Sneak Peek Into the Insta Live with Chirag Valecha (SDE at Amazon)

On 30th June 2024, we had an Instagram Live Session with one of our Alumni Chirag Valecha who recently joined as SDE at Amazon. During the session, we have an informative talk with him regarding his interview experience. Chirag also answered the questions asked by participants during the live.

Below are the questions answered by Chirag during Insta Live.

Q1. Tell us about your preparation journey and the problems you faced.

Ans. When I was working in a Product-Based startup I was very curious about how these companies and which tools they use to deliver projects of such large scale. After that, I started learning about DSA as I knew that DSA is very important to crack interviews at Product Based Companies. Initially, I was facing difficulty and didn’t know where to start. So, I joined Bosscoder Academy for proper guidance and they had a structured training for DSA and Engineering Problems. After this, I cracked the Amazon interview successfully.

Q2. What was your interview experience at Amazon?

Ans. The interview was mainly focused on DSA Problems. I had three rounds of interviews and all were based on DSA Problems.

Q3. What kind of questions did you face in these DSA rounds?

Ans. In the first round, there were medium-level questions. Some questions related to stacks and queues were asked. Another two interviews had high-level questions but with regular practice and a structured program of Bosscoder Academy, I was able to solve the problems.?

Q4. How did you apply for Amazon?

Ans. I didn’t apply for the job. The HR of Amazon approached me on Linkedin. As I was maintaining my LinkedIn profile as told by the Bosscoder Academy’s placement team. The Placement Team continuously helped me out in optimizing my LinkedIn profile and helped me in creating good networks.

Q5. What difficulties were you facing before joining the Bosscoder Academy?

Ans. I was facing difficulty in having a properly structured curriculum and from where to start. This was the major issue while I was preparing. Then I joined Bosscoder Academy and they provided me with guidance and the modules were also structured in a proper way.?

Q6. Any tips for people who are preparing for Product Companies as you have already cracked one?

Ans. Every student faces problems while choosing the resources for preparation as there are a number of resources and materials available in the market. So, I would recommend they to follow a structured plan and have a mentor for proper guidance during the preparation process.

Q7. How much time should I invest in DSA Practice?

Ans. For DSA, you can give 3-4 months to have a good understanding and crack interviews.

Q9. What is the Best preparation strategy to revise DSA?

Ans. I would say you should go through the Leetcode contest and give as many as possible. This is one of the best ways to revise DSA Problems.

Q10. Which Techstack are you currently working on in Amazon?

Ans. Currently, I am working on Java Spring Boot.

Q.11 How do you manage your job and preparation at the same time?

Ans. I was given 1-2 hours daily at night to cover up my DSA skills. The classes at Bosscoder Academy were also at night only. So, I was able to manage my time for the job and preparation altogether.

Q12. Can you please explain about your Personal Projects?

Ans. For my first personal project, I created an iPod through which I can listen to music and play games. It was mainly based on React technology it was all Frontend technology only. Other than that, I created a movie listing app and it was also focused on Frontend.

Q13. How much work experience do you have?

Ans. Before Amazon, I have experience of 1 year in the role of SDE-1.

Q14. If someone is using Python, can they crack an interview without JAVA?

Ans. Yes, language is not a concern in these interviews. I was also not aware of JAVA technologies. In this interview, they only check DSA Problems, and sometimes questions related to System Design are also asked.

Q.15 What are your thoughts about MERN vs JAVA Spring Boot as per the current market scenario?

Ans. I think both are good in their ways. As startups mostly go with MERN for their projects while big companies generally use JAVA Spring Boot.

Q16. Can you tell me how Bosscoder helped you in getting the Amazon interview?

Ans. As I stated earlier, Amazon’s HR contacted me on LinkedIn for the role because my profile was optimized and updated. The Placement Team of Bosscoder Academy guided me through the process of optimizing my LinkedIn profile and made sure that I had good connections with the people working in Top Tech roles. A strong LinkedIn profile leads to higher chances of receiving job offers from HR themself.