Practice Resources & Tools

Overview

This comprehensive resource guide provides curated tools, platforms, and materials for Amazon L6/L7 engineering manager interview preparation. Each resource includes specific recommendations for how to use it effectively, time investment required, and level-appropriate guidance.

📺 Video Learning Resources & Visual Aids

Recommended Video Content

System Design Video Series

• "System Design Interview" by Alex Xu: Case study walkthroughs perfect for L6/L7
• "Gaurav Sen - System Design": Deep technical explanations of distributed systems
• AWS re:Invent Presentations: Real Amazon architecture patterns and practices

Leadership & Behavioral Content

• Engineering Management Talks: Focus on team scaling, performance management
• Amazon Leadership Principles in Practice: Cultural understanding and examples
• MIT OpenCourseWare Distributed Systems: Graduate-level theoretical foundation (L7)

Visual Aids and Diagrams

• VisuAlgo: Interactive data structure and algorithm visualizations
• Excalidraw/Miro: Virtual whiteboarding tools for interviews
• Architecture Templates: Microservices, global distribution patterns

Digital Tools for Practice

• Virtual Whiteboarding: Excalidraw, Miro, Draw.io for system design
• Diagram Creation: Lucidchart, PlantUML for portfolio development
• Template Libraries: AWS architecture stencils and professional diagrams

Downloadable Resources & Templates

Essential Cheat Sheets

• Leadership Principles Quick Reference: Amazon 16 LPs with behavioral questions and L6/L7 differences
• System Design Patterns: 20 essential patterns with AWS service mappings and scalability formulas
• Coding Patterns Reference: Top 15 patterns with time/space complexity analysis

Study Templates

• STAR Story Development Worksheet: 16 LP story templates with situation/task/action/result prompts
• System Design Canvas: Requirements gathering, architecture components, scaling calculations
• Interview Day Checklist: Technical setup, story reference, energy management tips

Practice Problem Banks

• L6 Coding Problems: 100 problems categorized by pattern and difficulty with solutions
• L7 Advanced Cases: Complex system design scenarios for Principal-level preparation
• Behavioral Scenarios: Real Amazon LP examples organized by principle

Progress Tracking Tools

• Weekly Practice Dashboard: Track coding practice, system design, behavioral prep, and mock interviews
• Study Calendar: 6-month customizable calendar with daily task assignments
• Skill Assessment Matrix: Track improvement across technical and behavioral dimensions

📚 Books and Publications

Technical Leadership Books

Essential Reading (L6/L7) - "The Manager's Path" by Camille Fournier - Focus: Engineering management progression - Time investment: 8-10 hours - Key chapters: 4-7 for L6, all chapters for L7 - Practice: Create management philosophy document based on principles

• "Accelerate" by Nicole Forsgren
• Focus: Engineering metrics and DevOps principles
• Time investment: 6-8 hours
• Amazon relevance: High (operational excellence focus)

• Practice: Identify 3 metrics to improve team performance

• "Staff Engineer" by Will Larson

• Focus: Technical leadership and influence
• Time investment: 5-7 hours
• Level relevance: Critical for L6, foundational for L7
• Practice: Map your technical leadership approach

Amazon-Specific Leadership - "Working Backwards" by Colin Bryar and Bill Carr - Focus: Amazon's operational approach and culture - Time investment: 10-12 hours - Critical sections: PR/FAQ process, Six-page narratives - Practice: Write a PR/FAQ for a technical initiative

• "The Everything Store" by Brad Stone
• Focus: Amazon culture and growth mindset
• Time investment: 12-15 hours
• Interview relevance: Understanding Amazon's scale challenges
• Practice: Identify 5 cultural principles that resonate

System Design and Architecture - "Designing Data-Intensive Applications" by Martin Kleppmann - Focus: Distributed systems fundamentals - Time investment: 20-25 hours (selective reading) - L6 focus: Chapters 1-4, 9 - L7 focus: All chapters, especially 7-12 - Practice: Design 3 systems using concepts from each chapter

• "Building Microservices" by Sam Newman
• Focus: Service-oriented architecture
• Time investment: 15-18 hours
• Amazon relevance: High (SOA culture)
• Practice: Design microservice migration plan

