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AWS Cloud Support Engineer

Interview Guide Aug 13

The role of an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Support Engineer

Amazon Web Services is the global market leader and technology forerunner in the Cloud business, providing on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered pay-as-you-go basis. These cloud computing web services provide a variety of basic abstract technical infrastructure and distributed computing building blocks and tools.

As an AWS Cloud Support Engineer, you will be at the forefront of this transformational technology, assisting a global list of companies and developers that are taking advantage of a growing set of services and features to run their mission-critical applications. You will act as the ‘Cloud Ambassador’ across all the cloud products, arming customers with the required tools & tactics to get the most out of their Product and Support investment.

Your exact responsibility at AWS Cloud Support will depend on the team you are being hired for. Some of the different AWS Cloud support teams are: 

  • Network or Compute teams (EC2)
  • Big Data Support 
  • Database 
  • Deployment 

Role and responsibility

  • Learn and use groundbreaking technologies.
  • Apply advanced troubleshooting techniques to provide unique solutions to our customers' individual needs.
  • Interact with leading engineers around the world.
  • Partner with Amazon teams to help reproduce and resolve customer issues.
  • Leverage your extensive customer support experience to provide feedback to internal Amazon teams on how to improve our services.
  • Drive customer communication during critical events.
  • Drive projects that improve support-related processes and our customers’ technical support experience.
  • Write tutorials, how-to videos, and other technical articles for the developer community.
  • Work on critical, highly complex customer problems that may span multiple AWS services.

Skills/Qualifications required

  • Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering or a related field.
  • Requires a minimum of 3+ yrs experience in relevant technical position
  • Exposure to Database Fundamentals and General Troubleshooting (tuning and optimization, deadlocks, keys, normalization) in any Relational Database Engines (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQLServer) OR exposure to search services fundamentals and troubleshooting (indices and JVMMemory analysis and CPU utilization) for key open source products like Elasticsearch and Solr OR exposure to streaming services like Kafka / Kinesis.
  • Experience in Business Analytics application, support, and troubleshooting concepts
  • Experience with System Administration and troubleshooting with Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS, RedHat) and/or Microsoft Windows Server and associated technologies (Active Directory)
  • Experience with Networking and troubleshooting (TCP/IP, DNS, OSI model, routing, switching, firewalls, LAN/WAN, traceroute, iperf, dig, cURL or related)
  • Experience in a customer support environment
  • Experience analyzing, troubleshooting, and providing solutions to technical issues
  • Familiar with data warehousing and ETL process
  • Understanding of Cloud Computing concepts
  • Experience scripting or developing in at least one of the following languages: Python, R, Ruby, Go, Java, .NET (C#), JavaScript
  • Expertise in Data warehouse (example Redshift, Teradata, Exadata or Snowflake) OR expertise in search services products like Elasticsearch / Solr OR expertise in streaming services like Kafka / Kinesis.

AWS Cloud Support Engineer salary

  • Entry-level salary :USD 92,000.
  • Senior positions: USD 138,000. 
  • Median salary: USD 115,000 with the base component being USD 70,000, stock component being USD 30,000 and bonus being USD 15,000

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Support Engineer Interview Guide

Typically, the interview process for the AWS Cloud Support Engineer consists of 2 rounds as under:

  • Phone Screen
  • Onsite Round 

Phone Screen

Overview

The recruiter screen is a 30-minute interview with the hiring manager. This is a get-to-know-you interview where the interviewer assesses your cultural and experiential fit for the role & company. Most of the questions will be based on your previous experience/resume. So, be very familiar with everything in your resume. Remember to keep answers short & structured. You can also expect a few basic questions on topics such as OS and Networking. Also, keep a short and crisp answer ready for common questions such as "Why do you want to be a cloud support engineer?" or "Why Amazon?"

Tips

  • Revise and re-revise everything you have mentioned in your CV.
  • Prepare answers to questions involving your motivation for the role and company.

Onsite Round

Overview

Once you clear the phone screen, you will be called for the onsite round. The onsite round for the AWS Cloud Support Engineer consists of 4 rounds, 3 of which will be technical rounds and the last one will be an HR round each. Each of these interviews is going to be one hour long.

  • Operating System (OS) & Networking 
  • Database Management System (DBMS)
  • Data Structures
  • HR round

Let's look at each of these rounds in a little more detail.

Operating System (OS) & Networking Interview

OS questions will focus on OOPS, fundamentals of Operating systems. Topics like sockets, memory models and threads are very likely to be asked. Networking questions will focus on network architecture, lan, routers and so on. Also, expect questions on cloud computing since this will be the more focus of the role.

Database Management System (DBMS)

In database management, questions on data abstraction and data independence, database objects, multimedia database interfaces, categories of end-users, and use of DBMS in system software are commonly asked.

Data Structures

Data Structures questions will check the clarity of your concepts. Questions will involve writing functions to implement various operations on data structures. Expect a good number of questions on arrays, stacks, and linked lists. Be prepared to write algorithms involving these data structure types.

HR Round

The HR interview is a non-technical round. It is conducted by a senior HR manager from the company. Questions will be almost exclusively based on your CV and previous work experience, quite similar to the Phone Screen. There may also be some situation-based questions to gauge your motivation for the role and company.

There will also be situational questions to assess your leadership skills and behavioural aspects of your personality.

A major focus in the HR interview will be Amazon's 14 Leadership Principles. All situational questions will necessarily involve these principles. So, try to use them whenever you can in your answers.

Tips

  • Since the role requires you to work in a customer support environment, it is imperative that you communicate effectively, and are able to show the same to the interviewers.
  • Be prepared for scenario-based questions that involve analyzing, troubleshooting, and providing solutions to technical issues.

Interview Questions

  • OS and Networking
  • What is meant by context switching? Which situation does it happen in?
  • Explain demand paging?
  • What are the benefits of multi-threaded programming?
  • What is a deadlock? What are the necessary conditions for deadlock?
  • What is OSPF?
  • What is DHCP?
  • What is the colour coding for the internet wire?
  • How do you configure a Router?
  • What is your understanding of configuration management?

Database Management System (DBMS)

  • How does DBMS score over traditional file-based systems?
  • How do Clustered and Non-clustered indexes differ?
  • Do NULL values in a database carry the same value as that of blank space or zero?

Data Structures

  • Write a function to find the missing number in a given integer array of 1 to 100. 
  • How do you find the duplicate number on a given integer array?
  • Give an algorithm to find the largest and smallest number in an unsorted integer array.
  • Explain the logic of an algorithm to find the length of a singly linked list? 
  • How do you find the third node from the end in a singly linked list?
  • Give the algorithm to find the sum of two linked lists using Stack. 
  • Write the algorithm for performing an inorder traversal in a given binary tree.
  • Write a function to print all nodes of a given binary tree using inorder traversal without recursion.

HR Round

  • Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?
  • What inspires you to pursue a career in Cloud Support Engineering?
  • Why do you want to work at AWS?
  • Give me an example of a time when you did not meet a client’s expectation. What happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation?
  • When you’re working with a large number of customers, it’s tricky to deliver excellent service to them all. How do you go about prioritizing your customers’ needs?

So, this was an exhaustive step by step prep guide for your interview. We are sure you will ace the interview if you work hard and diligently follow the tips and guidelines we have mentioned in the guide.

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