Meta Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) Interview Questions

Meta Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) interview questions are a central part of Meta’s hiring for data scientist, data engineer, and analytics roles and usually emphasize practical, product-focused problem solving over abstract algorithm puzzles. What’s distinctive is the scale and product context: interview problems mirror real-world analytics tasks with messy data, session/event tables, and metrics design. Interviewers evaluate accuracy, clarity, and maintainability of your SQL or pandas code, your handling of edge cases (NULLs, deduplication, sampling), and your ability to explain trade-offs between readability and performance using CTEs, window functions, joins, and vectorized Python operations. For interview preparation, expect a timed technical screen (often using a shared editor) with SQL and Python data-manipulation tasks, followed by deeper loop rounds combining coding, product-metrics reasoning, and behavioral questions. Practice end-to-end problems: translate a product question into concrete metrics, write and optimize queries or pandas pipelines, narrate assumptions, and validate results. Work timed problems in CoderPad-like environments, rehearse clarifying questions, and review common pitfalls such as filter vs HAVING, NULL behavior, and inefficient joins. Regular mock interviews and focused drills on window functions, groupings, merges, and missing-data strategies will give the confidence and fluency Meta typically looks for.

175 Questions 1 Company07.06.2026
Showing 20 results
Role
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Resolve Ties for Top-10 Users in SQL Query

Oculus_Scores +---------+-------+ | user_id | score | +---------+-------+ | u1 | 95 | | u2 | 92 | | u3 | 90 | | u4 | 90 ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
71
0
216 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Retrieve Top Five Ads by Conversions in 30 Days

ads ad_id | advertiser_id | created_at 1 | 101 | 2024-06-01 2 | 102 | 2024-06-03 3 | 101 | 2024-06-10 ​ ad_i...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
87
0
473 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Top Call Initiators and Active French Video Callers

calls +---------+-----------+-------------+---------------------+---------+-----------+ | call_id | caller_id | receiver_id | call_start_time | co...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
86
0
227 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Ad CTR and Convert Transactions to USD

AdsImpressions +-----------+---------+------------+--------+-----------+ | user_id | ad_id | impressions| clicks | event_dt | +-----------+------...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
126
0
500 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Determine Top Advertisers by Conversion Rate and CTR Analysis

ads +-------+---------------+------------+ | ad_id | advertiser_id | created_at | +-------+---------------+------------+ | 1 | 101 | 202...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
78
0
127 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Easy
Data ScientistSenior+

Compute invalid event percentage by pixel

Context You work on an ads pixel instrumentation platform. Each pixel emits events throughout the day; some events are missing (not observed) and some...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
1
11 people solved
Aug 1, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Return top-3 content per category

Given a collection of items with fields (content_id, category, rating), implement top_k_by_category(items, k= 3) that returns, for each category, the ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
1
0
3 people solved
Aug 1, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Compute cumulative metrics with full joins

Tables: - daily_metrics(date DATE, content_id STRING, daily_value BIGINT) - cumulative_metrics(date DATE, content_id STRING, cumulative_value BIGINT) ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
0
8 people solved
Aug 1, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Recommend two-hop follows in Python

Given a directed "follows" graph as a Python dict[str, list[str]], implement recommend_two_hop(graph, user) that returns the set (or a sorted list) of...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
3
0
31 people solved
Aug 1, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Find posts with >60s unconnected viewing time

Context You work on a social app where users can view posts. A view can be from a connected user (viewer is friends/connected with the post author) or...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
3
1
58 people solved
Jul 28, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Write SQL for library analytics

Given a library database, write SQL to answer the following: 1) Count the number of books that are currently not returned (i.e., still checked out) an...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
1
0
14 people solved
Jul 16, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Write SQL and Python for data prep