Coding Interview Preparation

• "Elements of Programming Interviews" by Adnan Aziz
• Focus: Algorithm and data structure mastery
• Time investment: 30-40 hours
• Level guidance: Focus on medium difficulty problems
• Practice: 2-3 problems daily from different categories

💻 Online Courses and Platforms

System Design Courses

Level-Specific Recommendations:

L6 Focus Courses: 1. "Grokking the System Design Interview" (Educative) - Duration: 20-25 hours - Strengths: Structured approach, Amazon-style questions - Practice: Complete all case studies, create your own variations - Cost: $79/month

1. "System Design Interview Course" (Exponent)
2. Duration: 15-20 hours
3. Strengths: Video-based learning, mock interview practice
4. Focus: Communication and explanation skills
5. Cost: $99/month

L7 Advanced Courses: 1. "Distributed Systems" (MIT OpenCourseWare) - Duration: 40-50 hours - Depth: Graduate-level theoretical foundation - Practice: Implement key algorithms and protocols - Cost: Free

1. "Cloud Architecture" (AWS Training)
2. Duration: 25-30 hours
3. Focus: AWS-specific design patterns
4. Modules: Well-Architected Framework, Enterprise Patterns
5. Cost: $500-800 for certification track

Coding Practice Platforms

Primary Platforms (Daily Use):

1. LeetCode Premium
2. Amazon Question Bank: 180+ company-specific problems
3. L6 Practice Plan:
   • 50 Easy problems (2 weeks)
   • 100 Medium problems (6-8 weeks)
   • 20 Hard problems (2 weeks)
4. L7 Practice Plan:
   • Focus on Medium/Hard (70/30 split)
   • System design problems
5. Cost: $35/month

6. Time: 1-2 hours daily

7. HackerRank

8. Amazon Assessment Track: Real assessment format
9. Practice Areas: Data structures, algorithms, problem solving
10. Interview Prep Kit: Company-specific preparation
11. Cost: Free tier available, $39/month premium

12. Time: 30-45 minutes daily for assessment practice

13. CodeSignal

14. Amazon Partnership: Direct assessment practice
15. Realistic Environment: IDE similar to actual interviews
16. Practice Tests: Multiple assessment attempts
17. Cost: Free practice, $99/month for premium
18. Time: 2-3 full assessments per week

Specialized Platforms:

1. Pramp (Free Mock Interviews)
2. Peer-to-peer Practice: Real interview simulation
3. Question Bank: Company-specific problems
4. Schedule: 2-3 sessions per week recommended
5. Cost: Free

6. Time: 1 hour per session

7. InterviewBit

8. Structured Learning Path: Skill-building progression
9. Topic Mastery: Deep dive into specific areas
10. Mock Interviews: Timed practice sessions
11. Cost: Free tier, $99 lifetime premium
12. Time: 1 hour daily for topic mastery

Behavioral Interview Preparation

Online Training Platforms:

1. Exponent Behavioral Course
2. Duration: 8-10 hours
3. Focus: STAR method, Amazon LP alignment
4. Practice: 50+ behavioral questions with model answers

5. Cost: $99/month

6. Interview Query Behavioral Prep

7. Database: 200+ behavioral questions by company
8. Practice Mode: Timed response recording
9. Feedback System: AI-powered response analysis
10. Cost: $89/month

🎥 YouTube Channels and Playlists

System Design Channels

1. "System Design Interview" by Alex Xu
2. Content: Case study walkthroughs
3. Level: Perfect for L6/L7
4. Key Playlists: "Design Popular Systems", "Scaling Strategies"

5. Time Investment: 2-3 videos per week (30 min each)

6. "Gaurav Sen - System Design"

7. Content: Deep technical explanations
8. Strength: Distributed systems concepts
9. Recommended Videos: Load balancers, Caching, Database scaling

10. Time Investment: 1 hour weekly

11. "Tech Dummies - Narendra L"

12. Content: End-to-end system design interviews
13. Format: Mock interview style
14. Value: Communication pattern learning
15. Time Investment: 1-2 complete interviews weekly

Coding Interview Channels

1. "NeetCode"
2. Content: LeetCode solutions with clear explanations
3. Organization: Grouped by patterns and difficulty
4. Value: Pattern recognition and optimization techniques

