HELP! Need advice for Meta interview

Software Engineering Intern at Taro Communitya month ago

I kind of unexpectedly got a new grad swe interview at Meta. I know there are already discussions on Taro about Meta interview, but I wanted to seek advice on my specific situation.

I am sort of new to Leetcode. I mostly interned at startups before so LC wasn't the focus (ik I still should have done LC - my bad). So here are few questions I have:

1. How much can I delay the interview? I am thinking doing it with 4 week breaks - the first round after 4 weeks from today, next round after another 4 weeks, and so on. Is that ok?

2. How many hours should i dedicate per day to leetcode, to get good at it FAST? Asking because I am also a full-time student so I am willing to sacrifice my grades if it requires putting more time into leetcode.

3. What are the HIGHEST bang for buck activities I can do? Time is extremely limited so I want to make sure I am spending it right.

FYI - I do have access to algomonster (https://algo.monster/) - I am thinking of doing my LC prep there cause it's pattern based + has AI coach.

I would really appreciate some advice here. Have never interviewed for a FAANG so this opportunity means a lot. Thanks!!

(Also if you know of good resources, suggest them too! I am willing to invest in resources/mentors.)

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33 Comments

Meta Platforms, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns 3 of top 4 social networks in the world: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. More than 3.5 billion people use at least one of the company's core products every month.

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Discussion

(3 comments)

1
Rahul Pandey
•Tech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
a month ago

How much can I delay the interview?

I'd ask the recruiter this question. For more senior roles, they usually have flexibility (companies like Meta are almost always hiring Senior+ roles). But for new grad, those slots might fill up, so you might need to interview ASAP.

How many hours should i dedicate per day to leetcode?

This depends a lot on how much prior prep you've done. There's also a point of diminishing returns, where you won't retain much beyond a certain amount of time (probably 4+ hours in a day). So the correct answer is between 1-4 hours per day, if you can balance that with school.

What are the HIGHEST bang for buck activities I can do?

Do mock interviews, focusing on Meta interview questions. Go through the Master The Data Structures And Algorithms Interview course.

We are planning to bring tactical DSA content on Taro as well, very soon! Hopefully by early November :)

My other recommendation is to interview at several Big Tech cos along with Meta. The prep is largely overlapping across all of FAANG, so why wouldn't you squeeze more juice out of the lemon (the lemon being the hard work of your interview prep!)
- 0
  Software Engineering Intern
  •Taro Community
  a month ago
  
  But for new grad, those slots might fill up, so you might need to interview ASAP.
  
  I agree, but I am also sort of new to Leetcode. So rushing would mean doing bad on the interview. What kind of balance should i draw here? I was thinking going all in with my prep for next 6 weeks and then do my first round (likely technical phone screen). and then do the subsequent round (likely onsite) after 2 weeks. Total process will take ~2 months. Is that too much?
  
  I remember Alex's situation where he was also sort of new to LC when he interviewed at Meta. He spaced out interviews ~4 weeks apart and did the entire interview process in 2+ months. Although market back then was different..
  
  tactical DSA content
  
  Damn that sounds interesting. Could you give an example of what you mean by 'tactical' here?
- 0
  Alex Chiou
  •Tech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
  a month ago
  
  Damn that sounds interesting. Could you give an example of what you mean by 'tactical' here?
  
  Stuff explaining what a binary search tree is, how depth-first search works, etc