Software Engineer Interview Experience - Palo Alto, California
October 1, 2015
Negative ExperienceGot Offer
Process
Messaged the recruiter on LinkedIn a few months after being initially contacted. Set up for a phone screen about a week later.
The phone screen consisted of an online whiteboard with a question, which took the majority of the interview time.
Questions
Given an array that is mostly sorted, find an entry in the array. For example, [5, 6, 1, 2, 3] or [100, 101, 5, 8, 12] are valid inputs.
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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
4.0
Demanding yet very rewarding environment
Software Engineer • Former Employee
Palo Alto, California, United States
February 19, 2019
Pros: Good salary and bonus structure, with great fringe benefits.
Cons: Very high COL area, demanding project schedules.
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.
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.
- 4.0Demanding yet very rewarding environmentSoftware Engineer • Former EmployeePalo Alto, California, United StatesFebruary 19, 2019Pros: Good salary and bonus structure, with great fringe benefits.Cons: Very high COL area, demanding project schedules.
- 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.
- 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.
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