Rejection from Meta (E4) in initial screen
Hi!
I have a question regarding Meta's interview selection/rejection criteria.
I recently interviewed with Meta for E4 Software Engineer role and I actually did well on the interview. I answered both questions with optimal algorithms and also did everything that is expected of the candidate in a good interview (like asking clarifying questions, making a framework for the code to be written/ pseudo code, with the explanation of the process of how I came up with the solution, writing optimal code, discussing time complexity and verification/ dry run - everything within that time limit). I received a rejection from my recruiter. I can't think of anything being the reason for the rejection except that I have been a bit nervous during the interview (but did manage to get everything done still).
Is it normal for Meta to reject a candidate in the screen in spite of such performance? What else would they be expecting to proceed with a candidate? It was not easy for me to get this opportunity to interview with Meta, as I didn't have any previous big tech experience. I'm kind of losing hope on my journey to crack a big tech with this experience. To be honest, I kind of feel like I am being discriminated against. Can anyone please share your thoughts on this experience?
![Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Da7a5bcc0-e178-4b5b-b71e-09bf6c6aefae&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Mid-Level Software Engineer [E4] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta_logo.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Db5f837b1-c74f-4e2f-848b-1599f05624c5&w=48&q=75){kind=logo}
Discussion
(3 comments)- 1
5 days agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroIt is really hard for anybody to tell without having been in the room. If you really want to know, you can go through my data structures and algorithms course which breaks down the DSA judging bar at FAANG, particularly at Meta: Master The Data Structures And Algorithms Interview
At the end of the day, tech interviews are just this giant bag of annoying chaos that we can't control. It's entirely possible that the interviewer was just having a terrible day (or even week) and failing everyone they came into contact with. This usually isn't the case at Meta, but at the end of the day, Meta is a huge company with thousands of interviewers. It can't quality control each one for every interview they do. I recommend checking these lessons out from the overall job searching course:
The silver lining is that if what you said is true, you probably ended up with a "Weak No" type of score. This is good enough that you will probably be eligible to interview again in 6 months. Hopefully you roll a better interviewer the next time.
Best of luck!
- 0
5 days agoMid-Level Software EngineerTaro CommunityThanks for the reply Alex! I agree with your thoughts. Thinking more about it now, I feel this could have been about me coming up with the solution a little too fast (or abruptly). I mean, although I have a set of steps in mind of how my optimal (linear time) solution is coming as a follow up thought for my basic "sort and get" O(nlogn) solution, I did briefly mention them to the interviewer at first, but there had been some disinterest and non welcoming demeanor from him. I mean the question was a popular one and the solution is hard to not know before hand for someone who comes prepared to the interview. I must have done a better job at explaining the algorithm to the interviewer before starting to code. Although I should not deny the fact that if the interviewer was more positive in listening to me, I might have done that explanation better. Anyway, I am doing this analysis here because I wanted to ask you about these kind of situations where we know the answer to the question or at least what class of problems/algorithms the problem could be solved with. It's highly possible because of all the preparation we are doing these days for these interviews. Is it just advised to tell the interviewer that you have seen the question and ask for a different one (sometimes they may still want you to solve the same one)? I mean my main question is how can you sound like you are thinking and coming up with the solution when you have actually learnt the method (pre devised) or algorithm or coding pattern and just explaining how it could be done using that readily here? I don't know if it is expected that you should not pre-know the algorithm (and code template for it).
Sorry if I am extending the discussion a bit, but I wanted to get your (or Rahul's or anyone else's) thoughts on this (might become more common due to lots of prep that we are doing these days) scenario in the tech interviews.
- 15 days agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
To be honest, I kind of feel like I am being discriminated against.
This might be true, but this doesn't help you get the job that you want. I'd invert this mindset: "How can I use the biases in the interview to my advantage?"
For example, maybe you connect with the interviewer on coming from the same college, having similar technology interests, or sharing the same esoteric hobby.
In fact, this is how a lot of the top people land a job! (e.g. They get a referral.)