5. Time Investment: Daily problem review (15-20 min)

6. "Back To Back SWE"

7. Content: Algorithm explanations and interview tips
8. Depth: Computer science fundamentals
9. Value: Deep understanding vs. memorization
10. Time Investment: 2-3 videos weekly (45 min each)

Leadership and Behavioral

1. "Amazon Leadership Principles Explained"
2. Content: Real examples and stories
3. Format: Principle-by-principle breakdown
4. Value: Cultural understanding and example generation

5. Time Investment: 1 principle per day (20 min)

6. "Engineering Management Hub"

7. Content: Leadership scenarios and solutions
8. Topics: Team building, performance management, technical decisions
9. Value: Management philosophy development
10. Time Investment: 2-3 videos weekly

🎧 Podcasts for Commute Learning

Technical Leadership Podcasts

1. "Staff Eng Podcast"
2. Focus: Senior engineering career paths
3. Episodes: 20-30 minutes each
4. Value: Leadership philosophy and career progression

5. Frequency: Weekly episodes

6. "The Changelog"

7. Focus: Engineering trends and practices
8. Episodes: 45-60 minutes
9. Value: Industry awareness and technical breadth

10. Frequency: 2-3 episodes weekly

11. "Software Engineering Daily"

12. Focus: Technical deep dives and industry trends
13. Episodes: 30-45 minutes
14. Value: Staying current with technology evolution
15. Frequency: Daily episodes (selective listening)

Amazon-Specific Content

1. "AWS Podcast"
2. Focus: AWS services and customer stories
3. Episodes: 20-30 minutes
4. Value: Cloud architecture patterns and use cases

5. Frequency: Weekly episodes

6. "Amazon's Working Backwards Podcast"

7. Focus: Amazon's operational approach
8. Episodes: 25-35 minutes
9. Value: Cultural understanding and business principles
10. Frequency: Bi-weekly episodes

🔗 GitHub Repositories and Code Resources

System Design Resources

1. donnemartin/system-design-primer
2. Content: Comprehensive system design study guide
3. Value: Reference architecture and trade-offs
4. Usage: Daily reference and study material

5. Stars: 200k+

6. checkcheckzz/system-design-interview

7. Content: Real interview questions and solutions
8. Organization: Company-specific problem sets
9. Usage: Practice problem source

10. Update Frequency: Regular community contributions

11. AWS Architecture Center Samples

12. Content: Real AWS architecture patterns
13. Value: Production-ready design examples
14. Usage: Architecture pattern library
15. Maintenance: AWS official maintenance

Coding Interview Resources

1. azl397985856/leetcode
2. Content: LeetCode solutions in multiple languages
3. Organization: Pattern-based categorization
4. Value: Solution strategies and optimizations

5. Language Support: Java, Python, C++, JavaScript

6. kdn251/interviews

7. Content: Algorithm and data structure implementations
8. Focus: Interview-relevant algorithms
9. Value: Implementation reference and practice
10. Coverage: Comprehensive CS fundamentals

Behavioral Interview Resources

1. Amazon Leadership Principles Examples
2. Content: Community-contributed STAR stories
3. Organization: Principle-by-principle examples
4. Value: Story structure and content inspiration
5. Contribution: Open source story bank

🤝 Mock Interview Platforms

Professional Platforms

Level-Specific Recommendations:

For L6 Candidates: 1. Pramp (Free) - Format: Peer-to-peer practice - Sessions: 45-minute interviews - Coverage: Coding, system design, behavioral - Scheduling: Flexible, community-driven - Cost: Free

1. Interviewing.io
2. Format: Professional interviewer practice
3. Feedback: Detailed technical and communication feedback
4. Recording: Session recordings for review
5. Cost: $125 per session
6. Value: High-quality professional feedback

For L7 Candidates: 1. IGotAnOffer (Ex-Amazon Interviewers) - Expertise: Former Amazon hiring managers - Format: Comprehensive interview simulation - Feedback: Amazon-specific cultural and technical guidance - Cost: $200-300 per session - Value: Insider perspective and specific improvement areas

1. Exponent Mock Interview Platform
2. Format: Video-based practice with AI feedback
3. Question Bank: Company and level-specific questions
4. Analysis: Communication pattern analysis
5. Cost: $99/month for unlimited sessions

