Meta Software Engineer Interview Guide
Updated by Meta candidates
Written by Graham Carlson, Senior Technical ContributorOur guides are created from recent, real, first-hand insights shared by interviewers and candidates. If your experience differs, tell us here.
Meta’s SWE interview process is unique because of its speed-focused philosophy of software development and design. Practice with a timer, gradually increasing your time constraints to simulate the process accurately.
The process is very streamlined and transparent, and you will be given a large amount of resources through Meta’s hiring portal that you can use to prepare.
At least one round will include working with an AI coding assistant, which you will have opportunities to practice with using Meta’s hiring portal.
Below, we break down the complete SWE interview process at Meta.
Interview Process
Meta’s SWE interview process will be managed through the hiring portal, which will include information about each round along with resources for interview prep. Here’s a general outline of how each interview looks:
- Recruiter screen: A quick call to go over your skills and experience, and to determine which role and team suits you best
- Asynchronous technical screen: A coding problem that you can solve asynchronously using CodeSignal
- Paired technical screen: An interview with a Meta team member, which will include multiple technical questions
- Culture fit questionnaire: A brief asynchronous multiple-choice questionnaire to determine your behavioral and cultural fitness
Virtual onsite rounds:
- Data structures and algorithms interview: Meta asks 2X or more DSA questions per coding round than other big tech companies.
- System design interview: Meta’s system design rounds are comparable to those of other hot tech companies
- Behavioral round: Meta’s behavioral screen isn’t as rigorous as Netflix, Apple, or Amazon; it’s more like Microsoft, where behavioral screens are more of a checkbox
- AI-enabled coding interview: A cutting-edge round allowing open usage of LLMs where you’ll be asked to go through your workflow “as you would on the job.”
Recruiter screen
Your discussion with the recruiter will be high-level and focus on your experience, particularly your work in large organizations or on projects that operate at scale.
They will also ask you about your general interests and areas of focus to determine which team you might fit into best. Meta values those who can work on multiple projects and complete tasks ahead of deadlines.
Recruiter Screen Questions:
Asked at 
Asked at Asynchronous technical screen
This round can be scheduled any time after you have been granted access to their portal. You will be given 60 minutes to solve a technical challenge.
As with other rounds, you’ll be given information about the kind of questions to prepare for, and you’ll have lots of flexibility to prepare. The questions will be practical and become more challenging as you work through them.
You might be asked to create a basic file system, then sort the files in lexicographical order, change the data TTL, and perform other complex tasks.
Asynchronous Technical Screen Questions:
Asked at Capital One • 
Asked at 
Asked at Paired technical screen
In this round, you’ll be paired with a technical interviewer who will ask 2-3 questions and provide follow-ups. You will have a good idea of the types of questions, but not necessarily the follow-ups.
The follow-ups will add some technical complexity to the process; for example, if checking for palindromes, you might be asked to find ones that contain only particular letters.
Because it is paired, you can ask for hints or further clarification on questions. It’s critical to talk through your process before you start to write code, as this helps them assess your approach.
Because these rounds contain multiple questions and can be extended with follow-ups, when you prepare for them, it’s important to optimize for speed and efficiency.
Paired Technical Screen Questions:
Asked at Meta Culture fit questionnaire
This is a newer addition to Meta’s process. It’s another asynchronous round that should only take 20-30 minutes. You will be given questions and asked to choose which answer best describes your work style, priorities, and collaborative skills.
Prior to the final round, Meta only screens for technical skills. This questionnaire seems to be the main way Meta gets signal on soft skills/culture fit to filter out the “obvious mismatches” before committing to a full-day final round.
Example Culture Fit Questionnaire Questions:
Virtual onsite rounds
Data structures and algorithms interview
Continuing the approach from the paired coding screen, this round will pair you with a technical team member who will give you 3-4 DSA questions.
When you prepare for this round, it’s good to think about what is left out of Meta’s prep resources. Identifying any constraints that aren’t addressed by the prompt and asking for clarification will show how thoroughly you prepared.
Talking through your approach before writing any code is important here, as they have a specific set of signals that they want to see, which is harder to determine if you don’t explain your process.
Their DSA questions might include searching for peak elements, solving binary search challenges, or problems involving a sliding window of character frequencies.
DSA Interview Questions:
System design interview
This round can change significantly depending on your experience and the SWE level you are applying for. The scope of your expected output grows for higher-level roles.
For example, you might be asked to design an online boardgame system. Senior+ candidates might focus on the whole distributed system, while below-senior candidates would focus solely on the details of the API.
The follow-up questions will focus on implementation details, for example, how would a player on your board game system undo a move?
As you practice system design challenges, you should also think about how to express your choices and answers as eloquently as possible. Your answers will be assessed not just for technical viability but also for your ability to explain them clearly.
System Design Questions:
Asked at Meta Behavioral interview
This round might be shorter (30 minutes) and less dense with questions than the others, as it will mostly assess the signals you provide that you are a good fit at Meta.
You probably won’t be asked many follow-ups, and those that do come up will mostly be to clarify your answers or prompt you to share past examples.
You’ll be asked about handling tight deadlines and working on simultaneous projects, as well as some questions about cross-functional work with other teams.
