Meta Data Engineer Interview Questions

Meta Data Engineer interview questions typically reflect the company’s product-scale priorities: you’ll be evaluated on translating product metrics into reliable pipelines, designing scalable data models, and optimizing queries and ETL for very large datasets. Expect a strong emphasis on SQL (window functions, CTEs, joins and aggregation), Python for scripting and data transformations, and system-design thinking for streaming and batch architectures. Interviewers often probe trade-offs around latency, cost, reliability, and data quality, along with your ability to communicate assumptions and trade-offs clearly. For interview preparation, plan for an initial recruiter screen followed by one or more technical screens and a full loop that mixes SQL/Python coding, data-modeling or pipeline design, and behavioral ownership questions. Prep by practicing timed SQL and Python problems, sketching end-to-end pipeline designs, reviewing partitioning/indexing and performance tuning, and preparing STAR stories that show impact and collaboration. During interviews, ask clarifying questions, think aloud, and be ready to discuss real-world constraints—you’ll be judged as much on clarity and trade-off reasoning as on raw syntax.

45 Questions 1 Company03.01.2026
Showing 20 results
Role
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Medium
Data Engineer

Define success metrics for a social feed

Define Success Metrics for a Social Feed Feature You are evaluating a change to the main social feed in a large-scale consumer app. Assume events are ...

Analytics & Experimentation
8
0
68 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Solve four algorithmic library problems

Solve the following coding tasks: 1) Maximum Points from Different Categories: Given an array of items (category, points) and an integer k, choose exa...

Coding & Algorithms
9
0
87 people solved
Aug 13, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Demonstrate behavioral competencies

Demonstrate behavioral competencies Behavioral Interview Prompt: Prepare STAR Stories Context You are preparing for an onsite Behavioral & Leadership ...

Behavioral & Leadership
4
0
39 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Aggregate Netflix metrics in SQL

Question Netflix video-streaming analytics SQL: Write a simple aggregation (e.g., total watch-time per day). Build a cumulative metric: today’s metric...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
1
1
7 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Validate carpool capacity

Question LeetCode 1094. Car Pooling – Given trips[i] = [numPassengers, start, end] and an integer capacity, return true if the vehicle can fulfill all...

Coding & Algorithms
5
0
68 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Design visualizations for streaming metrics

Design visualizations for streaming metrics Design a Monitoring and Diagnosis Visualization for a Video-Streaming Metric Context You are building an o...

Analytics & Experimentation
6
0
48 people solved
Aug 1, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Write SQL for active follow connections

Table: follow_events(requester_id INT, target_id INT, event STRING CHECK (event IN ('request_follow','follow_success','follow_reject','unfollow')), ev...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
2
2
29 people solved
Aug 1, 2025
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Meta
Hard
Data Engineer

Compute Max Score From Up to 3 Categories

You are implementing a scoring function for a library summer reading program. Each book a student read is represented as a tuple (category: str, point...

Coding & Algorithms
7
0
62 people solved
Dec 2, 2025
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Medium
Data Engineer

Compute reservation diff for largest member

Given copies(copy_id, reserved_by_member_id) and members(member_id, referred_by_member_id), find the member with the largest member_id. Return a singl...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
1
0
4 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Find top 3 books by total borrowed time

Using copies(copy_id, book_id) and checkouts(copy_id, checkout_date, return_date), compute for each book_id the total borrowed duration as the sum ove...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
0
7 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Medium
Data Engineer

Return count and renewal percentage of unreturned good copies

Tables: copies(copy_id, condition), checkouts(copy_id, checkout_date, return_date, renewal_count). Write a single SQL query that returns one row with ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
0
4 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Validate alternating checkout/return logs

Given a chronological list of events logs of the form (timestamp, book_id, is_checkout) where is_checkout is True for a checkout and False for a retur...

