Software Engineer - Product (Technical Leadership)

Meta

Given a string containing alphanumeric and special characters, determine if it's a palindrome, ignoring special characters and case. Can you do this in-place (without using extra space)? For example, 12@#.Race@#car is a palindrome. How would you approach this?

Meta

Let's design a new feature for the Facebook app: Ephemeral Groups. These groups function like regular Facebook groups but with a key difference: all content (posts, comments, media) within the group is automatically deleted after 24 hours. The group itself remains, but the content vanishes. Imagine users creating groups for flash events, temporary project collaborations, or just sharing memes that are only funny for a day. Here are some considerations to guide our design: Use Cases: What are the primary use cases for Ephemeral Groups? Consider examples beyond those mentioned above. User Interface: How would users create and identify Ephemeral Groups within the existing Facebook app? How is it visually distinct? Data Storage: How would you efficiently store and automatically delete content to minimize storage costs and ensure compliance with the 24-hour expiration? Abuse Prevention: How do you prevent the misuse of Ephemeral Groups for sharing harmful or illegal content, given the disappearing nature of the data? Notifications: How would notifications work for Ephemeral Groups? Should users receive notifications for content that will disappear soon? Privacy: How would we make users aware of the ephemeral nature of the group and its content to manage their privacy expectations effectively? Scalability: How would this feature scale to handle potentially millions of Ephemeral Groups without impacting the performance of the overall Facebook platform? Walk me through your design proposal, addressing these considerations and any other relevant aspects you believe are important.

Meta

Tell me about a time you disagreed with a manager. What was the situation, and how did you handle it? What was the outcome, and what did you learn from the experience? For example, perhaps you had a disagreement about project priorities, a technical approach, or a team management style. It could be a situation where you felt strongly about a different course of action and had to navigate the disagreement professionally. Describe the specific steps you took to communicate your perspective, understand your manager's viewpoint, and reach a resolution. What factors did you consider in deciding how to approach the situation, and what alternative approaches did you consider? How did you ensure that the disagreement didn't negatively impact your working relationship or the overall team dynamic? What would you do differently in a similar situation in the future?