Meta Interview Experience 2024 | Software Engineer

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0:00 Intro
0:49 Recruiter Interview
1:34 Mock Interview
2:28 Phone Interview
3:48 Onsite Interview
8:15 Results

[@crackfaang]

Thanks for the shout-out and I'm glad my videos helped you in your preparation journey! Shame it didn't work out this time but trust me go again and you'll probably have success the second time. I failed my first Facebook onsite but I dusted myself off and a year later I made it. I'm sure you'll smash it the next go!

[@KeepOnCoding]

Your videos helped a lot. Thanks and I’m confident it will go my way next time!

[@technicallychallenged]

I also failed my first FAANG on-site only to succeed 2 years later… don’t give up! And thanks for the video

[@Gr8thxAlot]

So all that prep, work, and an interview gauntlet only to get rejected based on timed puzzles? Tech workers need to stop agreeing to do this.

[@jruch_2949]

What choice do we have exactly?

[@Gr8thxAlot]

@@jruch_2949 Decline the gauntlet interview and apply at companies that have sensible interviews. Being successful at the gauntlet interview is down to random luck of encountering a question you've already had. I've had this happen in my favor, it's crazy.

[@Another0neTime]

That's exactly what I did. A recruiter reached out, I had a great interview with the next round, they explained the interview process and how long it would take and I politely declined to continue.

[@user-el4su7tl6f]

Wagie wagie get in cagie. All day long you sweat and ragie. (im not making fun of you. im just saying this is the current sentiment of the job market for those in CS)

[@Retrosenescent]

Meta pays top of the industry. Most companies don’t have interviews anywhere close to this

[@fatbubble123]

I work at Meta. but I also failed Amazon/Meta interviews at least 5 times over the past 4 years. If you do this intense interview prep grind next year, and the year after next, you'll get in! this is awesome work and transparency.

[@AnunayInuganti]

Do you like working at Meta? Was it really worth spending 4 years preparing leetcode? If you like / enjoy leetcode ok, but I dont...

[@fatbubble123]

@AnunayInuganti I enjoy being a capable software engineer. do I enjoy working for Meta. few people don't. I enjoy growing as an individual. I care very deeply about the code I write, how I write it, and how I work with others who share the same values as I do. I will always take the best job oppertunity I am qualified for which will allow me to work at my best and live my most quality life.

[@fatbubble123]

@AnunayInuganti I grinded leetcode, yes. but I also built a community of software engineers as friends by doing so. My lifes greatest challenges have led to the most rewarding outcomes. I have never once in my entire life "grinded leetcode because I want to work for meta".

[@farazahmed7]

@@AnunayInugantiwhy so passive aggressive??

[@hechuan5075]

dude, i watched your content when i was actively interviewing 2 years ago. nice to see you back at it. I hate LC, i hate the entire hoops we have to jump through just to get rejected, but i might try to see what it is really like, but i also love spending time learning more shit that these companies dont really care whether you posses or not. Tough battle

[@mgs_4k198]

Thank you for sharing this experience. Ive been following your channel for a few years now. You always come across genuine. Im sure you'll get a much better offer soon. All the best

[@SuperKidontheblock]

They need to do a psychological evaluation of software engineers. We might just be pushing the mental health boundaries.

[@sslvsme5763]

Med students have it worst

[@Hgvpuncher]

Not really. The problem most software engineers are focusing on leet code only when in fact you should focus on behavioral questions and leadership questions as well

[@sukapow]

​@@HgvpuncherIf someone only focused on leetcode problems only to get a job. That's just tells me, you are wasting time and developing a mental illness. You have a disillusional mind thinking, "Marky, I grinded leetcode problems for you so give me a jobee bc I want your money" You can see it with Neetcode mind

[@quarantinelife.]

​@@sslvsme5763yes, let's compete who has it the worst in the rat race going down

[@dmitriyobidin6049]

@@sslvsme5763 Med students a generally younger :) And all students have kinda messed up schedules. But when it comes to an interview with a heart surgeon with 15 year of experience - i don't really think that he spends weeks(or even months) prior to an interviews re-studying the whole uni course of medical science :)

[@markbenliyan]

This was really well done, awesome of you to share!

