Interview Experiences

Real candidates, real loops: every round, what was asked, and how it ended.

Share yours, earn XP

138 stories

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MetaSoftware EngineerSenior+
Reported Jan 2026

Prepping in 60 Days After a Layoff

My Meta process began under a lot of pressure. Microsoft laid me off, and I gave myself 60 days to get a new job lined up. Because of that deadline I kept my prep tight and disciplined. I didn't wander around and I didn't grind blindly. I just picked things and executed. What my prep looked like Data structures and algorithms Over the years I had done about 450 LeetCode problems. For Meta I went…

OfferOnsite0
MetaSoftware Engineer
Jan 2026

Four-Question CodeSignal OA Before Christmas

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In progressOnline AssessmentXP0
MetaSoftware EngineerSenior+
Reported Jan 2026

Third Loop After Two Failures, One Messy Coding Round

Backstory Two earlier Meta attempts had ended in failure, so going into round three I was sure I had to change my whole approach and be much more systematic. Looking back, those misses pointed at the same gaps: my prep was shallow and I hadn't kept it steady. Preparation This time I committed roughly three months to getting ready properly. The plan came down to two things: LeetCode mediums and ha…

Onsite0
MetaSoftware EngineerNew Grad
Jan 2026

GPT-5 Now an Option in the AI Coding Round, Failed on a Food Delivery System Design

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RejectedOnsiteXP0
MetaMachine Learning Engineer
Jan 2026

Four Onsite Rounds, Downleveled to E4

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OfferOnsiteXP0
MetaSoftware EngineerSenior+
Reported Jan 2026

Back After a 3-Year Break, Coding Prep Down to Under 25%

I have 15+ years of experience in infra and distributed systems, and this was the first time in over 3 years that I sat through interviews. How did you prepare? What worked and what didn't? LeetCode covered coding, an online system design course covered system design, and for the behavioral rounds I kept a journal of my stories written out in STAR format. I knew I was a rusty coder, so when I sta…

OfferOnsite0
MetaSoftware EngineerSenior+
Reported Dec 2025

E5 Product Role, Frontend-Focused Design Round and a Five-Week Team Match

Hi everyone, I went through the loop for an E5 Software Engineer, Product role in the Bay Area. Below is a rundown of the timeline, how I studied, and what came up. It started when a recruiter contacted me about the position. I put the phone screen roughly a month out so there was room to study. It consisted of two LeetCode problems in 40 minutes, which is the usual Meta setup. I learned I had pa…

OfferOnsite0
MetaSoftware Engineer
Dec 2025

Failed the AI-Enabled Coding Round, Got the Offer Anyway

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OfferOnsiteXP0
MetaSoftware EngineerSenior+
Reported Dec 2025

Down-Leveled from L5 to L4 After a Skipped System Design Question

Back in 2023 I pushed myself hard, so hard that I ignored my health completely, and I still got rejected. It stung a lot more than I thought it would. I had just finished my master's and Meta was the company I wanted most, so when it fell through I let it eat at me for far too long. It even cost me other interviews, and not because I lacked the skills. My head was simply stuck on the one offer I…

OfferOther0
MetaSoftware EngineerNew Grad
Dec 2025

Three Coding Rounds, One BQ, and an Offer

I am sharing my experience interviewing for Meta's 2025 new graduate role last year. Interview experience The interviews did not feel easy. Other people's Meta loops seemed to get two medium tagged problems and generous grading, but every one of my rounds felt difficult. The first round tested a disconnected graph. In the second round, I had 35 minutes to explain and write one hard and two medium…

OfferOnsite0
MetaMachine Learning Engineer
Dec 2025

Onsite Loop Ends in a Downgrade Pass

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OfferOnsiteXP0
MetaSoftware Engineer
Dec 2025

Nailed Coding and System Design, Got Stuck in the AI-Coding Round

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RejectedOnsitePremium0
MetaSoftware Engineer
Dec 2025

Interviewer No-Show, Then Ticketmaster System Design

This was from before the redesign — I heard they've added AI Coding now? First, kudos to the recruiter — she replied promptly every time. For one of the rounds, the interviewer was a no-show. I waited 10 minutes, then called the recruiter and she picked up right away. A bit later she told me the interviewer had something come up unexpectedly, that she'd already complained to that interviewer's ma…

Onsite0
MetaData Scientist
Dec 2025

SQL and Product Sense on a Group Call Feature

The interviewer was a very energetic and friendly woman, and everything she asked me was about group calls. The premise: Messenger has groups, but no group call feature. The first SQL question was pretty common, but the second one I'd never seen before. What percentage of today's active "gb" users had more than 50 call records in the previous 7 days (counting both calls made and calls received)?…

Technical Screen0
MetaSoftware Engineer
Dec 2025

Four Onsite Rounds Including an AI-Enabled Coding Test

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OfferOnsitePremium0
MetaData Scientist
Dec 2025

Onsite Loop With a Repeated Question and a Pushy Follow-Up Round

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OnsiteXP0
MetaData Engineer
Dec 2025

Missed the 3-for-3 SQL/Python Bar in a 25+25 Screen

I've actually been pretty happy at my current job and wasn't planning to switch. A Meta recruiter reached out to me a few times, so I figured I'd interview just to see how it would go. Technical round (25 minutes of SQL + 25 minutes of Python) I hadn't grinded LeetCode in a long time. The questions weren't too hard, but they were tricky. The interviewer spoke excellent English and gave me a lot o…

RejectedTechnical Screen0
MetaData Engineer
Dec 2025

25 Min SQL, 25 Min Python, and I Only Passed One of Each

I've been pretty happy at my current company and honestly wasn't planning to switch jobs. A recruiter from Meta reached out to me a few times, though, so I went into the interview with a just-try-it-and-see attitude. Technical round (25 min SQL + 25 min Python) I hadn't touched LeetCode in a long time. The questions weren't super hard, but they were tricky. The interviewer spoke excellent English…

Technical Screen0
MetaData Engineer
Dec 2025

Three VO Rounds (Reel, Car Rental, Carpool) End in an Add-On Interview

I prepared for the VO for a long time, and I still ended up getting an add-on interview — I can accept that outcome. I'm hoping someone kind who's been through an add-on interview can share the question bank!! Will they pull from question types that come up a lot but I wasn't asked, or will they pull from really old questions? I've read a lot of other add-on interview posts and haven't gotten any…

In progressOnsite0
MetaSoftware Engineer
Nov 2025

Four Onsite Rounds Including an AI-Enabled Coding Round

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OfferOnsiteXP0

What are interview experiences?

An interview experience is a candidate's own account of a hiring loop — not a question bank entry. It tells you the shape of the process: how many rounds there were, what each round actually tested, how long the gaps between them ran, and what the recruiter said at the end. That context is the part a question list cannot give you.

How to read them

Weight recent write-ups more heavily — interview loops change, often within a year. Read several for the same company and role rather than one: a single account tells you what one interviewer asked, while five tell you what the bar is. Note the outcome badge too, since a rejection write-up usually explains the gap far more precisely than an offer one.

Share your own

Every published experience earns 50 XP, and each of the first 3 likes it receives in a day earns you 10 XP more. Likes must come from established accounts; like-for-like swaps and likes from your own second account are not paid. Write it while the details are fresh — the round order, the exact prompts, and how much time you were given are what the next reader needs.

Share your experience to earn XP