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 15 results
Role
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Compute Daily Revenue by Creation Source

active_ads date | ad_id | advertiser_id | creation_source | revenue 2023-09-01 | 1001 | 17 | mobile_app | 150.00 2023-09-01 | 1...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
67
0
230 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Design SQL Query for Shop Visibility and User Activity Metrics

SHOP_VISIBILITY +----------+---------+------------+------------+-------------+--------------+ | user_id | shop_id | event_date | is_visible | signup_...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
78
0
180 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Recent Post Performance Using SQL Queries

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

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
41
1
6 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Survey Response Rate and Quality Metric in SQL

survey_responses +---------+----------+---------------------+---------------------+-------+ | user_id | survey_id| impression_ts | click_ts ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
70
0
159 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Compute Shop Visibility Rate Using SQL and Python

shop_events | event_id | shop_id | user_id | event_type | event_time | | 1 | 101 | 1001 | view | 2023-07-01 10:05:00 | | ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
73
0
170 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Recent Calling Behavior in France Using SQL

CALLS +---------+---------+---------------------+-------------------+----------+ | call_id | user_id | call_start_time | participant_cnt | is_vi...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
68
0
184 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Identify Unique Callers and French Customer Call Percentage

video_calls +---------+-----------+--------------+---------------------+---------------+ | call_id | caller_id | recipient_id | start_ts | ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
86
0
276 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze User Engagement Metrics for Video-Calling App

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

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
69
0
195 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Total Interactions for Each Product

Interactions +----------+-----------+------------+--------------+ | buyer_id | seller_id | product_id | interactions | +----------+-----------+-------...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
56
0
181 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze New Shops' Activity Compared to Existing Ones

shops +---------+------------+---------------+ | shop_id | created_at | category | +---------+------------+---------------+ | 1 | 2024-01-0...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
53
0
8 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Average Session Length and Compare App Performance

user_sessions +---------+------------+------------+---------------------+---------------------+ | user_id | session_id | app | session_start ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
125
0
324 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Analyze Group Call Adoption Using SQL Queries

CALL_LOGS | call_id | user_id | call_start | call_end | is_group_call | participant_cnt | | 101 | 12 | 2023-08-01 10:00...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
153
1
246 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
Meta logo
Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Calculate Response Rate and Compare User Survey Ratings

USERS user_id | signup_date 10 | 2024-03-20 11 | 2024-04-01 12 | 2024-04-05 ​ SURVEYS survey_id | user_id | sent_at 1 | 10 ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
197
2
691 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Identify Top 10 Users by Average Call Duration

video_calls | call_id | user_id | start_time | end_time | |---------|---------|----------------------|----------------------| | ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
6
0
29 people solved
Jul 12, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Scientist

Determine Product Buyer Count and Interaction Percentage

interactions +-----------+----------+------------+----+------------+ | seller_id | buyer_id | product_id | li | create_date| +-----------+----------+-...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
13
0
34 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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