[@benjaminjimenez3704]

He's back! Love when you post dude

[@everettengineers4603]

Thank you for sharing.. I have an on-site interview in a few days, except for this E5/E6 role they have 6 rounds in one day.. so I appreciate the knowledge! Anyone can share a win, but it takes someone really dedicated to share when things don't go there way.. this will help a lot of people!

[@saicharanguggilam7162]

Appreciate you man for sharing your experience in detail along with areas where you didn't meet their expectations.

[@insertnamehere845]

Thanks for sharing bro. That was helpful! I'm sure you'll land something soon.

[@Rhythm31]

Hey, this video was much needed, thank you! I have my Meta final rounds this week (new grad) and since I’m on time constraint, I’ve been targeting and doing top 50 tagged questions by frequency on Leetcode these past few days. But at the end, it’s all based on your luck whether you get the same question or not. Hoping for the best since I’m quite nervous and not so good on Leetcode as you are expected to be when interviewing at these big tech companies. Thankfully, new grad E3 roles don’t have system/product design interview.

[@Deepa0811]

@keepOnCoding - Kudos to you for being honest about your interview and keep it real. I see a lot of videos on how people prepared and landed on the job. Yours gave more perspective on how people who normally try their best and not landing in that job. Was it an E5 role that you were trying for? Keep this channel going!

[@holyshiett]

I graduated cal poly slo in CS in the 08 recession and it was a rough market - eerily feels like how it is now. Most slo alums I know are doing very well even though we were dealt a bad hand back then. I was fortunate to join some very successful companies and did very well myself as well. GL and keep going.

[@Jaguar1612]

Thanks for sharing!

[@ali-celebi]

Thanks for sharing insights into the Meta job interview. It must have been stressful process throughout! Best of luck with job hunting if you're still looking.

[@khangmach5369]

Thank you for sharing your experience, I do hope you can find new chances and stay happy with your life.

[@KeepOnCoding]

Thank you!

[@ntt2k1]

I just want to drop a comment that I really appreciate you sharing all of these experiences!

[@PhouthasakDouanglee]

Thanks for sharing your experience, I also recently went through the Meta interview process (Aug 2023). For the most part I do agree with his review of the overall experience. Meta's process is very transparent and you can see everything, in terms of the process, on their career site. All the recruiters and interviewers made the experience very positive. A couple things that were different from my experience is, 1) I was not offered an option to do a mock interview, and 2) I was not offered the option for either a Product design or a System Design, defaulted to system design question. During my interview I was able to pass all the leetcode style rounds and behavorial round. However I didn't do so hot on the system design round, resulting in a no offer. I guess better luck next time for the both of us!

[@murtajiz545]

I had a similar experience, but with a smaller company and a *much* easier problem set. I got asked valid palindrome, and I passed 8/15 tests lol. Learned my lesson that day to grind like crazy since I let such an easy opportunity slip from my hands. 🤦🏽‍♂️

[@doomsardor15]

First! Best of luck on your journey!

[@leandrocabezas7379]

Thank you for the info, I am currently getting ready for an intern interview about data structures and algorithms. If you have any advice for me I would appreciate it

[@msh104utube]

That’s all right, man. I’m constantly told I’m not performing well…and that’s just in the bedroom. Zot, zot!

[@experiment0003]

I did a phone interview with Meta back in January, and I didn't make it. I got two questions, I solved the first, but the second was a hard level question I had never come across. It felt like the Asian interviewer didn't like me because I was black, or something. I wonder if they have a range of difficulty questions and just pick the ones they want based on how they feel about you. In December of 2023, I also didn't make it past the google phone screen. I had previously done the google mock interview and I solved both questions and a follow-up... a lot of luck is involved also in the questions you get.

[@philbowden]

Thanks for sharing this. I'm meeting with Meta next week. One question, what level was the role you were interviewing for?

[@dankiy3679]

Could you please tell me how many lc questions have you solved in general and how many of them were medium and hard?

[@erensametkaratas6593]

Can you do a video on tech layoffs and how the future of a junior software developer is looking?

[@williamcullum1193]

Bro don't worry, keep grinding and don't let the hysteria get you down about the process

[@Seji-lv3rr]

hello can anyone recommend me some apps that track active days of programming like the one in the video leetcode or something, I'm a student and struggle a lot with consistency because of procrastination, but with a visual track, I think I could solve that.

