Software Engineer Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California
January 1, 2011
Positive ExperienceNo Offer
Process
General background questions were asked. The interview then proceeded to coding on CollabEdit.
These were fairly standard CS questions.
I got to ask questions at the end.
The interviewer was very courteous and pleasant to work with. They didn't quibble over the obvious, but time-consuming, details.
Questions
Find the Kth smallest element in a BST.
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
5.0
Best company in the Valley
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
September 14, 2014
Pros: Making an impact on more than a billion people.
Cons: None really. It's all good.
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.
5.0
What more could you want?
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
August 22, 2009
Pros: - Coworkers are smart, dependable, and genuinely enjoy what they do.
- Management cares about empowering employees and helping them develop.
- Benefits and perks make life fun.
- Chance to have a huge impact and not be just another cog in the machine.
- Other people understand and appreciate what you're working on.
Cons: Still working through some growing pains.
- 5.0Best company in the ValleySoftware Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesSeptember 14, 2014Pros: Making an impact on more than a billion people.Cons: None really. It's all good.
- 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.
- 5.0What more could you want?Software Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesAugust 22, 2009Pros: - Coworkers are smart, dependable, and genuinely enjoy what they do. - Management cares about empowering employees and helping them develop. - Benefits and perks make life fun. - Chance to have a huge impact and not be just another cog in the machine. - Other people understand and appreciate what you're working on.Cons: Still working through some growing pains.
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
