Career Advice About Meta

Hi Taro community, I will be starting my Meta internship next month. I have just received my team assignment as well as the name/email of my intern manager. I am thinking of sending an introduction email to my IM to ask more info about the team as well as recommendations for learning the team's tech stack. I was thinking of sending something along the lines of the following. I would gladly appreciate any advice on how one can make this email even better. My goal is to make a good first impression to my IM. Dear [Manager name], I hope you are doing well! My name is [insert name], and I’m very excited to be joining [Team name] this summer as a Software Engineering Intern. I was recently assigned to your team, and I’m really looking forward to learning and growing from you throughout the internship. As I begin preparing, I would love to learn more about the team’s focus and, if available, any details you can share about the intern project I’ll be working on. If possible, could you also share what technologies the team primarily works with, and any resources you’d recommend I review beforehand? I’d love to get up to speed so I can contribute effectively from day one. Thank you so much for your help! I’m truly excited to be joining the team and learning from you this summer. Some specific questions I had: Is it appropriate to ask for more details about the intern project at this stage, or should my ask be limited to just the team's overall focus and what they do? Is the length of the email appropriate, or could it be made more concise? Do you see any glaring issues with the overall wording or tone of the message?

I’m looking to transition from my current role as a Data Engineer to a full-time Software Engineering (SWE) position. I have over 7 years of experience, including 5 years at Facebook/Meta and more than 2 years at a startup. While I have enjoyed certain aspects of the data engineering , I’m finding the analytics side less fulfilling and would prefer a 100% backend-focused role. I am also open to taking a pay cut if necessary to make this transition. I am currently pursuing my Master’s in Computer Science online from Georgia Tech, where I’ve focused extensively on systems courses like Operating Systems, Compilers, Distributed Systems, Parallel Programming, and Cloud Computing, maintaining a 4.0 GPA. One standout course involves building a database from the ground up, which is further fueling my desire to shift toward software engineering. Right now, I’m weighing a few options: Leave my job and join an interview prep company like Formation to improve my chances of landing a SWE role. Continue my studies at Georgia Tech, where I can further develop my SWE skills. Balancing my current job with a master’s program has been challenging, especially since I’m working toward skills that align with my true career interests. I would greatly appreciate your advice on how to best navigate this transition.

Our office in Bellevue, WA has a beer pub next to it, is it common for people to get team building starting after work with a pizza or a draft IPA in company like Meta?

Hi all. I was recently laid off from Meta. I joined Meta 4.5 years ago after my internship. I never touched Leetcode or did interviews when I was at Meta. I know that I there is a lot that I need to study. I am considering enrolling in an interview bootcamp. They are expensive but it would be worth the price if it can help me land another role. Does anyone have experience with software engineer interview bootcamps?

Offering advice or solutions without being asked, especially when you may not be fully informed about the situation, can come off as know-it-all behavior. Offer help or advice when it’s requested or when you're sure it's needed.

I hear a lot about engineers wanting to get into ML, but I kind of have the opposite problem :) As an ML engineer, I've always been more curious on the infrastructure side of things. How does the infra to train/serve these large models work? What should I know about GPU programming? Is there anything I should know about storage of these data tables? How does distributed computing work? I tried reading through the book "Designing Data Intensive Applications", but it almost seemed too dense? Is that just me or is that book targeted for a different audience? In summary, I have two questions: (1) What infrastructure related stuff would the more senior ML engineers here recommend learning about? (2) How would one go about actually learning those things? Is DDIA still the best resource or would you recommend something else?

Meta recruiter said he would reconnect with me next month. Realistically, how much time does that give me to study?

I will be interning at Meta during this summer. After watching Alex's amazing video regarding Meta's internship, I learned that interns are expected to perform at the level of an E3 new grad by the end. I want to make sure I am correctly understanding the key signals a junior/new grad software engineer should be demonstrating. From what I understand, I come up with the following: Coding velocity (code output) Coding quality Independence (can unblock oneself without too much reliance on mentor) Debugging Asking great questions Responds well to feedback Builds great relationships with team members Disambiguation I'm sure there is more to be included, so please feel free to add anything I may have missed. I hope this list could be helpful to other interns/new grads who are seeking to improve their skills.

Hi everyone, I have to drive this E4 level project. The project is focused on Health and monitoring. I have to create an Eng plan focused on how we’ll add loggings, build dashboard, alerts, and add tests. I have a TL to guide me. I’m totally new to this and I need help and wisdom on how to go about this. I want this to be a successful project. Or if you can provide any resources that will be helpful too. Thank you for your prompt response.

What are some of the red flags one should look for when talking to potential managers during the Team Match at Meta?

As I pick up larger projects that require driving alignment across more and more teams, I’d like to understand any tips or advice on effectively driving alignment with those teams and being able to drive those outcomes faster. One recent example is that a partner team came back to us days before the launch of a feature pushing back on one of the core functionalities of the product. While they were consulted earlier in the project planning process and did not have pushback then, what is the best way to make a strong case to push forward while avoiding too much back and forth?

In my 11 years in tech I have never needed to learn algorithms or data structures to the extreme for these interviews. I also have never needed to know off hand the time and space complexity. Does anyone have any tips for a father of 3 ( little ones ) with limited time can prep for this thing? Context I am trying to fill the role of Senior Android Engineer.

