Meta | E5 | London | Passed

I applied through LinkedIn in January and received a response in March.

Phone Screen

1. 3Sum

• Solved optimally with a dry run.
• Was asked a follow-up question about avoiding duplication. I explained the solution but did not code it.

2. Simplify Path

• A variation of this problem. Given a current directory path and a cd command with a path for entering a new directory, return the current path after cd.
• I struggled with this and asked several clarifying questions.
• I was able to solve it optimally with a dry run using the interviewer's hints.

Onsite Coding Round 1

1. Merge Sorted Array

• Solved optimally with a dry run without hints.

2. Diameter of Binary Tree

• Solved optimally with a dry run without hints.

Coding Round 2

1. Given a list of integers, return a list of averages with a window size k.

• Solved optimally with a dry run without hints.

2. Missing Element in Sorted Array

• I had solved this before but forgot the solution. I asked several clarifying questions and arrived at an optimal solution (Binary Search) after realizing the input array was sorted.
• However, there were some bugs in my code during the dry run. The interviewer gave a hint, which I used to fix the bugs, but time ran out. The interviewer mentioned a possible follow-up coding round.
• I was fortunate this question was second; otherwise, I might have failed this round.

Product Architecture Design Round

• Design Dropbox/Google Drive
• I led this interview using a solution from a system design resource.
• I provided 1-2 deep dives, but the interviewer asked a follow-up question about synchronization between multiple machines.
• I discussed the trade-offs between Request-Response, SSE, and WebSocket.
• I am unsure how well I performed in this round, as it was more of a discussion.

Behavioral Round 1 Behavioral Round 2

• My recruiter mentioned one round was a training round for their interviewers, but I don't know which one.
• I believe both rounds went well; the discussions were smooth, and the interviewers did not ask many follow-up questions.

Result

• I received the result from my recruiter a week later: I passed the virtual onsite interview.
• I was surprised, as I nearly failed the second coding round. The first coding round likely saved me.
• I also solved all questions optimally, which likely contributed to my success.
• I am currently in the team matching process, but my recruiter could not provide a timeline. Research suggests this process can take 2-3 months.

Preparation

• Coding
• I used a resource to study DSA from scratch. I solved 103 questions from that resource and 132 Meta-tagged questions.
• Product Architecture Design
• I used a system design resource and completed two mock interviews with Meta interviewers, which helped identify my strengths and weaknesses.
• Behavioral
• I studied Meta's core values and applied them to my answers. I prepared several behavioral questions and surprisingly, they were all covered in the two behavioral rounds. My preparation included questions about projects I am proud of, times I disagreed with a senior, misunderstandings with colleagues, working with missing requirements, career transitions, taking initiative, impactful managers and coworkers, and the roles I played on teams.
• For behavioral questions, I focused on impact and lessons learned using the STAR method. I also used ChatGPT 4.0 to refine my answers.

Closing Thoughts I hope my experience helps others. My preparation was key to my success.