Software Engineer (New Grad) Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California
October 1, 2007
Neutral ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I had one on-campus interview, a follow-up phone interview, and then an on-site interview at their HQ in downtown Palo Alto.
HR did a fantastic job coordinating the interview day, but the engineers who interviewed me were on their cell phones and did not seem interested in conducting a comprehensive interview.
Every interviewer started off with "Why Facebook?" and asked an algorithm and design question.
I realized later that almost all the programming questions I was asked were pulled DIRECTLY from "Programming Interviews Exposed".
From the book:
The design questions were centered around processing large amounts of data, caching, and time complexity.
Questions
Given a set of characters, print out all possible permutations.
Given a binary tree, print out the elements in order, without recursion.
Find the first letter in a string that does not have a pair.
Write a function that takes in an integer and returns the number of ones set in its binary representation.
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Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 1 interview experience for the Meta Software Engineer (New Grad) role in Palo Alto, California.
Success Rate
0%
Pass Rate
Meta's interview process for their Software Engineer (New Grad) roles in Palo Alto, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive0%
Neutral100%
Negative0%
Candidates reported having mixed feelings for Meta's Software Engineer (New Grad) interview process in Palo Alto, California.
Meta Work Experiences
5.0
Thriving as a Software Engineer at Meta
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
August 27, 2024
Pros: Meta offers an unparalleled opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that impact billions of users globally. The work environment is highly collaborative and fosters innovation at every level. As a Software Engineer here, I have access to state-of-the-art technology and am surrounded by colleagues who are leaders in the field, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. The compensation and benefits package is extremely competitive, and there are ample opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Cons: The pace at Meta can be very fast, which might be challenging for some.
Work-life balance can occasionally tip towards work, especially during project deadlines.
The expectation to perform at peak levels consistently can be stressful at times.
1.0
A very competitive work environment, but not accurately advertised as such
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
May 3, 2011
Pros: - Opportunity to write software that gets used by hundreds of millions of people
- Opportunity to see how a successful company is run
- Opportunity to launch often
- Potential IPO
Cons: - Frontend work (i.e., work done in most of the product-oriented teams) is mostly mundane PHP and nothing intellectually challenging from a Computer Science perspective. (Backend may be different, but I never tried that.)
- Potential to get judged too quickly for performance. They are less willing than other companies to let you try something different, which may be a better fit if you are not performing well enough on your current project.
- Chaos that may hurt you: you may start out on one project but be expected to do something else for no good reason, that may not be the best fit for your skills.
- Some managers are too busy to give useful, frequent feedback.
- I get the impression that they manage by a bell curve but are not being transparent about it.
5.0
Facebook is the best engineering organization I have ever worked for
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
August 4, 2010
Pros: A bureaucracy-free environment that allows you to simply get work done.
Strong management with strong technical backgrounds all the way to the top.
A very metric-driven engineering team.
The ability to prioritize tasks based on what you think is important.
A remarkably well-defined review process that encourages personal development in different areas.
Company policy to leave unnecessary meetings early or skip them entirely.
Cons: Some politics and cliques.
Some user-facing projects have too many product managers.
Some late nights when supporting new code pushes.
Fighting fires can become a full-time job.
- 5.0Thriving as a Software Engineer at MetaSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesAugust 27, 2024Pros: Meta offers an unparalleled opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects that impact billions of users globally. The work environment is highly collaborative and fosters innovation at every level. As a Software Engineer here, I have access to state-of-the-art technology and am surrounded by colleagues who are leaders in the field, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. The compensation and benefits package is extremely competitive, and there are ample opportunities for personal and professional growth.Cons: The pace at Meta can be very fast, which might be challenging for some. Work-life balance can occasionally tip towards work, especially during project deadlines. The expectation to perform at peak levels consistently can be stressful at times.
- 1.0A very competitive work environment, but not accurately advertised as suchSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesMay 3, 2011Pros: - Opportunity to write software that gets used by hundreds of millions of people - Opportunity to see how a successful company is run - Opportunity to launch often - Potential IPOCons: - Frontend work (i.e., work done in most of the product-oriented teams) is mostly mundane PHP and nothing intellectually challenging from a Computer Science perspective. (Backend may be different, but I never tried that.) - Potential to get judged too quickly for performance. They are less willing than other companies to let you try something different, which may be a better fit if you are not performing well enough on your current project. - Chaos that may hurt you: you may start out on one project but be expected to do something else for no good reason, that may not be the best fit for your skills. - Some managers are too busy to give useful, frequent feedback. - I get the impression that they manage by a bell curve but are not being transparent about it.
- 5.0Facebook is the best engineering organization I have ever worked forSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesAugust 4, 2010Pros: A bureaucracy-free environment that allows you to simply get work done. Strong management with strong technical backgrounds all the way to the top. A very metric-driven engineering team. The ability to prioritize tasks based on what you think is important. A remarkably well-defined review process that encourages personal development in different areas. Company policy to leave unnecessary meetings early or skip them entirely.Cons: Some politics and cliques. Some user-facing projects have too many product managers. Some late nights when supporting new code pushes. Fighting fires can become a full-time job.
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