I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Meta (Menlo Park, CA) in Aug 2017
Interview
After speaking with a recruiter, I had a 45 minute technical screen with a data scientist with a few SQL/product questions. After the screen, the recruiter sends you tons of documentation about the onsite and gives you a few weeks to prepare - the documentation is fantastic and gives a great sense of the kinds of questions you'll get. Onsite consisted of 5 interviews + an hour lunch with a data scientist. The process is very well organized and structured and my recruiter was great at keeping in constant communication with me throughout the process.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Other people have covered SQL questions thoroughly - but the interview is just as heavily (if not more so) focused on product sense! Make sure you are familiar with the differences between Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter in terms of social graphs, UX, monetization etc.
Tough interview overall—definitely not what I expected. The technical rounds were intense, particularly when they had me design an A/B test for the News Feed ranking algorithm. I had to discuss metrics and sample sizes in detail. Lucky for me, the time I spent on PracHub right before the interview helped me nail that deep-dive question as it mirrored what I practiced. The behavioral questions felt standard but were still challenging. After a whirlwind process, they extended an offer, which I happily accepted.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design an A/B test to evaluate a new ranking algorithm for the Facebook News Feed. Walk through metric selection (engagement, time-spent, MSI, well-being), unit of randomization given network effects between friends, sample size and power calculations, how you'd detect novelty effects vs. true lift, and how you'd handle a guardrail metric regressing while the primary metric is up.
Total 7 rounds: first round for resume screening, second for technical screening, then for on-site virtual with 4 interviews back to back, then hiring manager round after team matching and then salary negotiation with HR
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Meta’s evaluation rubrics focus heavily on "Product Thinking over Fancy Math". Interviewers want to see if you can operate like a product owner with an analytical mindset, navigating messy scenarios affecting billions of users
The Interview Process is very structured -
First Tech Screening round - 45 mins (usually can extend a bit depending on the interviewer)
- 2 SQL Questions ( Medium to Hard ) - based on Joins
Full Loop - 4 rounds 45 mins each.
- SQL
- Behavioral
- Analytical Execution - stats & prob, A/B testing, case study
- Analytical Reasoning - Case study
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions on Bayes Theorem, Probability distribution, etc.