I finished my final round interview in early November for Meta SWE New Grad, but was informed recently that "Due to the high volume of applications received, it may take some time for us to get back with next steps". I solved all the technical questions correctly in my interviews but may have interviewed later than others who have already received offers. Fortunately, I have received an offer from another company to start in February. Should I inform Meta about this offer, or would doing so make them rush their decision and potentially influence it negatively due to headcount constraints (e.g., they might reject me because they haven’t secured the headcount yet)?

I have final round interviews at Meta coming up, and based on LinkedIn profiles, my interviewers include one Distinguished Engineer, two Directors, and one Senior Engineering Manager. I'm targeting an E4 position, but it seems like my interviewers are at much higher levels (E8, E9 x 2, E7). Is it normal to have interviewers at such high levels for an E4 role?

Finding a mentor requires effort and patience. It’s about building relationships based on trust, respect, and mutual benefit. By actively seeking out mentors and demonstrating your commitment to growth, you can gain invaluable guidance and support as you navigate your career path. How to find the best people who would like to be mentored and people who are mentors?

I'm debating between two teams in bootcamp. All else assuming equal, the hiring manager (HM) of team A is higher up on the org chain (Team A HM reports to X, Team B HM reports to U who reports to W who reports to X). Should this play a factor in deciding between teams?

I believe this will really enable me to be very productive at Meta since this is my team's tech stack. And, I'm an E3 working on getting promoted to E4 for transparency. I sincerely appreciate your contribution.

Hello, I joined Meta at E4 as SWE Specialist. I managed to get GEE at my first performance review, and I got promoted to E5. Then two rounds of layoffs happened, and several reorgs. I started to struggle in my personal life, and work started to go side ways, and I missed some deadlines. This broke relationship with my manager. I had a couple meetings when my manager was shouting at me. My team was also 8-hour timezone shifted, so it was hard for me to find new projects at my level. The priorities shifted after reorgs, and I struggled to catch up on the changes. I also feel like I'm not suitable for specialist position. I'm more of a generalist. Long story short, I was laid off without PIP. I'm feeling really bad about it now, and it hurt my confidence at lot, and I'm still struggling with panic attacks from time to time... I was recently offered staff level position at a mid-size company. The team is distributed in a very similar timezones - 2 hours difference. I have some technical leadership experience from a startup, but I think it's going to be different than in mid-size company. I don't think it's going to be same as staff at Meta because of the scale of the company. I found out that I'd be the first staff engineer in the org, so even the manager is not clear what the expectations are. I'm sort of second guessing my decision here. Did I make a stupid decision? I don't want to get laid off again. I have also another offer for a senior position at another mid-size company, but the team sounds less interesting. Do you guys have any advice? How do I get back on the horse again? I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I guess I might be looking for some kind of absolution for my sins, so that I can move on... I wish I could start things completely over but life is not a video game... How do I rebuild my reputation?

I’d like to get some research experiences on the side. For those in Meta, does anyone know if this is possible? If not doable internally, how do I find such opportunities?

I took up a project that will help me grow to the next level and I set a deadline, and missed the deadline because I didn’t know how long the project will take. My manager was aware of this and it’s not looking good. Although I’ve aligned with my manager and the TL that I was working on multiple projects at once and didn’t know how long the project will take, which caused the missed deadline. I want to take up E4 level projects, but I also don’t want to fail or make the TL skeptical in giving me future projects. I really felt bad about this. This is why I need another mentor within Meta. My current mentor doesn’t even care.

Hi Taro community, I have a couple of interviews coming up, and both companies (one is Meta) offer accommodations for neurodivergent individuals. I was diagnosed with ADHD recently, after many years in the industry. I have experience working at two Big Tech companies, but I've never able to pass the final round at Meta (I've had 4 attempts). Has anyone asked for accommodations and received an offer from a Big Tech company? I understand that the company wants to assure you that it won't affect the hiring decision, but I wonder what the reality is. I'm not sure what a "reasonable accommodation" is, but suppose I ask for 10 additional minutes for a live coding interview. If I use that time fully but perform well, does that taint my performance in the mind of the interviewer? Then if I do make it to the team-matching phase, does that affect what teams I talk to? If you have been on the hiring/interviewing side, I would appreciate if you weighed-in as well. Thanks

How to better prepare? How to make a good first impression? Is there any way to establish the manager relationship?

Question: This may seem like a dumb question but, doesn't a technical person administer technical interviews (coding / whiteboarding and systems design)? So I had a behavioral screen with Meta some time ago and the in-house non-technical recruiter to my surprise oddly asked me a systems design question (I was expected to answer in like 5-15 minutes max which made no sense), I get that they want to get an idea of the candidate's 'product sense,' but I found it quite odd. Recently, I came across another software engineering coaching platform I joined and went to their practice of DSA and system design interview prep sessions which they run weekly, which oddly I found that non-technical admins (executive assistants) ran, I think it was helpful for offloading administrative scheduling, but they didn't seem to help much since they're actually non-technical.

When I started in bootcamp, my bootcamp mentor assigned me a couple tasks to do. How important are these tasks? Do I need to get them done with a certain speed and quality? Are you judged on them in any way?