Software Engineer Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California
August 1, 2011
Negative ExperienceNo Offer
Process
I got invited onsite after a morning phone interview in the afternoon. It was very fast, then I went onsite.
Questions
Print out all prime numbers in a given string.
Example:
abc2134kd31 -> 2, 13, 3, 3
Was this helpful?
Interview Statistics
The following metrics were computed from 78 interview experiences for the Meta Software Engineer role in Palo Alto, California.
Success Rate
13%
Pass Rate
Meta's interview process for their Software Engineer roles in Palo Alto, California is extremely selective, failing the vast majority of engineers.
Experience Rating
Positive44%
Neutral36%
Negative21%
Candidates reported having good feelings for Meta's Software Engineer interview process in Palo Alto, California.
Meta Work Experiences
2.0
Overhyped Lifelong Hackathon
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
March 2, 2011
Pros: Good pay, if you negotiate aggressively.
Good food.
Good benefits.
Location is good; California is a nice place to live, although expensive.
Lots of exposure.
Cons: Management is constantly pushing you.
You don't work at your own pace; you have to work at everyone else's pace.
You need to stay after work every day and go to work on weekends.
People are very egocentric, and their ego is entirely tied to how much code they write.
I'm afraid of getting fired every single day.
2.0
Fun at the engineer-to-engineer level, but brutally long hours and badly disconnected front-line management
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
January 2, 2012
Pros: Huge corporate upside potential (but might not apply to new hires as of 2012).
Fun work environment (free quality food, game rooms, frivolity encouraged, etc.).
High impact in terms of people using your code and recognition.
Good opportunities to try new ideas and move teams.
Cons: Brutally long hours for many, frequent pressure to delay or cancel vacation plans (even outside of release deadlines).
Harsh, unjust, and badly cross-team calibrated reviews, coupled with frequent firings, so that the stick is very close to the carrot.
It has now grown large enough that internal corporate politics have seeped in.
Management, at all levels, is fixated on lots of shiny new features, no matter how broken, and lacks respect for necessary work getting done.
4.0
Good Pay, Smart People, Poor Culture
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
April 2, 2025
Pros: Good pay, smart people, interesting problems.
Cons: Work culture is poor. Over reliance on perf reviews. Stressful environment where it seems like a lot of work seems like it's done with very low real output
- 2.0Overhyped Lifelong HackathonSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesMarch 2, 2011Pros: Good pay, if you negotiate aggressively. Good food. Good benefits. Location is good; California is a nice place to live, although expensive. Lots of exposure.Cons: Management is constantly pushing you. You don't work at your own pace; you have to work at everyone else's pace. You need to stay after work every day and go to work on weekends. People are very egocentric, and their ego is entirely tied to how much code they write. I'm afraid of getting fired every single day.
- 2.0Fun at the engineer-to-engineer level, but brutally long hours and badly disconnected front-line managementSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesJanuary 2, 2012Pros: Huge corporate upside potential (but might not apply to new hires as of 2012). Fun work environment (free quality food, game rooms, frivolity encouraged, etc.). High impact in terms of people using your code and recognition. Good opportunities to try new ideas and move teams.Cons: Brutally long hours for many, frequent pressure to delay or cancel vacation plans (even outside of release deadlines). Harsh, unjust, and badly cross-team calibrated reviews, coupled with frequent firings, so that the stick is very close to the carrot. It has now grown large enough that internal corporate politics have seeped in. Management, at all levels, is fixated on lots of shiny new features, no matter how broken, and lacks respect for necessary work getting done.
- 4.0Good Pay, Smart People, Poor CultureSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesApril 2, 2025Pros: Good pay, smart people, interesting problems.Cons: Work culture is poor. Over reliance on perf reviews. Stressful environment where it seems like a lot of work seems like it's done with very low real output
Meta Interview Questions
Explore Interview QuestionsTaro 75Google Interview QuestionsMeta Interview QuestionsAmazon Interview QuestionsApple Interview QuestionsNetflix Interview Questions
Explore Interview ExperiencesOpenAI Interview ExperiencesAnthropic Interview ExperiencesPerplexity Interview ExperiencesWindsurf Interview ExperiencesMistral AI Interview Experiences
