Landing a Meta software engineer interview feels both exciting and scary. Meta (what used to be Facebook) is one of the hardest places to get into. From fresh grads at the E3 level to senior engineers, thousands of people apply for these jobs every year. The challenge isn’t only the tough questions. It’s also the time pressure, the need to write clean solutions fast, and the expectation that you can think like someone building products for billions of users.
Smaller companies might throw random puzzles at you. Meta doesn’t. Their interviews check if you really know your basics, from data structures, algorithms, to system design, and if you can use them in real-world problems. Expect LeetCode-style coding questions, design problems shaped like apps people use every day, and behavioral questions that test how well you’d work in Meta’s fast, team-driven culture.
This guide will show you what happens in a Meta software engineer interview. We’ll cover coding, system design, and behavioral parts, along with strategies to get ready. You’ll also see real questions asked in past Meta interviews, so nothing catches you off guard. By the end, you’ll understand how Meta judges candidates and how to prepare in a way that gives you the best shot at landing the offer.
Key Takeaways
- Meta’s interviews focus on strong fundamentals in data structures, algorithms, and system design applied to real-world product problems.
- The interview process includes recruiter screen, technical phone screen, and onsite rounds covering coding, system design, behavioral, and product sense.
- Meta evaluates structured problem-solving, clear communication, adaptability, and ability to perform under time pressure.
- Preparation should balance coding practice, system design study, and behavioral story building while simulating real interview conditions.
Meta Software Engineer Interview Process Overview
Before jumping into the actual Meta Software Engineer interview questions, it helps to see the big picture. The process usually follows three main stages. The exact steps can shift a bit depending on your level (from E3 new grad up to E6 and beyond), but the overall flow stays pretty similar:
1. Recruiter Screen
The first step is usually a short call, about 20–30 minutes. The recruiter checks your background, explains the interview flow, and answers any questions you have about the role. It may feel casual, but don’t brush it off. This is your chance to set the tone, show interest, and clear up what’s ahead.
For more senior levels, or for certain teams, you might face more than one phone interview or a much harder initial interview.
2. Technical Phone Screen
Next comes one or two phone interviews, each about 45 minutes. These focus on coding with data structures and algorithms. You’ll usually get two LeetCode-style problems per session, often at the medium level.
Candidates usually get questions like:
- Traversing a Binary Search Tree
- Building an LRU Cache
- Koko Eating Bananas
- Palindromic Substrings
What they expect from you:
- Write working code in a shared editor.
- Explain your approach step by step.
- Talk about time and space complexity.
- Tweak your solution for edge cases or optimizations when asked.
Interviewers might drop small hints along the way. Don’t worry, that’s not a bad sign. Picking up on hints is seen as collaborative, not weak.
3. Onsite (Virtual or In-Person)
The onsite is the toughest part. It’s usually 4–5 interviews packed into one day. Here’s what you’ll face:
- Coding (2–3 rounds): Medium to hard algorithm problems. They’ll look at both how correct your code is and how efficiently it runs.
- System Design (1 round, sometimes 2 for senior roles): You’ll design large-scale systems, the kind that could actually support Meta’s products.
- Behavioral / Leadership (1 round): Questions about how you work with others, take ownership, and stay calm under pressure. Behavioral round is more pronounced for more senior-level interviews as they are more likely to work cross-functionally.
- Product Sense (sometimes): For some roles, you’ll also get asked how you think about users, metrics, and trade-offs.
Some loops add a casual lunch or coffee chat with a teammate. It feels informal, but it still counts. Use it to ask questions and show genuine curiosity about the team and culture.
Coding Interview at Meta
This is the core of the Meta Software Engineer process. Almost everyone does it more than once, one or two times during phone screens, then again two or more times on-site. Meta’s own prep guide is clear: they don’t care about flashy tricks. They want to see if you know the basics, explain clearly, and solve problems in a structured way.
What to Expect
- Format: Usually two coding problems in 45 minutes. Most are medium-level LeetCode questions, with the occasional easy or hard one mixed in.
- Environment: You’ll write code in a shared editor like CoderPad. No autocomplete. No debugger. You’ll need to type out working code while explaining your steps out loud.
- Languages: You get to choose your language. Meta suggests picking one that’s both clear to read and efficient to use.
What Meta Evaluates
According to Meta’s official guide, your coding performance is judged across four dimensions:
- Communication: Asking clarifying questions and thinking out loud instead of diving straight into code.
- Problem Solving: Explaining reasoning, exploring multiple approaches, optimizing for time and space complexity.
- Coding: Writing clean, logical, organized code that reflects your solution.
- Verification: Walking through test cases, considering edge cases, and debugging your own logic if needed.
Common Coding Question Areas
From recent Meta interviews, these are the most common problem types you should expect:
- Trees & Graphs: Binary tree traversal, reversing a binary tree, BFS/DFS graph problems.
