What Is the Amazon Online Assessment? The Coding, Work Simulation, and Work Styles Sections (2026)
Last updated: July 2026
The Amazon Online Assessment (OA) is the automated first-round screen Amazon sends software engineering candidates before any live interview. For most SDE and new-grad roles it is a single sitting of roughly 100 to 120 minutes made up of three distinct parts: two coding questions, a Work Simulation, and a Work Styles survey aligned to Amazon's Leadership Principles. Unlike a pure coding screen, the OA is explicitly designed to measure both your algorithmic ability and your fit against Amazon's culture — which means you can code perfectly and still stumble on the non-coding sections if you treat them as filler. This guide walks through each part and how to prepare.
Below are the components of the Amazon OA, in the order they typically appear.
1. Coding Questions (Two Problems)
The coding section gives you two algorithmic problems, usually with a combined time budget around 70 minutes, auto-graded on hidden test cases. Amazon favors classic data-structures-and-algorithms topics: graphs and BFS/DFS, greedy, sorting, heaps, sliding window, and occasionally dynamic programming.
What it tests
- Correct, efficient solutions that pass large hidden cases, not just the samples.
- Time management across two problems where one is usually harder than the other.
How to prep
Drill the topics Amazon leans on — graph traversal, greedy, heaps, and two-pointer/sliding-window — and always test against big inputs. Bank the easier problem fully before sinking time into the harder one.
2. Work Simulation
The Work Simulation (about 20 to 40 minutes) drops you into a realistic "day as an Amazon engineer": you read dashboards, customer messages, and teammate updates, then choose how you'd respond or prioritize. There is no code — it measures judgment.
What it tests
- Decision-making that reflects Amazon's Leadership Principles, especially Customer Obsession, Ownership, and Bias for Action.
- Handling ambiguity and trade-offs the way Amazon expects an engineer to.
How to prep
Learn the Leadership Principles and pick the response that puts the customer first and takes ownership, even when a more comfortable option exists. Consistency across scenarios matters more than any single "perfect" answer.
3. Work Styles Assessment
The Work Styles survey (about 10 to 15 minutes) is a series of agree/disagree statements that map to the Leadership Principles. It is short, but it is scored.
What it tests
- Alignment between how you say you work and Amazon's stated values.
- Internal consistency across similarly-worded prompts.
How to prep
Answer honestly but with the Leadership Principles in mind. Avoid neutral fence-sitting on statements about ownership, high standards, and customer focus.
Why the Non-Coding Sections Actually Matter
Candidates routinely under-prepare the Work Simulation and Work Styles sections because engineers assume the coding is all that counts. It isn't. Amazon weights culture fit heavily, and the Leadership Principles thread through the entire loop — the OA, the phone screen, and the onsite's behavioral rounds (Amazon Jobs). Treating the simulation seriously on the OA also rehearses the exact thinking you'll need for the "Tell me about a time..." questions later.
In short: clear the coding, but do not sleepwalk through the rest. A strong coder who ignores the Leadership Principles can still be filtered out here.
How to Practice for the Amazon OA
The OA rewards two separate muscles — fast, correct DS/algo coding and fluent Leadership-Principles judgment — and the best prep works both. Karavine's Amazon prep ladder pairs original coding practice questions modeled on real assessment patterns with the behavioral and Leadership-Principles framing Amazon looks for, so you rehearse the coding and the culture-fit thinking in the same place instead of cramming them separately.
Run several full timed coding sets, and read every Leadership Principle with one concrete story of your own attached to each, before you open the real assessment.
FAQ
How long is the Amazon Online Assessment?
Most software engineering OAs run about 100 to 120 minutes total: roughly 70 minutes for two coding questions, plus the Work Simulation and the Work Styles survey.
How many coding questions are on the Amazon OA?
Typically two algorithmic problems, auto-graded on hidden test cases, drawing on data structures and algorithms such as graphs, greedy, heaps, and sliding window.
What is the Amazon Work Simulation?
A non-coding, day-in-the-life exercise where you respond to realistic workplace scenarios — dashboards, messages, and prioritization — and your choices are scored against Amazon's Leadership Principles.
Do the non-coding sections of the OA actually affect the result?
Yes. The Work Simulation and Work Styles sections are scored and reflect Amazon's heavy emphasis on culture fit. Strong coding does not automatically offset weak alignment with the Leadership Principles.
How should I prepare for the Amazon OA if I'm short on time?
Prioritize graph, greedy, heap, and sliding-window coding practice, then read the Leadership Principles and attach one personal story to each so the Work Simulation and Work Styles answers stay consistent.
All interview-prep guides · Browse companies on Karavine