Like the other rounds, the questions will also focus on working quickly, which is central to Meta’s software development and organizational philosophy.
Behavioral Interview Questions:
Asked at AI-enabled coding interview
This is a newer round in Meta’s process and is designed to assess how you use and evaluate the output of a coding assistant within your workflow. You’ll be paired with someone who can help answer any technical questions or discuss constraints.
As with the other rounds, the question will get more complex as you progress through it, such as a maze traversal question, which adds more obstacles and complexity as you move further along.
As part of your preparation, Meta will let you know which models you can use. You should try them out to determine which ones provide an output you find useful for your work.
You will also be tested on how well you assess model output, as they will want to see you checking the AI coding assistant’s work rather than just copy-pasting its solution into your own.
They’ll want you to vocalize your process using the assistant to the interviewer, even if the tool isn't producing the desired output.
They’ll also want to know if you understand what the output means, why a certain prompt works or doesn’t, and that you know how to validate LLM-generated code.
AI-Enabled Coding Interview Questions:
Asked at Sierra AI • Common Mistakes
Here are some of the mistakes people make when preparing to interview for an SWE role at Meta:
- Not practicing interview skills and doing mock interviews. Speed and technical skills are critical, but you’ll also need to talk through your process and choices.
- Not looking deeply at the practice questions and prep material. The questions may be incomplete or constrained, and identifying them is a good way to stand out.
- Failing to prepare for a large volume of questions in a short amount of time. Meta loves speed (they ask 2x-3x as many coding questions per round as other FAANGs on average), and you’ll need to show you can budget your time and keep up.
- Blindly trusting AI and failing to check your LLM coding assistant’s output is a signal that you cannot productively use these tools.
Interview Prep
Preparation is the point: Meta’s approach is similar to an open-book test, and whether or not you succeed will be decided before the interview itself. While this may seem helpful, it also means they expect you to take full advantage of every resource they provide and more to complete the rounds.
Speed above all else: Meta’s success is built on its willingness to move fast, and it wants this philosophy reflected in its team members' work. As you prepare, don’t be afraid to pursue solutions and methods optimized for speed, and don’t get bogged down in questions of compliance or security unless specifically prompted. Time yourself during your technical prep. Increase the time constraints gradually.
About the Role
Meta’s SWEs can work across a wide range of products and services, including AI and ML, VR tools, distributed systems, product design, infrastructure, and security. Here are some common traits:
Performance over process: As you might expect, Meta is primarily interested in building the best things quickly rather than following a defined software development process. They’re invested in discovering what works and don’t care as much about how they get there.
Empowered engineers: Relative to other large tech companies, Meta’s SWEs are given much more power and discretion, and are expected to speak up if they feel they have a faster or more performant approach, even to their managers or those higher up.
Ambitious and experimental: Meta encourages SWEs at every level to experiment and find hacky (a good thing at Meta!) solutions to persistent problems. SWEs who have built something that works don’t need to obtain permission to deploy it internally, which makes it a great role for ambitious engineers who function well with less process.
Core Responsibilities
As stated above, Meta’s SWEs can work across a wide range of capacities, and their exact responsibilities will vary greatly. Here are some general ones:
- Develop software solutions to help Meta's product performance, reliability, and efficiency
- Work with other teams to develop internal tools to assist with projects, increase visibility, data observability, and scalability
- Debug, test, and improve Meta’s existing systems and externally-facing products
- Collaborate with other teams to complete projects ahead of schedule and deliver a solution that meets and exceeds efficiency benchmarks
- Build performant, stable solutions that can match the enormous amount of demand that Meta’s products typically have
Compensation
Average total compensation by level for Meta SWEs:
E3: $188,000
E4: $310,000
E5: $479,000
E6: $761,000
E7: $1,370,000
E8: $3,220,000
E9: $4,430,000
Job Requirements
Experience
Depending on the level, SWEs at Meta are expected to have at least 2 years of experience as a software engineer in the tech industry. This should also include direct experience in the focus area of their team (VR, product, infra, etc.).
Education
Although it is not required for every SWE role, most high-level SWE applicants must have, at a minimum, a BS in computer science or another technical degree. They are also open to those with years of equivalent technical experience.
Resources
- Meta Careers Page
- Meta Engineering Blog
- Working at Meta
- Meta Hiring Process
- Software Engineering Interview Prep
- Meta Interview Questions
- Software Engineer Interview Questions
FAQs
How long is the Meta Software Engineer interview process?
The length of Meta’s interview process can vary, and you will have some discretion over how much time you have between interviews. Their careers page states that the entire process takes 2 to 3 months.
Does Meta have internships?
Yes, Meta offers research internships through its job site.
Does Meta offer remote work opportunities?
Meta’s work rules vary by product, with some requiring full-time in-office work while others are hybrid or support fully remote work. Meta generally requires staff to be in the office a minimum of 3 days a week.
How long should I wait after a rejection before reapplying to Meta?
You will need to wait one full year before reapplying to Meta, unless you were rejected for a specific reason (e.g., couldn’t relocate) and that reason has changed.
Do I need experience working at a big company to get a job at Meta?
Although this is not a listed requirement, some products and groups will favor those with experience working at large companies with highly scalable products and tools.
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