- Hash Maps & Caching: Implementing an LRU Cache, frequency counts, and deduplication.
- Arrays & Strings: Sliding window problems, two-pointer algorithms, subarray sums, palindrome checks.
- Sorting & Searching: Variants of “Kth largest element” across multiple arrays, interval problems.
- Dynamic Programming: Palindromic substrings, longest consecutive sequence, subsequence optimizations.
Sample Meta Coding Questions and How to Solve Them
Question 1: Implement an LRU Cache (Medium)
Why Meta asks this: This question tests your ability to combine data structures to meet both time and space efficiency requirements. It’s also a good check on how well you can handle trade-offs.
How to Approach:
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- Clarify requirements: Confirm what happens if the key doesn’t exist (usually return -1), or if you put a key that already exists (usually update the value and mark it as most recently used).
- Identify constraints: O(1) time complexity is required for both operations.
- Pick data structures:
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- A hash map for O(1) lookups of keys.
- A doubly-linked list to maintain the order of usage (so you can quickly remove the least recently used item from the head and move items to the tail when accessed).
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- Algorithm:
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- On get(key): If key exists, move it to the tail (most recently used). If not, return -1.
- On put(key, value): Insert/update the key. If capacity is exceeded, remove the head (least recently used).
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- Trade-offs: The combination of a hash map + doubly linked list is optimal. Using only an array or list would lead to O(n) time removals.
Question 2: Reverse a Binary Tree (Easy)
Why Meta asks this: It’s a fundamental recursion/iteration problem. Meta uses such questions to test whether you can write clean, bug-free code under pressure, even for “easy” problems.
How to Approach:
- Clarify requirements: Ensure the definition of “reverse/invert” is swapping left and right children at every node.
- Choose an approach that has two valid strategies:
- Recursive DFS: Swap children, then recurse on left and right.
- Iterative BFS/DFS: Use a queue or stack to process nodes one by one and swap children.
- Algorithm (recursive):
- Base case: If node is null, return.
- Swap left and right.
- Recurse on both children.
- Test on example:
- Input: root = [4,2,7,1,3,6,9]
- Output: [4,7,2,9,6,3,1]
- Complexity: O(n) time, O(h) recursion depth (or O(n) in iterative version).
Most Commonly Asked Coding Questions at Meta Software Engineer Interviews
Candidates have reported being asked to solve problems like:
- Solve Palindromic Substrings
- Find the Kth largest element across multiple lists
- Flatten a nested array
- Given an integer array, return an array such that the value at each index is the product of all values in the original array except the number in that position.
- Write a code that determines if a given graph is bipartite.
- Given the root of a binary tree, determine the number of root-to-leaf paths such that the sum of the values of the nodes is N.
- Flatten a nested array (list of lists) into a single list.
- Generate all combinations of well-formed parentheses for a given number of pairs.
- Given a matrix (2D grid), find the shortest path from point A to point B, taking into account obstacles or blocked cells.
- Find the distance between K points (or between some given pair of points). For example, closest pair/distance finding among multiple points.
These are representative of the Meta Software Engineer interview questions you’ll see, but the exact set changes frequently. The key is to be adaptable and ready to apply core patterns.
Also Read: Facebook Coding Interview Questions to Nail Your Next Interview
How to Prepare for Meta Coding Interviews
Getting ready isn’t just about grinding random LeetCode problems. Meta interviewers look at more than whether your code works. They watch how you explain, how you improve your solution, and how you handle pressure. Here’s a solid way to prep:
Meta-tagged LeetCode problems. Go through the most recent 100–150. These match what Meta actually asks, for the most part. However, don’t just limit yourself to this.
Cover a wide range. Don’t just drill arrays or trees. Mix in graphs, hashing, caching, recursion, and strings.
Skip heavy dynamic programming. Meta’s own guide says they don’t use DP in interviews. Focus on recursion, iteration, graph traversal, and hashing instead.
Practice under real conditions. Give yourself 20–25 minutes per problem. No autocomplete, no debugger, no fancy IDE features. That’s exactly what the interview feels like.
Talk through your process. Say out loud what you’re thinking, requirements, trade-offs, and edge cases. Meta expects coding to be a conversation, not you silently typing.
Test with examples. Run through small cases: empty arrays, single nodes, edge inputs. Show that you check your work.
System Design Interview at Meta
For mid-level and senior roles (E4 and above), system design is a key part of the Meta interview. This round tests if you can think like an engineer who can build systems at scale for millions of users and optimize to be fast and reliable.
What to Expect
Format: A 45-minute back-and-forth with your interviewer. You’ll design a system or product, explain your choices, and discuss trade-offs.
Focus: It’s not about writing code. It’s about how you structure big systems and handle open-ended problems.
