Software Engineer Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California
May 1, 2009
Positive ExperienceGot Offer
Process
The interview consisted of a phone interview, followed by an all-day on-site interview with four one-hour sessions. I was really impressed by the difficulty of the questions and the level of thinking and coding they expected. After the interview, as I was unsure if I would be happy working at Facebook, they allowed me to return and speak with my would-be manager and director, as well as some coworkers, so I could make a well-informed decision.
Questions
be prepared to write real code on a whiteboard or an online editor.
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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
Great people; amazing place to work
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
March 15, 2010
Pros: The people here are both brilliant and humble, making for an incredibly collaborative environment for building awesome new stuff.
Management process is also great – very hands-off, lots of freedom for engineers to work on what they are interested in and make important decisions. Lots of trust and responsibility in engineers.
Cons: It is starting to get a little big and a little bit political, although I don't have much firsthand experience with the politics.
Split into multiple buildings again.
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.
5.0
Good Pay, Boring Work
Software Engineer • Current Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
June 4, 2021
Pros: perks like free food and good pay
Cons: Not so interesting work, like maintaining the current project and work culture.
- 5.0Great people; amazing place to workSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesMarch 15, 2010Pros: The people here are both brilliant and humble, making for an incredibly collaborative environment for building awesome new stuff. Management process is also great – very hands-off, lots of freedom for engineers to work on what they are interested in and make important decisions. Lots of trust and responsibility in engineers.Cons: It is starting to get a little big and a little bit political, although I don't have much firsthand experience with the politics. Split into multiple buildings again.
- 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.
- 5.0Good Pay, Boring WorkSoftware Engineer • Current EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesJune 4, 2021Pros: perks like free food and good payCons: Not so interesting work, like maintaining the current project and work culture.
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