Community-Based Practice

1. Reddit Interview Practice Groups
2. Subreddits: r/cscareerquestions, r/ExperiencedDevs
3. Format: Study group coordination
4. Cost: Free

5. Value: Peer learning and diverse perspectives

6. Discord/Slack Interview Channels

7. Communities: TechLead, Engineering Manager groups
8. Format: Real-time practice coordination
9. Scheduling: Informal, flexible scheduling
10. Cost: Free

🏢 Communities and Forums

Technical Communities

1. Engineering Management Slack Groups
2. Rands Leadership: 20k+ engineering leaders
3. Value: Experience sharing and advice
4. Active Channels: #career-advice, #interview-prep

5. Cost: Free

6. Engineering Manager Reddit

7. Community: r/EngineeringManagers (50k+ members)
8. Content: Interview experiences, career advice
9. Value: Real interview feedback and tips
10. Activity Level: Daily posts and discussions

Amazon-Specific Communities

1. Blind (Amazon Discussions)
2. Content: Anonymous employee discussions
3. Value: Real interview experiences and feedback
4. Sections: Interview prep, salary discussions

5. Verification: Employee verification required

6. LeetCode Amazon Company Forum

7. Content: Company-specific problem discussions
8. Community: Active problem-solving community
9. Value: Problem pattern recognition and optimization
10. Update Frequency: Daily new discussions

📊 Study Tools and Templates

Note-Taking Systems

Recommended Approach for L6/L7:

1. Obsidian/Notion Knowledge Base

   Study Structure:
   ├── System Design/
   │   ├── Patterns/
   │   ├── Case Studies/
   │   └── AWS Services/
   ├── Behavioral/
   │   ├── LP Examples/
   │   ├── STAR Stories/
   │   └── Management Scenarios/
   ├── Coding/
   │   ├── Patterns/
   │   ├── Solutions/
   │   └── Complexity Analysis/
   └── Daily Practice Log/
   

2. Anki Flashcard System

3. System Design Cards: Architecture patterns, trade-offs
4. Algorithm Cards: Time/space complexity, implementations
5. Behavioral Cards: LP definitions, story triggers
6. Daily Review: 15-20 minutes per day

Progress Tracking Tools

Weekly Practice Dashboard:

## Week [X] Progress Tracker

### Coding Practice (Target: 10 problems)
- [ ] Easy Problems: __/3
- [ ] Medium Problems: __/6  
- [ ] Hard Problems: __/1
- **Weak Areas**: [Data structures, algorithms]
- **Time Spent**: __ hours

### System Design (Target: 2 case studies)
- [ ] Case Study 1: [Name] - [Status]
- [ ] Case Study 2: [Name] - [Status]
- **Focus Areas**: [Scaling, reliability, security]
- **Time Spent**: __ hours

### Behavioral Prep (Target: 5 stories)
- [ ] Customer Obsession: [Story title]
- [ ] Ownership: [Story title]
- [ ] Think Big: [Story title]
- [ ] Bias for Action: [Story title]
- [ ] Dive Deep: [Story title]
- **Time Spent**: __ hours

### Mock Interviews
- [ ] Coding Mock: [Date] - [Feedback summary]
- [ ] System Design Mock: [Date] - [Feedback summary]
- [ ] Behavioral Mock: [Date] - [Feedback summary]

Practice Problem Banks

L6 Problem Bank Structure:

### Coding Problems by Category

**Array/String (15 problems)**
- Two Sum variants (3 problems)
- Sliding Window (4 problems)  
- String manipulation (4 problems)
- Sorting applications (4 problems)

**Trees/Graphs (12 problems)**
- Binary tree traversal (4 problems)
- Binary search tree operations (3 problems)
- Graph search algorithms (3 problems)
- Tree construction (2 problems)

**Dynamic Programming (10 problems)**
- 1D DP (4 problems)
- 2D DP (4 problems)
- String DP (2 problems)

**System Design Cases (8 problems)**
- URL Shortener (Bitly)
- Chat System (WhatsApp)
- Social Media Feed (Instagram)
- Video Streaming (YouTube)
- Ride Sharing (Uber)
- Food Delivery (DoorDash)
- Distributed Cache (Redis)
- Search Engine (Google)