Given clickstream events (user_id, event_type, ts, properties) and a users table (user_id, signup_ts, plan), write SQL to compute DAU/WAU/MAU, D1/W1 r...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
1
1
8 people solved
Jul 15, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Hashtag Follow Behavior with SQL Queries

following_behavior +------------+---------+-----------+---------------+ | date | user_id | hashtag_id| hashtag_source| +------------+---------+-...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
5
0
26 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate French User Engagement and U.S. Call Duration

call_logs +---------+-----------+------------+---------+----------+ | caller | recipient | ds | call_id | duration | +---------+-----------+-...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
79
0
377 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze VR App Usage and Engagement Metrics

vr_usage +---------+------------+---------+------------+----------+ | user_id | date | app_id | session_id | duration | +---------+------------...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
49
0
5 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Conversation Engagement and Reaction Usage Effectively

messages +-----------+--------+----------+--------------+---------------------+ | messageid | sender | receiver | has_reaction | timestamp |...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
173
3
404 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Recent Post Views and Reactions for Social Media

info_stream_views +---------+-----------+--------------+----------+------------+ | post_id | viewer_id | relationship | duration | ds | +-----...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
87
0
320 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Recent User Engagement in Video Calls

calls +-----------+-----------+---------------------+---------+---------+ | caller_id | callee_id | call_start_timestamp| country | call_id | +-------...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
83
0
259 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Weekly CTR and Campaign-Specific CTR in SQL

AdEvents ad_id | campaign_id | event | view_id | event_date 1 | 10 | impression | 123 | 2023-11-07 1 | 10 | cli...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
66
2
244 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Determine Old vs. New Users' Shop Visibility Changes

SHOP_VISIBILITY_HISTORY +----------+----------------+---------------------+-------------------+---------+ | user_id | user_signup_dt | action_timesta...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
61
0
5 people solved
Jul 12, 2025

Frequently Asked Questions

How difficult are Meta Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) interview questions?
Meta Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) questions are typically medium-to-hard in difficulty and reward clarity under time pressure. Interviewers expect correct, efficient solutions that handle real-world data quirks such as NULLs, duplicates, and timezone or type issues. SQL problems often require joins, window functions, aggregations, and readable CTE structure rather than clever one-liners. Python tasks evaluate clean data transformations, appropriate use of lists/dictionaries or pandas, and algorithmic thinking for performance-sensitive steps. Strong candidates write defensible, testable code, explain tradeoffs, and can optimize a correct solution when prompted.
Where in the Meta interview process does Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) appear and what is the format?
Data manipulation shows up across screening and on-site (or virtual loop) stages, often during the technical screen and again in role-specific interviews for analytics, data engineering, or data scientist positions. Early screens commonly include a short set of timed problems split between SQL and Python executed in a shared editor. Later loop interviews expand scope with longer, end-to-end tasks that mix data modeling, metric definition, and manipulation tasks, and interviewers may probe for performance, edge cases, and how the candidate would productionize the transformation pipeline.
What is a realistic prep timeline for Meta Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) interviews?
A realistic prep timeline is four to eight weeks for focused preparation, although experienced practitioners may need less. Begin by refreshing SQL fundamentals and Python data structures, then practice common transformation problems and windowing scenarios. Midway through, introduce timed practice sessions mirroring the screening format to build speed and articulation. In the final weeks, do full mock interviews that combine SQL and Python work, review feedback, and polish explanations and test cases. Consistent, deliberate practice with real schema examples and post-solution optimizations produces the best results.
What key subtopics should I study for Data Manipulation (SQL/Python) at Meta?
Key SQL subtopics include joins (inner, left, semi/anti), aggregations, GROUP BY versus HAVING semantics, window functions, CTEs and subqueries, NULL handling, and basic performance considerations such as limiting data scanned and understanding indexes or partitioning. For Python, focus on core data structures, complexity reasoning, defensive coding for edge cases, idiomatic data transformations, and familiarity with pandas or equivalent libraries if appropriate. Also practice writing concise tests, handling date/time and string parsing, and explaining tradeoffs between readability and micro-optimizations.
What standout tips and common pitfalls should I keep in mind when preparing?
Standout tips include always clarifying assumptions up front, sketching the approach before coding, and using readable CTEs or helper functions to break complex logic into verifiable steps. Demonstrate awareness of edge cases, write simple test examples, and explain time/space complexity and production implications. Common pitfalls are ignoring NULL semantics, failing to deduplicate when required, overcomplicating queries instead of prioritizing clarity, and not defending performance tradeoffs. Finally, don’t forget to communicate continuously during the interview; interviewers evaluate reasoning and decision-making as much as the final result.

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