Data Engineering

Initial Interview Guide

What You’ll Find Welcome to your preparation guide for your interview at Meta! This
in This Guide
guide will take you approximately 15 minutes to review. Use the
Interview Process Overview sidebar to quickly jump to the section you are looking for. Whether
SQL Screen you’re taking your initial screen or your full loop interview, our Data
Engineering leaders and recruiters put together this guide so you
Python Screen know what to expect and how to prepare. We recognize that
Final Tips and Post Interview interviewing can be stressful, so we hope this guide provides the
information and resources you need. Remember, your recruiter is
Appendix / Resources there to support you, so please reach out to them with any
questions.
Accommodations Process
Before you get started, it's important to note that Meta is
committed to providing reasonable support (called
accommodations) in our recruiting processes for candidates with
disabilities, long term conditions, mental health conditions or
sincerely held religious beliefs, or who are neurodivergent or require
pregnancy-related support. If you need support, please reach out to
accommodations-ext@fb.com or your recruiter.

Team Introduction
At Meta, data engineering plays a critical role in our product
development strategy. Meta is incredibly data-driven, and every
feature, launch decision, and product opportunity is tested and
proven with data.

Data engineers play a critical role in this effort by embedding within

cross- functional teams where they partner closely with other
functions like product managers, software engineers, designers,

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researchers, data scientists, etc. Working together, these cross-
functional teams are collectively responsible for building products
and services to serve billions of people around the world.

As a function, data engineering operates within the analytics

organization alongside data science. This strong partnership
enables us to build data assets which unlock the in-depth analysis
we need to drive our products forward. Our data engineers provide
all the data; data scientists use that data to explain why things are
happening. Analytics eventually rolls up into general management
of the product.

Data engineers at Meta need to have keen product awareness and

the ability to hold a strategic conversation about the product, its
possibilities, and its future. They need to be capable of anticipating
future needs and designing data systems today to reduce the time
and complexity involved in meeting those needs tomorrow.
Successful data engineering produces better decisions, and
subsequently, better outcomes for Meta.

By nature, data engineers are going to receive many requests. As a

result, prioritization is a critical skill requirement. Data engineers
work in a partnership model and not as a service. As such, they need
to strike the right balance between supporting the day-to-day
needs of the product team and working on big bets. Meta's culture
prioritizes autonomy; independent decision-making is an essential
factor in achieving success.

Technically speaking, the day-to-day job of a data engineer includes

a wide variety of focus areas. Data engineers are responsible for
high-quality logging, either through direct implementation or
through a strong instrumentation partnership with software
engineering. They are also responsible for complex integration work,
bridging data from various sources together, enriching it, and
operationalizing it via core tables, aggregate tables for convenient
access, and dashboards for consumption. Data engineers also make
data sets available for experimentation systems (A/B testing
frameworks), training machine learning models, and sometimes
delivering data directly back into Meta's products.

On the Data Engineering team, there are no project managers,

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business analysts, ETL engineers, or visualization developers.
Instead, there are solely data engineers who take on those roles and
work end-to-end across the stack. But that isn't to say we don't
specialize. We have a variety of archetypes that allow for deep
specialization in a given area. Meta is a strengths-based company,
and we always aim to align each person's unique strengths with the
right team and projects.

Interview Process Overview

This guide will explain what to expect during your interviews with Meta. As part of
your interview, you will have the opportunity to meet with peers, cross-functional
partners, and other leaders at Meta. Your recruiter will be your guide throughout
the process and aim to adequately prepare you to bring your best self to your
interview.

What will your interview process be?

Your interview process will include one 60-minute interview; each interview will
leave a few minutes at the end for your questions. You can expect the following
interviews in the initial round:

• Introduction: 5 minutes

• SQL Screen: 25 minutes

• Coding Screen: 25 minutes

• Questions and Closing: 5 minutes

As you start to prepare for your initial interview, the following video will help you
understand your interview overview, logistics and recruiter:

Meta Phone Interview Preparation Video

(Password: c0nnectthew0rld)

Keep in mind throughout your prep that speed and efficiency are important.
Practice with time constraints while you’re working through the SQL and coding
questions so that you’re prepared for both your SQL and coding screens during your
interview.

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Video Conference interview best practices

• Make sure you're in a quiet environment.

• Double check that you have a reliable internet/phone connection.

• It's okay to ask the person you're speaking with to speak slowly if you can't
catch what they're saying.

• You'll need a laptop with a webcam, speaker, and mic. We recommend using a
headset or headphones with a mic for better quality audio, but this is optional.

Interview Dress Code

As you’re probably aware, we promote a casual environment at Meta so that
everyone can be their authentic selves. Formal dress is not required (jeans are
definitely ok!). Dress comfortably. We care about what you can do, not what you
wear.