L7 Advanced Problem Bank:

### Advanced Problem Categories

**Complex System Design (10 cases)**
- Distributed databases (2 cases)
- Real-time systems (2 cases)
- ML/Data pipelines (2 cases)
- Multi-region systems (2 cases)
- Security-critical systems (2 cases)

**Advanced Coding (20 problems)**
- Hard tree/graph problems (8 problems)
- Advanced DP (6 problems)
- Concurrency problems (3 problems)
- Design patterns (3 problems)

**Architecture Decisions (15 scenarios)**
- Technology choice decisions
- Migration strategies  
- Performance optimization
- Security architecture
- Scalability planning

STAR Story Templates

Template Structure:

# STAR Story: [Leadership Principle]

## Story Title: [Brief descriptive title]

### Situation (Context)
- **When**: [Time period and context]
- **Role**: [Your specific role and responsibilities]
- **Challenge**: [The problem or opportunity]
- **Scope**: [Team size, budget, timeline]

### Task (Responsibility)
- **Objective**: [What needed to be accomplished]
- **Constraints**: [Limitations and challenges]
- **Success Criteria**: [How success would be measured]
- **Stakeholders**: [Who was involved or affected]

### Action (What You Did)
- **Approach**: [Your strategy and reasoning]
- **Execution**: [Specific steps you took]
- **Leadership**: [How you influenced and led]
- **Collaboration**: [How you worked with others]

### Result (Outcome)
- **Metrics**: [Quantifiable results]
- **Impact**: [Business and technical impact]
- **Learning**: [What you learned]
- **Follow-up**: [Long-term effects or improvements]

## Interview Preparation Notes
- **Key Messages**: [Main points to emphasize]
- **Potential Follow-ups**: [Expected interviewer questions]
- **Variations**: [How to adapt for different contexts]

🔄 Amazon-Specific Resources

Internal Documentation to Study

Pre-Interview Research: 1. Amazon Leadership Principles Deep Dive - Official Documentation: Amazon.jobs leadership principles - Study Approach: One principle per day with examples - Practice: Write 2-3 stories per principle

1. Amazon's Working Backwards Process
2. Source: "Working Backwards" book and public interviews
3. Key Concepts: PR/FAQ, Six-pager, Customer-first thinking

4. Practice: Write a PR/FAQ for a technical initiative

5. Amazon's Culture Documents

6. Day 1 Mentality: Understanding long-term thinking
7. Ownership Culture: Beyond job description responsibility
8. Customer Obsession: Technical decisions through customer lens

re:Invent Talks and Technical Content

Essential Viewing by Level:

L6 Essential Talks (10-15 hours total): 1. "Architecture Patterns for Modern Applications" - Focus: AWS design patterns and best practices - Duration: 45 minutes - Value: Understanding Amazon's scale challenges

1. "DevOps at Amazon Scale"
2. Focus: Operational excellence principles
3. Duration: 60 minutes

4. Value: Understanding Amazon's operational culture

5. "Building Resilient Systems"

6. Focus: Fault tolerance and reliability
7. Duration: 50 minutes
8. Value: System design fundamentals

L7 Advanced Talks (20-25 hours total): 1. "The Evolution of Amazon's Architecture" - Focus: Historical architecture decisions and lessons - Duration: 75 minutes - Value: Strategic thinking about architecture evolution

1. "Leading Technical Organizations at Scale"
2. Focus: Technical leadership and organizational design
3. Duration: 60 minutes
4. Value: Leadership philosophy and approach

AWS Whitepapers

Priority Reading List:

L6 Core Whitepapers (15-20 hours): 1. "AWS Well-Architected Framework" - Pillars: All 6 pillars with focus on operational excellence - Study Time: 6-8 hours - Practice: Apply framework to design a system

1. "Microservices on AWS"
2. Focus: Service-oriented architecture principles
3. Study Time: 4-5 hours

4. Practice: Design microservice migration strategy

5. "Database Migration Best Practices"

6. Focus: Data architecture and migration strategies
7. Study Time: 3-4 hours
8. Practice: Plan a database modernization project