Types of questions you might see:
- System Design: Topics like distributed systems, scaling up, performance, and reliability.
- Product Architecture: Things like designing APIs, handling client-server interactions, and making sure the system is usable.
What Meta Evaluates in System Design
When you’re in the system design round, interviewers are mainly judging you on four things:
- Problem Navigation: Do you ask the right clarifying questions? Can you cut through the vague setup and figure out the real constraints?
- Solution Design: Does your design cover the full problem, not just a piece of it? Is it practical and usable?
- Technical Depth: Can you talk about the important details, like databases, caching, consistency, and trade-offs, without getting lost in the weeds?
- Communication: Do you explain your thinking clearly, take in feedback, and adjust as the discussion moves forward?
Sample System Design Question and How to Approach
Question: Design a Messaging App
Why Meta asks this: Messaging systems are core to Meta’s products (Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram DM). This question tests whether you can design for real-time communication, scalability, and fault tolerance.
How to Approach:
- Clarify Requirements:
- Should the system support 1:1 chats, group chats, or both?
- Expected scale: millions? billions?
- Features: typing indicators, read receipts, message history?
- High-Level Components:
- Client layer: Mobile/web apps sending and receiving messages.
- API Gateway / Load Balancer: Handles client requests and distributes them.
- Messaging Service: Core service to process and route messages.
- Database Layer: Stores user profiles, chats, and messages (NoSQL for flexibility, SQL for consistency where needed).
- Queue / Pub-Sub System: Kafka or RabbitMQ for real-time message delivery.
- Cache Layer: Redis for fast retrieval of recent conversations.
- Key Design Considerations:
- Scalability: Horizontal sharding of messages across servers.
- Reliability: Replication of data across regions to handle outages.
- Consistency: Eventual consistency is often acceptable (message might appear after a slight delay).
Latency: Ensure messages are delivered in under 100ms.
- Trade-offs to Discuss:
- SQL vs NoSQL for storing messages.
- Strong vs eventual consistency.
- Push vs pull for message delivery.
- Wrap-Up:
- Walk through how a message flows from sender → backend → receiver.
- Discuss how the system scales from 1M to 1B users.
- Address edge cases (network failure, offline users, duplicate delivery.
10 Example Meta System Design Questions
Here’s a list of Meta system design interview questions:
- Design a food delivery app like UberEats
- Design a messaging app (chat service)
- Design an ads aggregator
- Design a URL shortener
- Design a worldwide video distribution system
- Design a news feed system (like Facebook or Instagram feed)
- Design an email server
- Design an API for a social network’s friend recommendation system (mutual friends, graph-based)
- Design a real-time ride-sharing system (like Uber/Lyft)
- Design a scalable file storage system (similar to Google Drive/Dropbox)
Also Read: Facebook Software Engineer Interview Questions and Answers
Behavioral Interview at Meta
Sometimes called the “leadership” or “values” round, this part is just as important as coding or system design. Here, Meta wants to see if you can work well with others, take responsibility, and handle the messy, fast-moving reality of building at scale.
What to Expect
- Format: About 45 minutes, usually with a hiring manager or senior engineer.
- Style: Open-ended questions about your past experiences, with follow-ups that dig deeper.
- Focus Areas: Interviewers look at five main things:
- Resolving conflict: How you deal with disagreements on the team.
- Continuous growth: Do you take feedback and actually improve?
- Handling ambiguity: Can you stay productive when priorities shift or details are fuzzy?
- Driving results: Do you take initiative and see projects through to the end?
- Clear communication: Can you explain ideas simply and adapt to your audience?
Common Meta Behavioral Questions
Expect questions like this for the Meta behavioral interview
- Tell me about a time you managed conflict in a team.
- Give me an example of a deadline you couldn’t meet and how you handled it?
- Walk me through a recent project you’re proud of.
- Describe a time when you had to quickly learn a new technology or tool to deliver a project.
- Tell me about a situation where you disagreed with a colleague—what did you do?
- So, tell me about yourself.
How to Prepare for the Meta Software Engineer Interview Behavioral Interview
Have stories ready. Pick 2–3 solid examples for each of the five focus areas. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to keep your answers clear.
Be concrete. Don’t just say “I’m a good teammate.” Show proof—like “I cut pipeline run time by 30% by redesigning part of the process.”
Be real. Not every story has to be a win. Meta respects when you admit mistakes, as long as you show what you learned.
Expect deeper questions. Interviewers often push past the surface. Be ready to explain why you made certain choices, not just what you did.
Match Meta’s values. Highlight teamwork, openness, and driving impact. Those are things Meta looks for in its engineers.
Meta’s Evaluation Philosophy
One of the most important things to understand when preparing for Meta Software Engineer interviews is that interviewers aren’t just looking for the “right answer.” They are assessing whether you can think, communicate, and problem-solve like an engineer who will thrive at Meta.
