I was contacted via LinkedIn and asked to apply in 2014. I went through the full process then, but didn't get an offer. Facebook contacted me again this year, and we went through the process again.

As is well documented, you will have two phone interviews: one coding, the other systems. If you get the thumbs up for both, Facebook will fly you to Menlo Park, CA, for on-site interviews.

I flew from Sydney, AU, direct to SFO. Facebook was happy to arrange direct flights rather than via LAX (who likes layovers?). In 2014, Facebook put me up in a hotel for 3 nights, but this year, mercifully, it was 4 nights. It was much nicer to have a relaxing evening after the on-site interviews rather than rushing straight to the airport. Facebook was also happy for me to pick one of their hotel options (which are all nice enough), which put me closer to things I wanted to explore.

I flew out on Saturday morning Sydney time to land Saturday morning SF time, which gave me two nights to partially adjust to local time before interviews on the Monday. These finished mid-afternoon, which left plenty of time to explore a few more things this second time before flying out on the Tuesday (whereas in 2014, I had to pretty much head to the airport to check in on the Monday).

Questions for the phone interviews are mentioned in many places here and on people's blogs, so I won't repeat them.

On-site, you will have 5 interviews, all kept strictly to 45 minutes. Your recruiter or the interviewing person will escort you at all times (fair enough), and the recruiter will take you to any of the restaurants on-site for a 30-minute lunch break. The recruiter and reception will offer for you to stock your pockets or bags with snacks and drinks; this isn't a trick question, so grab a few Cokes and anything that won't melt!

Each on-site interview is 45 minutes, of which perhaps 5 minutes at the start will be pleasantries and a few minutes at the end are set aside for questions. Think about what you might ask ahead of time. I chose to ask:

• What is something you didn't do before Facebook, but do now, that you would always do in future jobs? (Generally, they responded with something that's automated.)
• What do you like about Facebook that keeps you here? (One response was that things with a billion-to-one chance happen 3-4 times a day at Facebook.)

One interview is with a manager. They will ask probing questions about your work history and personality.

Another interview will be a coding exercise on a whiteboard.

Another interview will cover networks, again on a whiteboard.

Another interview will focus on systems. This is a verbal and whiteboard assessment. The interviewer might provide a printout of some debugging scenarios.

Your final interview will be about Design. This is also verbal and whiteboard. The other of these interviews may vary.