails, videos and messages from virtual teammates, with wikis, code snippets and roadmaps to check, and you rate 4 to 5 possible responses or pick the best one. It averages about 60 minutes, and you get up to 120.
A short survey built around Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles. You choose how well statements describe the way you work. Amazon says work style assessments typically take 10 to 20 minutes and need no practice; the SDE II version is an 8-minute survey.
Yes, for parts of it. Amazon says the webcam takes a picture of you during the session, and candidates in North America need a student or government ID ready. Check that your webcam works before you open the link.
Yes. Amazon says it logs your browser use during the coding assessment, and using print screen ends your session and locks you out. HackerRank, which runs the coding part, also tracks copy and paste and tab switches by default.
You get an email after each section saying whether you move on. If you pass, Amazon contacts you to set up interviews. For SDE II that is a loop of four 55-minute interviews, with an outcome within 5 business days.
Amazon does not publish a retake rule. Candidate reports conflict: some say recruiters told them to wait 6 months after a failed OA, others say a failed OA did not start a cooldown. Ask your recruiter.
Amazon asks you to finish within the window in your OA email because it hires on a rolling basis. Its university page says to contact Amazon if special circumstances need an extension, while its general assessments page says missed deadlines cannot be extended, so ask before the deadline passes.
Read on November 3, 2026. OphyAI is not affiliated with Amazon or HackerRank.
Download OphyAI Desktop and bring Coding Copilot into your next coding interview: it hears the question, reads the problem, and shows the approach and code in an overlay your screen share leaves out.
