I applied online. I interviewed at Meta (Menlo Park, CA) in Mar 2013
Interview
1) Calculate the square root of a double
2) Given n intervals [si, fi], find the maximum number of overlapping intervals.
3) Print all the paths from root to every leaf in a binary tree.
4) Print the sum of all the numbers at every vertical level in a binary tree
5) Given a set of n jobs with [start time, end time, cost] find a subset so that no 2 jobs overlap and the cost is maximum ?
6) Given 1 trillion messages on fb and each message has at max 10 words, how do you build the index table and how many machines do you need on the cluster to store the index table ?
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given a set of n jobs with [start time, end time, cost] find a subset so that no 2 jobs overlap and the cost is maximum ?
Recruiter call was pretty standard, first round was 2 Meta tagged LC mediums in 45 minutes. On-site was 2 coding sessions of 2 LC mediums, a system design interview and a behavioral interview with an engineering manager.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
How do you answer if someone asks how long a deliverable or project will take?
The entire process usually takes 3–8 weeks, depending on scheduling and the specific role. Coding interviews heavily emphasize common DSA topics such as arrays, strings, trees, graphs, BFS/DFS, heaps, hash maps, and dynamic programming. System design becomes increasingly important for E4+ positions.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given an array of integers and a target value, return the indices of two numbers that add up to the target
Unexpectedly, the first question in the technical round felt familiar. It was about finding a subset of strings with unique character concatenation — same problem I had worked through on PracHub a few days earlier. The interview included a recruiter screen followed by a rigorous pair of technical interviews where I tackled data structures and algorithms alongside system design concepts. After successfully answering a few more challenging DSA questions, I received an offer. The entire experience was intense but ultimately rewarding, and I happily accepted the position.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given an array of strings, pick a subset whose concatenation contains no duplicate characters, and return the maximum possible length of that concatenation.