[@someguynamedvictor]

Had my recruiter interview, first real interview this week. I'm more of a hands-on web tech person so I doubt I'll make it far but it's interesting none the less. Leetcoding my face off 🤣

[@atift5465]

Dont feel bad about not getting through. Much of what you get is solely on luck. Technical coding interviews to the extent that they are done, are no measure of skills that are required to perform on the job.

[@leonscott543]

I think it sucks that we are clammering for a job and are assessed on interview performance rather than engineering capability. But also must keep in mind that we are competing against each other. If we get denied, its almoat always because someone/s did much better. And how can you deny them an offer in that scenario

[@richardlubanga6749]

can you share the resume you used to land the interview

[@aydinimsi]

What did you use as the programming language? Is this choice important for them?

[@tgeorg12]

That interview process is ass

[@bblatnick1]

Did you interview for Full stack software engineer?

[@leob1945]

Which language did you pick for this interview?

[@pranavarora7331]

what level were you going for?

[@Palmerines]

Thank you for this! Can you tell us what position and level you applied for?

[@KeepOnCoding]

E4

[@edsonphilippe58]

Thank for your video. Luck was not in your favor this time but it's not the end of the world. At the end of the day, if you were given the right set of question you would have definitely nail it. I love FANG, but sooner of later they will be just like IBM, Intel, CISCO, Bell Labs, AT&T, VMWare, HP, DEll. No one would care about them.

[@KeepOnCoding]

That’s a great point about those other companies. Thank you for your encouragement!

[@DC-yw5yg]

We got geico

[@itsAaron]

whats the name of the referral video you mentioned

[@KeepOnCoding]

How To Get Interviews at Big Tech Companies kzbin.info/www/bejne/pX7OpKt5iNeaoMk

[@inspektabussy39]

Make sure to do a few problems of every different algorithm category when practicing and make sure you fully understand why and how it works. It sounds like during your interviews you did well on problems you saw before but struggled with explaining the solution or approaching new problems. Not trying to throw shade but just help out. I was in a similar spot before but I’ve found that focusing on having a solid understanding of all the different categories helped me a lot in passing interviews. Thanks for sharing your experience and best of luck in your next interviews 🍀

[@CS_n00b]

How many leetcode questions have you solved?

[@zuowang5185]

could you share the list of frequently asked leetcode questions?

[@user-iy3mw5yo3m]

Was this interview for entry level software engineer ?

[@jpchato]

sounds like such a waste of time to interview at these places. Glad to see you're back.

[@agnesakne4409]

can we see your leetcode profile?

[@ToastRusk]

If you fail even one question or ask for hint it is GG. These companies are brutal.

[@FADIK1987]

leetcode is ok but why 6 problems, why do not ask about design patterns oop best practices(small question like what is diff between command pattern and chaine of responsibilities will show your level) , review some of your old projects or ask you to make a small project and then review it with you, CI, I mean there is a lot more than leetcode to do as Softwearenginer, and I am hundred % sure that the people who interviewed you will do same mistakes if someone else interviewed them, so this is not technical interview this is Gambling thanks for sharing

[@k.i.m.5506]

Thanks for sharing. Quick question please: are the 4 onsite interviews virtual or in-person? is it a whiteboard for an onsite coding interview?

[@StephenMoreira]

While everyone else is studying, studying , studying and doing multi round interviews. Go make your own product imo.

[@Basta11]

Yeah. You really cannot put your heart into any interview. If I were preparing this much though, I’d try to get more interviews. Getting into interview shape is quite time consuming especially if you have a job and a family.

[@onlywilddrift9506]

Started in October got offer in Jan. Joining in April. 6+ months for the whole process

[@josephlin8065]

How's it so far now that you've been on the job for 2 months? Position and city?

[@keyone415]

For your coding which language did you use?

[@KeepOnCoding]

Java

[@shreehari2589]

I have heard that if one guy out of four says no hire then you are out!

[@blueskies3336]

wait what the heck! are you from UCI?

[@MindIsLikeFullMoonInFall]

It's just lame that if you have seen that leetcode problems then you can breeze past them, else you' pretty much will fail. And as you mentioned in the video, if the question is old or they are some weird question, then you are not even given time to think it through! So the technical rounds just became who can memorize the most leetcode problems. In one interview, I was given a question like given a fleet of 50 trucks, each with a full fuel tank and a range of 100 miles, get the formula for max distance can travel? I was not able to get the formular in time and it turned out it's about harmonic series, I mean who the hell will know this?

