Amazon Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) Interview Questions

Amazon Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) interview questions at Amazon focus on practical problem solving with real-world data: efficient joins and window functions in SQL, group and aggregate logic, NULL-handling and performance tradeoffs, and equivalent Pandas/NumPy patterns for in-memory work. What’s distinctive is the mix of product-sense and scale-awareness — interviewers evaluate both correctness and how your solution would behave on large tables or within a production pipeline. Expect timed live-coding or take-home tasks where clarity of assumptions, test cases, and incremental refinement matter as much as final syntax. For interview preparation, prioritize translating tasks between SQL and Pandas, practicing common subproblems (deduplication, rolling/window calculations, CTE refactors, and merge strategies), and explaining complexity and scalability tradeoffs. Be ready to justify index or partition choices, to optimize a slow query, and to narrate decisions with Amazon’s customer-and-ownership lens. Practicing with real datasets and mock interviews that simulate pressure will improve fluency and the concise communication Amazon looks for.

67 Questions 1 Company06.08.2026
Showing 20 results
Role
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Defect Rate and Identify Top Lanes for Carriers

shipment +-------------+----------+-----------+---------+---------+-------------+-----------+ | shipment_id | order_id | ship_date | carrier | origin ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
66
0
218 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Understand SQL: DELETE vs TRUNCATE, VIEW vs TABLE, CROSS JOIN

employees +----+--------+---------+ | id | name | dept_id | +----+--------+---------+ | 1 | Alice | 10 | | 2 | Bob | 20 | | 3 | Car...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
77
0
139 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Top 10 Items' Revenue Contribution by Category

sales +----------+------------+---------+---------+------------+ | order_id | category | item_id | revenue | order_date | +----------+------------+-...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
62
0
197 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze User Engagement with SQL Queries

events +----------+---------+---------------------+ | event_id | user_id | event_time | +----------+---------+---------------------+ | 1 ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
104
0
275 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Compute 3-Day Rolling Revenue Averages with Pandas

sales +------------+-----------+-------+---------+ | date | product_id| units | revenue | +------------+-----------+-------+---------+ | 2023-01...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
100
0
460 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Monthly Prime vs Non-Prime Sales and Price Buckets

sales +-----------+------------+----------+-------+ | order_id | order_date | is_prime | price | +-----------+------------+----------+-------+ | 1001...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
82
0
256 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Create Country-Level Spend Report Using Pandas

users +---------+---------+ | user_id | country | +---------+---------+ | 1 | US | | 2 | CA | | 3 | US | +---------+-...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
82
0
195 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Explain MySQL to MS SQL Server query syntax differences.

transactions | id | user_id | amount | txn_date | |----|---------|--------|----------| | 1 | 1001 | 25.00 | 2023-07-01 | | 2 | 1002 | 40.00 ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
105
0
371 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Software Engineer

Compute unique visitors by department

You have two tables: products(product_id, department, category, subcategory) where department > category > subcategory form a parent–child hierarchy, ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
0
8 people solved
Jul 26, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Design Incremental Load Process for Large Relational Table

orders_daily_load +------------+-----------+-------------+--------+ | load_date | order_id | customer_id | amount | +------------+-----------+------...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
86
0
213 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Identify SQL Joins and Correct Query Errors

Winner +----+-------+ | ID | Name | +----+-------+ | 1 | Alice | | 2 | Bob | | 3 | Carol | +----+-------+ ​ Loser +----+-------+ | ID | Name | ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
92
0
387 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Identify Top Spenders and Segment Customers Using Python

orders +----------+---------+------------+----------+--------------+-------------------+ | order_id | cust_id | order_date | product | order_amount |...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
76
0
10 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Explore Subscription Patterns and Status Transitions with SQL/Pandas

subscriptions +-----------------+---------+-------------+ | subscription_id | status | status_date | +-----------------+---------+-------------+ | 10...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
67
0
7 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Consolidate and Rank Global Salaries in USD

employees_us +---------+----------+--------+---------+ | emp_id | name | salary | country | +---------+----------+--------+---------+ | 1 |...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
49
0
8 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Identify Date with Highest Total kWh Consumption Using Pandas

meter_readings +----------+------------+---------------+---------+ | meter_id | timestamp | kwh_consumed | city | +----------+------------+------...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
63
0
5 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Regional Revenue and Identify Top Customers

