Meta SDE Interview Prep
Meta is one of the highest paying companies in the silicon valley. Here's the tips to crack each of their rounds
Amongst the FAANG companies, Meta is the most sought after. And why not, it pays the highest in the silicon valley. And many think that means clearing the interviews would be super tough. While the interviews are definitely not easy, there’s a strategy to prepare for them. I consulted 2 engineers who worked at Meta and they offered to share their tips and experience . Sharing the prep for each round so that you can crack the Meta SDE Interviews.
RECRUITER SCREEN :
This is just the initial vetting process where the recruiter is looking for the following :
Fit for the role. Ensure your experience and education aligns with the role and you have knowledge about the team Meta is hiring for.
Location
Visa
This is just initial screening and if the above checks out, you are in the first technical coding round.
TECHNICAL PHONE SCREEN/CODING :
In this round, you will be doing pair programming with the interviewer where interviewer typically asks 2 medium coding questions which you have to solve in 45 mins.
2 things to keep in mind :
You have to solve the 2 coding questions in 45 mins.
Make sure your code runs in 1 or 2 successful tries.
Sharing Questions to prepare for :
Meta tagged questions in explore sections to begin with
Blind 75 : Link
Meta-Favorite: Real Examples from Past Candidates
Implement an LRU Cache.
Given a list of meetings, determine if a person can attend all.
Rotate an NxN matrix 90 degrees in place.
Find the median of two sorted arrays (hard).
Implement a basic autocomplete system.
Topic Wise Questions :
1. Sliding Window / Two Pointers
Used for strings and arrays when optimizing over a range.
Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters
Minimum Window Substring
Longest Substring with K Distinct Characters
2. BFS/DFS (Graph or Matrix Traversal)
Important for search, connected components, and traversal problems.
Word Ladder
Number of Islands
Clone Graph
3. Hash Map / Set-Based Problems
Efficient lookups, frequency counts, and duplicates.
Two Sum / 3Sum
Group Anagrams
Top K Frequent Elements
4. Heap / Priority Queue
Focuses on ordering and efficient retrieval of elements.
Merge K Sorted Lists
Top K Frequent Words
Find Median from Data Stream
5. Tree / Recursion / DFS
Test your understanding of recursive structure and traversal logic.
Lowest Common Ancestor
Binary Tree Level Order Traversal
Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree
6. Sorting + Greedy
Often involves interval problems or greedy optimizations.
Merge Intervals
Meeting Rooms
Task Scheduler
ONSITE:
If you clear the technical phone screen round, then you go to onsite.
Onsite round consists of atleast 4 rounds.
CODING ROUND 1 and Coding Round 2 :
This will include atleast 1 medium and 1 hard question. Again make sure you are solving them in 45 mins successfully.
Expect harder concepts like DP, DFS, BFS and so on.
1. Sliding Window / Two Pointers
These are common because they test both problem understanding and optimization.
Longest Substring Without Repeating Characters
Minimum Window Substring
Longest Subarray with Sum ≤ K
2. Graphs (BFS/DFS/Union Find)
Meta loves traversal, pathfinding, and connected components.
Number of Islands
Word Ladder
Clone Graph
Course Schedule (topological sort)
Accounts Merge (Union Find)
3. Hash Maps + Frequency Counters
Fast lookups and custom logic are often tested.
Two Sum / 3Sum / 4Sum
Group Anagrams
Top K Frequent Elements
Subarray Sum Equals K
4. Dynamic Programming
Sometimes appears as a follow-up or a standalone problem.
House Robber / House Robber II
Coin Change
Longest Increasing Subsequence
Decode Ways
5. Arrays / Matrices / Simulation
Tests edge case handling and efficiency in nested structures.
Rotate Image (90° matrix rotation)
Spiral Matrix
Game of Life
Search a 2D Matrix
6. Trees and Recursion
Key for understanding traversal patterns and base/edge case thinking.
Lowest Common Ancestor
Validate Binary Search Tree
Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree
Binary Tree Zigzag Level Order Traversal
Meta-Specific Tips:
You’ll often be asked follow-ups like “Now optimize this,” or “What if the data is streaming?”
Think aloud — how would you test your code? What's the time and space complexity?
Use meaningful variable names and write production-style code.
Don't panic if you're stuck — interviewers want to see how you recover and iterate.
SYSTEM DESIGN :
Focus: Scalable architecture, tradeoffs, API design, databases, caching.
Use this resource to prepare for system design : Link
✅ Tips:
Think in layers: clients, APIs, databases, services.
Explain tradeoffs (e.g., SQL vs NoSQL, consistency vs availability).
Prioritize scalability, fault tolerance, and monitoring.
🧠 Practice Questions:
Design Instagram or TikTok (newsfeed, video delivery, scalability).
Design a URL shortener.
Design a messaging service (like WhatsApp).
Design an autocomplete feature.
How would you design a system to detect and prevent fraud?
Design a file storage system like Dropbox.
Behavioral / Leadership Principles ("Meta Values")
Focus: Collaboration, feedback, ownership, impact, learning from failure.
Tips:
Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result).
Tie answers to Meta’s values (move fast, be bold, focus on impact).
Be authentic but structured—don’t avoid discussing failures.
Practice Questions:
Tell me about a time you solved a tough technical problem.
Describe a project where you had to move fast and break things.
How do you handle disagreements on technical decisions?
Give an example where you received critical feedback and acted on it.
How do you prioritize impact in your work?
Describe a time you failed. What did you learn?
Hope this is helpful and all the best with your Meta prep!