[@michaelhernandez5478]

On any problems you found yourself stuck, did you ask for hints? Or did they offer any hints?

[@jaredalbin5658]

Dang that sucks man I’m sorry

[@RandomShowerThoughts]

3:25 that’s literally what’s wrong with interviews. Just being lucky enough to see the problem is enough to pass these interviews. That’s absolutely terrible

[@boasa]

So the only reason why you are advancing is because you have seen the problems before? Broken interview process.

[@moneymaker7307]

If you haven’t seen a question before or a variation of a question, then there is no way you can solve it in twenty minutes. Most questions on leetcode are variation of the same question with a slight twist.

[@yiannig7347]

Did you ask for feedback to help you get better next time?

[@KeepOnCoding]

The recruiter said they do not give feedback.

[@gordonfreimann]

even if you get in you will probably be laid off at some point. i dunno if it is worth the hassle

[@b0roovka]

Hello, I have 16 years of coding experience with different technologies. I've already failed at Google and Amazon. With Amazon it was even few times. And to be honest I don't want to apply to them anymore. The recruitment process is the pain in the ass. Tasks are not practical (at least leatcode ones). And then until the end you don't even know which team you'll be part of and what kind of projects you will do. So you can end up with doing crap. So no more FANG for me.

[@marcoio8742]

The sad thing about this that nowhere in the process, your experience is ever considered. 7 years of coding maybe you had some incredible experience but no because you didn't memorize (not solved, because solving a problem that you know the answer to is not solving it's just remembering) a timed puzzle. Happy that you can see the positives with this but I think this interview processes are a joke tbh

[@Leon-cm4uk]

I'm not a big fan of these kind of interviews. They don't really test the skill of problem solving but the skill of practicing to write algorithms and basicly learning them by hard. But in reallity no one would blame you if you look up things and you did not remembered every algorithm you have learned in your life. You should be able to identify which algorithm can be used for which situation but on the job you won't write them down out of your memory. Sometimes you even have to mix algorithms to get a better solution and sometimes there is no way to optimize more. But I get why such big companies standardized the tests because of the mass of people wanting to work for them but my feeling is that the tests are testing in the wrong direction. Same as the technical certifications where things are tested you nearly never get to see in reality. They also test there if you can learn by hard and not if you have understood how to write good structured code.

[@sviatoslavnovosiadlyi611]

I dunno man. You keep grinding but is it worth it ? Like faang is not a prestige dream place it once was. Interview is like 30% luck and if you fail you feel miserable . Not sure why you keep replying to recruiters

[@oceanview3165]

Let’s say after preparing for a year, you got hired but then you got laid off within a year or two. What then 😅

[@holetarget4925]

Tech workers need to be compensated for this non-sense.

[@KeepOnCoding]

I agree!

[@ander172]

One thing is make interview and get a job. Another thing is then working as a monkey every day under pressure... I quit with this corporate bullshiit.

[@Ibuse123]

What is the point of this? I know they have high salaries, but the area also has high cost of living and a high cost of entry when you consider the credentials needed to get in. And we haven't even discussed their DEI agenda. All this to obtain a bullshit job that will provide little impact other than prop up the stock's growth evaluation to keep investors happy.

[@TicTacTechYT]

Tech is such a cancer cess pool

[@easyspirit878]

So tech interviews are still bullshit? Grind for months, retain only two thirds of what you study, hope you get lucky with your questions and interviewers, repeat. So glad I stopped giving a shit about faang years ago.

[@xdega]

Listening to your story, it's quite clear to me why they declined to make an offer. First off, your whole mentality is way off. You seem to be in this mindset that it's all about "grinding out and memorizing leetcode problems". No offense, but that doesn't demonstrate good engineering, especially when you failed to explain "why" a rehearsed solution worked.The interviewer will know if you are simply repeating a memorized problem. Instead, I would be looking to see the following: * How you think about a problem? * What is your problem-solving approach? * How you begin to break down a complex problem into smaller parts * How you weigh tradeoffs in performance/complexity, etc... I know you may have thought that the early rounds went well, but I would suggest that the interviewers were simply not trying to give any negative signals and put your off. I encourage you to check this out before your next round: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zoucg4qVnc2IipY Good Luck!

