I applied through college or university. The process took 1 day. I interviewed at Meta in Aug 2015
Interview
Several engineers came to recruit to my university. I didn't feel the process was aimed at finding out about my thought process. I felt the interview was more about whether I got the answer and how quickly I figured it out. I did figure it out. The interviewer was at several times messaging on his/her mobile phone while I was explaining my reasoning. I felt he/she was rude at time, too. Some friends that interviewed with other recruiters got easier questions and passed to the second interviews. I searched for the question later online and my solution was correct and optimal. Bad taste on the whole experience.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given two words (start and end), and a dictionary, find the length of shortest transformation sequence from start to end, such that only one letter can be changed at a time and each intermediate word must exist in the dictionary.
For example, given:start =
"hit"
end = "cog"
dict = ["hot","dot","dog","lot","log"]
From: http://www.programcreek.com/2012/12/leetcode-word-ladder/
The technical round hit me with a classic array manipulation problem: moving zeroes to the end without disrupting the order of non-zero elements. As I tackled it, I felt a wave of familiarity wash over me; I had just practiced a similar challenge on PracHub. The rest of the interview followed a straightforward path, with some easy behavioral questions sprinkled in. Overall, it felt very easy, but I wasn’t quite the right fit for what they needed, so I didn’t receive an offer.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Move zeroes in an array to the end while keeping non-zero element order, in place
Took about a month altogether, which felt longer given the intensity of the process. Kicked off with a technical screening, followed by two rigorous coding interviews. The DSA question on binary tree vertical order traversal hit me hard at first, but then I recognized the prompt instantly — I had just worked through something similar on PracHub. The final round was focused on system design, and while I ended up receiving an offer, I ultimately declined it. Overall, a challenging experience that definitely sharpened my skills.
Overall, the process took a little over two weeks, which felt a bit longer than I anticipated. After a quick screening, I went through two technical rounds focusing on coding and DSA concepts. One of the questions was a classic palindrome check; mid-way through, I realized it was something I had practiced on PracHub just days earlier. The final step was a casual behavioral interview. I was relieved to get an offer shortly after, which I happily accepted.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Given a string, determine if it is a valid palindrome considering only alphanumeric characters and ignoring case.