Fundamentals Over Tricks
No brainteasers, no obscure algorithms. They want to see you use the basics like arrays, hash maps, trees, recursion, caching, and distributed systems. Most of the questions come straight from medium-level Meta-tagged LeetCode.
Think Out Loud
The interview is meant to be a conversation. Interviewers may drop hints or ask things like, “Can you make this faster?” Talking through your thinking shows openness and helps you catch those cues.
Handling Ambiguity
Meta likes to keep prompts a bit vague—whether it’s system design or behavioral. They want to see if you ask clarifying questions, break problems into pieces, and make smart trade-offs.
Show Coachability
You don’t need to be perfect. If you adjust after feedback, that’s a plus. It shows you’re flexible and can grow.
Time Pressure
The hardest part is the clock. Two coding questions in 45 minutes, or a full design round in under an hour. You don’t have to finish every edge case. Clear reasoning and solid communication matter more.
Preparation Framework & Study Plan for Meta Software Engineer Interview
Getting through the Meta software engineer interview isn’t about memorizing every LeetCode problem. It’s about knowing your basics, following a clear problem-solving process, and staying calm while working with your interviewer. A focused prep plan goes a long way.
How to Split Your Study Time
Coding (50%) – Spend half your prep on data structures and algorithms. Use the Meta-tagged LeetCode list. Focus on arrays, trees, graphs, caching, and sliding window problems.
System Design (30%) – If you’re E4 or higher, put serious time into large-scale system design. Cover distributed systems, scaling, and product architecture.
Behavioral (20%) – Prepare stories that show leadership, adaptability, and impact. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to keep your answers clear and structured.
Practice Strategies
Simulate the timer: Try to solve each problem in about 20–25 minutes. Then spend 5 minutes making it faster and 5 minutes testing edge cases.
Mix it up: Don’t just grind one type of problem. Meta rewards range, not niche mastery.
No IDE crutches: Practice without autocomplete or debugging tools. That’s how the real interview feels.
Talk as you code: Explain your thinking, trade-offs, and edge cases out loud. Candidates often say this matters just as much as the code itself.
Study real systems: Look into how Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp are built. This gives you a solid base for system design questions.
Polish your stories: Prepare at least two examples for each behavioral area, like conflict, growth, handling ambiguity, driving results, and communication.
Weekly Prep Breakdown (4–6 Weeks)
Here’s a sample timeline to structure your Meta Software Engineer prep:
- Week 1–2: Refresh core DSA fundamentals (arrays, hash maps, trees, graphs). Daily timed LeetCode practice.
- Week 3: Introduce system design. Practice 1–2 design prompts per week using frameworks like Grokking the System Design Interview. Keep up coding drills.
- Week 4: Mix in mock interviews with peers or platforms. Add behavioral prep—outline STAR stories for past projects.
- Week 5: Focus on weak spots. For many candidates, this is graph algorithms or scaling trade-offs in system design.
- Week 6: Full-length mock interviews (coding + design + behavioral) under real timing. Polish communication and speed.
This way, you’re not just cranking through problems. You are actually training the same skills Meta actually looks for in interviews.
Conclusion
The Meta Software Engineer interview is one of the hardest to get through in tech, but it’s also fair. They’re not testing if you’ve memorized every algorithm out there. What they care about is whether you can use coding and design fundamentals to solve real problems. They want to understand whether you can talk through your approach and work with your interviewer.
It is important to stay calm, structured under time pressure. If you split your prep across coding practice, system design, and behavioral stories, you’ll have easier time to crack Meta software engineer interview.
And remember: the point isn’t to be flawless. The point is to show you think like a Meta engineer. Steady, adaptable, and focused on impact.
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FAQs : Meta Software Engineer Interview
1. How to prepare for a Meta software interview?
Focus on coding practice, system design fundamentals, and behavioral prep. Study common Meta Software Engineer interview questions and simulate time-boxed sessions for effective prep.
2. Are Meta interviews difficult?
Yes, Meta Software Engineer interviews are challenging due to time pressure and depth. With structured preparation and clear communication, most questions are predictable and manageable.
3. What is Meta full loop?
The Meta full loop is the onsite stage, including multiple coding rounds, system design, and behavioral interviews, assessing technical depth, problem-solving, and ownership skills.
4. What language is used in the Meta interview?
Candidates can choose their preferred programming language. Most use Python, Java, or C++. Meta Software Engineer prep should focus on fluency in one interview-friendly language.
5. How long does it take to prepare for a Meta Software Engineer interview?
On average, candidates spend 6–8 weeks on Meta Software Engineer prep, balancing coding drills, system design practice, and behavioral storytelling with mock interviews.
Resources:
Official Meta Guide to Prepare for Software Engineer Interview