L7 Strategic Whitepapers (25-30 hours): 1. "Enterprise Migration Strategies" - Focus: Large-scale transformation approaches - Study Time: 8-10 hours - Practice: Create transformation roadmap

1. "Building Fault-Tolerant Applications"
2. Focus: Resilience and disaster recovery
3. Study Time: 6-8 hours
4. Practice: Design multi-region failover system

Amazon Engineering Blogs

Regular Reading Schedule:

Weekly Reading (2-3 hours/week): 1. AWS Architecture Blog - Content: Real customer architecture solutions - Value: Understanding design decisions and trade-offs - Schedule: 2-3 posts per week

1. Amazon Science Blog
2. Content: Research and advanced technical approaches
3. Value: Innovation and cutting-edge thinking

4. Schedule: 1-2 posts per week

5. AWS DevOps Blog

6. Content: Operational practices and automation
7. Value: Understanding Amazon's operational culture
8. Schedule: 1-2 posts per week

⏰ Resource Recommendations by Level

L6 Time Investment Guide (12-16 weeks)

Weekly Schedule (15-20 hours/week):

### Coding Practice (5-7 hours/week)
- **LeetCode Premium**: 1 hour daily (7 hours/week)
- **Mock Coding Interviews**: 1 session/week (1 hour)
- **Pattern Study**: 30 minutes daily (3.5 hours/week)

### System Design (4-6 hours/week)  
- **Case Study Practice**: 2 cases/week (4 hours)
- **AWS Documentation**: 1 hour/week
- **Mock System Design**: 1 session/week (1 hour)

### Behavioral Preparation (3-4 hours/week)
- **Story Development**: 1 hour daily (7 hours/week)
- **LP Study**: 30 minutes daily (3.5 hours/week)  
- **Mock Behavioral**: 1 session/week (1 hour)

### Reading and Research (3-4 hours/week)
- **Technical Books**: 2-3 hours/week
- **Amazon Culture Research**: 1 hour/week
- **Blog Reading**: 1-2 hours/week

L7 Advanced Preparation (16-20 weeks)

Weekly Schedule (20-25 hours/week):

### Advanced Technical Preparation (8-10 hours/week)
- **Complex System Design**: 3 cases/week (6 hours)
- **Distributed Systems Study**: 2 hours/week
- **Architecture Pattern Research**: 2 hours/week

### Leadership and Strategy (6-8 hours/week)
- **Advanced Behavioral Prep**: 3 hours/week
- **Strategic Thinking Practice**: 2 hours/week
- **Case Study Development**: 2-3 hours/week

### Coding Maintenance (4-5 hours/week)
- **Advanced Problem Practice**: 3-4 hours/week
- **Code Review Practice**: 1 hour/week

### Research and Reading (4-6 hours/week)
- **Advanced Technical Reading**: 3-4 hours/week
- **Industry Trend Analysis**: 1-2 hours/week
- **Amazon Deep-Dive Research**: 1-2 hours/week

🎯 Quality Assessment Criteria

Resource Evaluation Framework

High-Quality Resource Indicators: 1. Recency: Updated within last 12-18 months 2. Accuracy: Consistent with current Amazon interview process 3. Comprehensiveness: Covers all interview dimensions 4. Practice Opportunities: Includes hands-on exercises 5. Community Validation: Positive reviews from successful candidates

Red Flags to Avoid: - Outdated information (pre-2020 content) - Generic advice not specific to Amazon culture - No practical exercises or application opportunities - Overly expensive without clear value proposition - Community reports of inaccuracies

Resource Prioritization Matrix

High Impact, High Effort: - System design courses and practice - Comprehensive behavioral story development - Advanced technical reading and research

High Impact, Low Effort: - LeetCode premium problem practice - Amazon LP principle study - Mock interview scheduling

Low Impact, High Effort: - Memorizing algorithm implementations - Reading every available system design book - Excessive note-taking without practice

Low Impact, Low Effort: - Passive video watching without practice - Social media interview tips consumption - Generic career advice reading

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This comprehensive resource guide provides structured pathways for Amazon L6/L7 interview preparation. Focus on high-impact activities aligned with your target level, maintain consistent practice schedules, and regularly assess progress against your preparation timeline. Success comes from systematic preparation using quality resources rather than consuming everything available.