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INTERVIEW PREP · US AND UK

Meta software engineer interview

The rounds at each level, what interviewers score, the Company values (2022 set), and the questions candidates report, linked to problems you can solve here with the editor, walkthrough video and solutions in four languages.

Based on public candidate reports and Meta's own careers pages, checked November 2026. Processes vary by team and change over time. AlgoRung is not affiliated with Meta.

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Your level

Levels

AlgoRung levelMeta titleExperienceInterviews after screeningDesign rounds
SDE 1E3 Software EngineerNew grad to about 2 years about 3Usually not
SDE 2E4 Software EngineerAbout 2 to 5 years about 5Yes
SDE 3E5 Senior Software EngineerSenior, about 5 to 10 years about 5Yes
SDE 4E6 Staff, E7+ Senior Staff and aboveStaff, principal and above about 5Yes

The rounds, in order

Pick your level above to see only your rounds. Each step links to a guide on how that round is scored.

  1. Phone / recruiter screen · 45 min

    Two easy-to-medium coding problems in about 35 minutes of coding time, with code execution turned off.

    All levels

  2. Coding (DSA) · 45 min

    One traditional coding round without AI, usually two problems; interviewers expect you to find your own bugs.

    All levels

  3. AI-assisted coding · 60 min

    Since October 2025 this round gives you a multi-file project with an AI chat assistant, in three phases: fix a bug, build the core feature, then optimize for larger inputs.

    All levels

  4. System design (HLD) × 2 · 45 min

    System design or product design (product architecture), chosen to fit your background; E5+ usually get two design rounds and staff candidates must pass both.

    SDE 2, SDE 3, SDE 4

  5. Behavioral · 45 min

    Conflict, mistakes, missed deadlines, ambiguity and impact; senior candidates need multi-quarter projects with measurable impact.

    All levels

  6. Team match · 30 min

    After the loop you meet several hiring managers, and the offer depends on a match where both sides opt in.

    All levels

  7. Hiring committee

    A review meeting recommends hire or no-hire from the packet; a senior committee mainly confirms level and compensation.

    All levels

ScreeningCodingDesignBehavioralDecision

What interviewers look for

  • Reaching a working, optimal approach quickly
  • Code quality, including understanding and owning any AI-generated code
  • Verification: testing edge cases and running code often in the AI round
  • Explaining decisions and trade-offs as you go
  • Speed: two problems in about 35 minutes
  • Design: requirements, scale, data model and API trade-offs
  • Behavioral scope and impact that match the target level

Topics to focus on

Weighted by what candidates say comes up and by the reported questions below.

Behavioral: Company values (2022 set)

The official prep blog asks candidates to tie STAR stories to these values. The behavioral interviewer scores conflict resolution, taking feedback, ambiguity, ownership and communication, and has a strong say in your level.

Move FastSpeed and delivery

Show a hard deadline met by cutting scope wisely, not by heroics alone.

  • Tell me about a time you missed a deadline.
  • Tell me about a decision you made without all the data you wanted.
  • Tell me about a time you delivered under a very tight deadline.
Focus on Long-Term ImpactBig impact and long-term thinking

Show you thought beyond the next sprint and made a bet with a long payoff.

  • Tell me about a time you made a decision that hurt in the short term but helped in the long term.
  • Describe an idea of yours that the team adopted.
  • Describe a project that needed several teams. How did you get them aligned?
Build Awesome ThingsHigh standards

Show you raised the bar on quality even when nobody asked, and why it mattered.

  • Tell me about a time you were not satisfied with "good enough".
  • Describe a time you had to choose between quality and speed.
  • Describe how you assess or help hire a new team member.
Live in the FutureInvention and simplification · Big impact and long-term thinking

Show a simpler or new way of doing something and the measurable result.

  • Tell me about a time you made a decision that hurt in the short term but helped in the long term.
  • Tell me about a time you simplified a complex process or system.
  • Describe an idea of yours that the team adopted.
Be Direct and Respect Your ColleaguesDisagreement and candor · Integrity and trust

Disagree with data, respectfully, then commit fully once the decision is made.

  • Tell me about a time you disagreed with your manager. What happened?
  • Describe a decision you argued against but then had to carry out.
  • Tell me about the hardest feedback you have given or received.
Meta, Metamates, MeCollaboration and inclusion

Show how you helped others succeed and made people feel they belonged.

  • Describe a decision you argued against but then had to carry out.
  • Tell me about a time you helped a teammate succeed.
  • Describe a project that needed several teams. How did you get them aligned?

All behavioral questions · Write your STAR stories in the story bank

Coding questions candidates report

Each links to the AlgoRung problem: write-up, animated walkthrough, solutions in Java, Python, C++ and JavaScript, and an editor with hidden tests. Shared questions show the other companies that ask them.

Difficulty
Topic
14 questions
  1. Valid Word Abbreviation Easy Arrays & Hashing also LinkedIn
  2. Valid Palindrome II Easy Arrays & Hashing also Apple
  3. Subarray Sum Equals K Medium Arrays & Hashing also PhonePe
  4. Product of Array Except Self Medium Arrays & Hashing also Oracle
  5. Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree Medium Trees & BST also Google, Netflix, Atlassian +1
  6. Diameter of Binary Tree Easy Trees & BST also Adobe
  7. Copy List with Random Pointer Medium Linked List also Amazon, Microsoft
  8. Minimum Window Substring Hard Arrays & Hashing also Google, LinkedIn, Oracle
  9. Group Anagrams Medium Arrays & Hashing also Amazon, Oracle
  10. Number of Islands Medium Graphs also Amazon, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs +1
  11. Meeting Rooms II Medium Intervals also Amazon
  12. Alien Dictionary Hard Graphs also Amazon, Airbnb
  13. Serialize and Deserialize Binary Tree Hard Trees & BST also Amazon, LinkedIn, Oracle
  14. Basic Calculator Hard Stack

Meta coding questions by topic · Meta SDE 1 interview · Meta SDE 2 interview · Meta senior interview · Meta staff interview

Also reported, not on AlgoRung yet (10)

Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses · Binary Tree Vertical Order Traversal · Merge Sorted Array · K Closest Points to Origin · Range Sum of BST · Next Permutation · Integer to English Words · Validate IP Address · Clone Graph · Binary Search Tree Iterator

Design questions

E3/E4 design is basic or absent. From E5 there are usually two design rounds and they weigh heavily on level: system design (infrastructure, scale, storage) or product design (APIs, data flow, data models). Prompts are mostly Meta products: Feed, Messenger, Instagram, live comments, typeahead.

Also reported: Design a distributed key-value cache

Meta system design questions in detail · How to answer any design question: the LADDER method

Worth knowing

Interviewing at Meta?

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Sources

Written in our own words from these public pages and candidate reports, checked November 2026. Company names are trademarks of their owners.

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