Coding & Algorithms
8
0
59 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Solve library SQL and Python tasks

You are given a library domain. Assume these tables: - books(book_id, author_id, title) - authors(author_id, name) - copies(copy_id, book_id, conditio...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
2
3 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Optimize SQL to minimize scans

Given a large analytics query, refactor it to minimize table scans. 1) Replace unnecessary CTEs that cause multiple scans with inline aggregations or ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
3
0
6 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Solve Python and SQL data tasks

Complete both tasks: 1) Python: Implement a function flatten(nested) that takes a list whose elements are integers or arbitrarily nested lists of inte...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
0
5 people solved
Sep 6, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Query carpool ride metrics

Question For a ride-sharing product with carpool capability, answer a series of SQL questions (e.g., daily completed pooled rides, average seats utili...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
1
2
7 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Recommend friends-of-friends

Question Given a dictionary such as {A:[B,C], B:[C,D], C:[E]}, return for a user U all people followed by U’s followees but not already followed by U....

Coding & Algorithms
3
1
65 people solved
Aug 4, 2025
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Meta
Medium
Data Engineer

Count active follow connections

Question Write SQL to return the current number of active follow connections. Events table columns: user_id, target_id, event_type ('request_follow', ...

Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
0
1
7 people solved
Aug 4, 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

Frequently Asked Questions

How difficult are Meta Data Engineer interview questions?
Meta Data Engineer interviews are typically rated medium-to-hard: expect time‑boxed, practical problems that test SQL fluency, data modeling, and Python or ETL scripting under pressure. Coding questions often require clear, correct queries for business scenarios and may escalate to performance and scaling trade‑offs; senior levels add more open‑ended system or pipeline design. Beyond pure technical correctness, interviewers evaluate clarity of thought, product sense, and ownership. Candidates who communicate assumptions, justify tradeoffs, and iterate on feedback tend to perform better.
What is the typical Meta Data Engineer interview process and where will data engineering topics appear?
The typical process begins with a recruiter screen, followed by a technical phone screen that mixes SQL and Python/ETL questions, and then a full loop of four to five interviews covering technical case studies and a behavioral ownership round. Data engineering topics appear across the loop: SQL and ETL problems in coding rounds, data modeling and pipeline design in system‑style interviews, and product/metrics questions in analytics‑oriented case studies. A committee review and team‑matching phase usually follow successful interviews. Timings and exact format can vary by level and team.
How long should I prepare for a Meta Data Engineer interview?
A practical preparation timeline is often six to eight weeks if you study part‑time; candidates aiming for senior roles or switching fields may need longer. Early weeks should focus on SQL fundamentals, joins, aggregations, window functions, and translating business questions to queries. Middle weeks should target Python/ETL scripting, data modeling, and end‑to‑end pipeline thinking, with later weeks devoted to timed mock interviews, system design case studies, and behavioral stories demonstrating ownership. Regular feedback loops and realistic timed practice improve speed and clarity under interview conditions.
What key subtopics should I prioritize when studying for a Meta Data Engineer interview?
Prioritize core SQL (joins, GROUP BY vs HAVING, window functions, CTEs, NULL handling) and query performance basics. Practice data modeling including grain, keys, and tradeoffs between star schemas and denormalized tables. Be comfortable with ETL patterns, Spark/Hive/Presto-style transformations, and writing clear Python for data pipelines and validation. Also prepare for product/metrics questions, anomaly detection, and testing/monitoring strategies for pipelines. Communicating assumptions, test plans, and operational considerations (e.g., retries, schema evolution) is as important as writing correct code.
What standout tips and common pitfalls should I know for a Meta Data Engineer interview?
Standout tips: talk through your thinking, ask clarifying questions, justify tradeoffs, and demonstrate ownership by discussing testing and monitoring. Use concise, production‑oriented examples from your experience and be ready to iterate on hints. Common pitfalls include overcomplicating SQL instead of choosing clear solutions, ignoring edge cases like NULLs and late‑arriving data, underestimating performance implications, and failing to describe operational concerns. Note that Meta’s interviewing practices are evolving (including pilot programs around AI tools), so confirm any tool or format expectations with your recruiter before the interview day.

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