[@edsonphilippe58]

I don't agree with you. Luck plays a lot in those interview and no amount of extra preparation would have made a difference. I don't think it has to to with his abilities because at the end of the day, every engineer has to make a compromise between spending a lot of time gridding leetcode vs using that time to learn real work skills. We all know he was just not lucky this time and if he was dealt with a different set of problem he would nail it. it takes many people many years of research to develop those algorithm. How would you expect 1 person to have all of those in their brain and be able to use all of them?

[@xdega]

@@edsonphilippe58 Your are missing the point. It's not about memorising the problems. It's about showing you have problem solving skills that are vital to being a good software engineer. I would encourage you to check out the video I shared from "A Life Engineered". He offers valuable insight on what interviewers are looking for. Of course, there is a huge element of luck. But grinding out leetcode is not what interviewers are looking for. Let's say you are given a unique problem on the job. Does memorizing leetcode problems help you brainstorm with your team? Instead, isn't it more likely that interviewers ask these sorts of problems to see how you might approach other problems? They are a "proxy" to gauge your problem solving skills, not assess your short term memory.

[@edsonphilippe58]

​@@xdega I love "A Life Engineered" he gives so much good insight and I had learned so much listening to his videos. I think those company are looking for athlete level problem solver. Most people who plays basketball would never make it to the NBA despite how hard they try. At that level, it has less to do with their ability but luck. Same for solving leetcode problem for FANG company. Being able to solve 2 leetcodes medium in 45 minutes has more to do with luck than hard work given his level of preparation. Because there are people who has probably less problem solving skills and still make it. All you can do is increase your luck with preparation. If luck is in your favor, then you you get in. I am a very lucky person and i know my ability alone is not what put me where I am. Sometime, I just get lucky or a break. It's all a game

[@crisi6754]

@@xdega "Let's say you are given a unique problem on the job" ... how can we even get to this point if we have to endlessly grind leetcode to get the job? Sure, interviewers might care how you think and approach problems, but if you can't even solve the problem, you think they're gonna be like: "Well I like the way he approached this problem"? ... Absolutely not! That is the reason people who interview at FAANG have to complete 100s of leetcode problems, because it doesn't matter how you think, what truly matters is if you can solve the algorithm problem given to you. If you've ever interviewed at faang, you would know this my dude

[@xdega]

@@crisi6754 Again. I shared insight from a principal engineer at Amazon. Has interviewed and trained people how to interview at FAANG. Take his advice, not mine. ... or you can disregard the stated fact that leetcode style problems are a "proxy", and keep thinking that it's all about memorizing answers. Up to you.

[@amerdelic8710]

I know this won’t happen, but if we all just said no to these style of interviews the tech world would be a better place.

[@brayanhernandezmora8619]

But what is the best way to tell if someone is prepare for the job in a short time. Building projects? that does not define how good you are at solving problems

[@brayanhernandezmora8619]

I agree with you btw I hate leetcode question but for now is the only way 😢

[@nukemall3678]

I thought Meta was desperate for engineers and upset because people kept declining their offers? Maybe they're too picky.

[@anuragsuresh5867]

Don’t think people are declining the offers when they offer top of the market comp.

[@nukemall3678]

@@anuragsuresh5867idk.. Zuckerberg was pretty upset about it.

[@JP-xm3qf]

Why would anyone want to work in such a terrible company, being a Computer Scientist and wasting your life on such a meaningless worthless company, no way.

[@francisgerman5672]

money

[@gersimuca]

@@francisgerman5672good point

[@mraltersaftsack]

As if other companies pay bad. You get enough and do real engineering. choose if you want waste your days doing uncreative school work and treated like a code monkey with a lot of senseless pressure for … money? or going on a cool startup or small company with real business model and a real engineering mindset without corporate bullshit. Well some people want to be owned and some want to own their life.

[@anuragsuresh5867]

Seems like you’re not familiar with the engineering culture at Meta. Also would be interested to know what schools let you work on stuff like PyTorch, VR and large scale distributed systems.

[@Alex-hu8gj]

4 months of interviewing are they working on something or interviewing people for months at a time. Ok guys we have 100 candidates here and we will ask stupid questions until one is left this project will take 20 to 30 years so be ready