Customers | customer_id | name | region | |-------------|-------|--------| | 1 | Alice | East | | 2 | Bob | West | | 3 ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
9
1
4 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Business Intelligence Engineer

Identify Most Popular First-Watched Movie in Viewing History

MOVIE_VIEWS +------------+--------------------+------------+ | customer_id| title | date | +------------+--------------------+-----...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
5
0
17 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Business Intelligence Engineer

Analyze Seller Compliance and Customer Purchase Patterns

SELLER_STATUS +-----------+------------+-----------+ | seller_id | date | status | +-----------+------------+-----------+ | 1 |2019-0...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
5
0
18 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Business Intelligence Engineer

Identify Frequent Actor-Director Collaborations in Film Database

FILMOGRAPHY +-------+---------+------------+ | actor | dir | date | +-------+---------+------------+ | Tom | Nolan | 2020-01-01 | | Tom ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
1
0
7 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Amazon logo
Amazon
Medium
Business Intelligence Engineer

Identify Customers Purchasing Every Product in Catalog

X_PURCHASES +-------------+---------+ | customer_id | pro_key | +-------------+---------+ | 1 | A | | 1 | B | | 2 ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
4
0
14 people solved
Jul 12, 2025

Frequently Asked Questions

How difficult are Amazon Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) interview questions?
At Amazon, Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) questions range from basic SELECTs to complex window-function and multi-join puzzles. For entry-level roles you can expect medium-difficulty tasks such as filtering, aggregates, and simple joins, while mid-to-senior positions commonly include hard problems that require multi-step transforms, efficient windowing, common-table expressions, and memory-aware pandas code. Interviewers evaluate correctness, performance, and clarity of thought; minor syntax slips can be forgiven if reasoning is solid, but inefficiency or incorrect handling of NULLs and edge cases will lower your score. Time pressure and follow-up tradeoff questions often increase perceived difficulty.
Where in the Amazon interview process does Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) appear and how is it assessed?
Data Manipulation skills appear in several stages of an Amazon interview loop. Recruiter screens may include high-level questions, technical phone or video screens often use a collaborative editor for live SQL or pandas exercises, and on-site interviews or take-home assignments require writing production-quality queries and scripts. Different roles emphasize different aspects: analysts focus on aggregations and joins, data engineers evaluate scalability and query optimization, and data scientists mix transformation with modeling needs. Assessment typically covers correctness on sample data, efficiency considerations for large datasets, and your ability to explain assumptions and tradeoffs.
What is a realistic preparation timeline for Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) for Amazon interviews?
A focused four-to-eight week plan is realistic for most candidates. Begin with two weeks of fundamentals covering SQL joins, aggregates, window functions, CTEs, and pandas groupby/merge/vectorized operations. Spend the next two weeks solving timed problems that combine multiple transformation steps and practice writing efficient queries. Use the final weeks for mock interviews, end-to-end exercises on realistic datasets, and review of edge cases like NULLs, duplicates, and memory limits. Throughout, prioritize explaining your approach, reviewing mistakes, and rehearsing tradeoff discussions rather than only chasing quantity of problems.
What key subtopics should I master within Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) for Amazon interviews?
Master joins and data modeling choices, aggregate functions versus HAVING, and window functions for ranking and running metrics. Learn to use CTEs for stepwise transformations and be fluent in NULL handling, date and string manipulation, and grouping semantics. In Python and pandas, focus on merges, groupby-apply or transform patterns, pivoting and reshaping, vectorized operations to avoid slow loops, and using appropriate data types to save memory. Equally important is performance tuning: understand explain plans, indexing and partitioning basics, and when it’s better to push logic into SQL versus handling it in Python.
What standout tips and common pitfalls should I be aware of when preparing for Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) at Amazon?
Begin by clarifying requirements and state any assumptions; communication is part of the evaluation. Choose the tool that makes your solution clearer and more efficient, and be ready to justify that choice. Common pitfalls include ignoring NULL semantics, misordering joins causing row multiplication, using row-by-row operations in pandas instead of vectorized approaches, and overlooking performance implications on large tables. Always consider edge cases, write readable SQL or Python, and if optimization is needed explain indexing, partitioning, or vectorization strategies rather than attempting risky micro-optimizations under time pressure.

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