SQL Screen Prep

How is the SQL portion of your tech screen structured?

Your SQL screen will be 25 minutes, where you’ll have an opportunity to work
through as many as five questions. The purpose of this screen is to evaluate your
understanding of fundamental SQL concepts.

We’ll ask you to write a series of SQL queries using a PostgreSQL database, yet
knowing standard ANSI SQL is sufficient for the interview.
Working with a business-related schema and dataset, we’ll ask you to write SQL to
help answer various business questions. Be prepared to cover fundamental SQL
concepts:

• Joins (inner, left / right outer, full outer, cross)

• UNION versus UNION ALL
• Correlated subqueries
• Aggregations
• “Where” versus “having” • Handling NULL values
• Case statements, etc.
• Filters
• Groupings
• Rankings
• Verifying results and taking care of exceptions and NULL handling

The Appendix / Resources section contains links to practice SQL interview

question samples.

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Python Screen Prep
How is the coding portion of your tech screen structured?

The coding screen will be 25 minutes, during which you’ll have an opportunity to
work through as many as five questions. We recommend practicing the coding
interview question samples listed in links in the Appendix / Resources section.

Final Tips for your Interview

• Be yourself. This means being open and honest about your successes and
ways you’ve improved throughout your career. Also, be sure to call out how
you have specifically added value to your team or projects you’ve contributed
to. We value teamwork and what each individual member brings to the table.

• Carefully review and familiarize yourself with the job description and
perform research on Meta and the role. Be prepared to answer why you are
interested in this specific role and in working at Meta.

• Please take the time to review our mission statement and core values. These
values influence how we work together to fulfill our mission of bringing the
world closer together. We also encourage you to take time using our products
such as Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

• Prepare thoughtful questions for the interviewer(s). Your interviewer may

challenge your ideas, and you should be ready to speak not only to what you
recommend or have experienced but the why as well. It is important to think
outside the box and to approach problems from creative and different
perspectives.

• Have a clear picture first. Discuss the algorithm you want to apply with the
interviewer first. Jumping straight into coding without having a clear idea on
what you want to do, or changing your mind halfway through, could slow you
down.

• Think out loud. It helps your interviewer follow along and learn about your
problem-solving skills. They’ll want to understand why you’re making certain
decisions. (For example: Why subqueries instead of joins?)

• Don’t worry about things like typos, syntax, etc. Some people have the right
code sitting there, but they take another minute or two going over everything
manually trying to check if it’s all correct. Feel free to hit “run” to see what error
messages come up.

• If you aren’t sure about syntax. If you aren’t sure about syntax, just ask the
interviewer: “What’s the syntax to check if an element is in a list again?”

• Be open. Interviewers are asking questions that are not meant to stump you,
but rather they’re meant to get to know your skills and gauge how in-depth

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 your knowledge is. It’s OK not to know something. Communicate openly with
the interviewer, approaching questions as a chance to collaborate with them.

• Listen for hints. Interviewers might ask questions such as, “Are you sure you
want to use a loop there?” This gives you an opportunity to consider
alternatives to how to solve the problem, and to demonstrate that you can
learn on the spot and implement feedback.

Post Interview – What to Expect

You can expect your recruiter to provide a specific timeline or updates along the
way. Your recruiter will inform you of next steps after your interview as soon as
they are available. Feel free to follow up with them if you have not heard within a
week of your interviews.

Appendix / Resources
Below is a curated list of resources to get started and help you prepare.

Role-specific prep
Meta data engineers collected some helpful resources with content and activities
for your initial tech screen. Take a look through the list as you prepare and practice
these problems. Keep in mind these questions are lower in difficulty than the
actual problems you’ll receive. Think of these practice problems as a baseline, and
if you have trouble solving them, then you may want to give yourself more time to
prepare.

Coding prep resources

• HackerRank

• CodingBat

• LeetCode

• Python for Everyone Course

• Python Data Structures Course

SQL prep resources

• Advanced SQL Interview Questions and Answers

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Connect with Meta Employees

• Once you’ve made it to the onsite interview stage, request to interact with an
employee and learn what it's like to work at Meta through the Meta
Connections Program.

Meta Resources

• About Meta website

• Meta Newsroom website

• Meta Careers website

• Meta Life website

• Meta Diversity website

• Meta Employee Benefits website

• Interviewing at Meta: The keys to success blog

Update personal information, track interview progress, and send

thank you notes.

At any time during the interview process, you can track your progress, send
thank-you notes and update your personal information all via the Career Profile. If
you do not receive a link from recruiting, you may create one.

Thank you for taking the time to review this guide!