Facebook Interview Questions

About Facebook

The interesting thing about Facebook is its journey from being resembling a directory for students to one of the biggest social network sites in the world. Facebook, created by Mark Zuckerberg with the membership limitation to his native college students, expanded its current potential to more than one billion users. This remarkability says a lot about the stature of the company and henceforth, the Facebook Interview Process is not going to be like an easy interview you are hoping for. Yes, it can, however, be an experience filled with learning for you.

"Give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together."

Facebook is the biggest social media networking site, keeping its mission to not just being a part of people but by giving them something every day. For this, they understand the pressing need to keep their own people happy, content and safe.

According to their stats:

They raised $5 billion+ for the community.
200 million+ businesses are actively connecting and growing with Facebook.
1 billion+ stories shared per day by the people
100 billion+ messages shared every day, keeping everyone close and connected.

A company that believes in delivering change, better growth, and community building. Think about how this will affect your performance as a software engineer in the prospect of learning, giving and building an amazing career for yourself.

At Facebook, they take it much more seriously than a matter of employment benefits and perks. They look at it as a comprehensive approach to create a better, positive environment for their biggest assets, employees.

Facebook HQ

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Facebook Interview Process

Interview Process

Recruiter Connect: The candidate must have good job profiles to get noticed by an HR recruiter from facebook. If the candidate gets past the initial recruiter screening, they will be presented with helpful resources to prepare for further interviews.
Interview Rounds: Facebook conducts a total of 7 interview rounds. The first two are phone screenings. The rest are onsite interviews which are coding, design, and behavioural interviews. The candidate will also have a chance to have lunch with an existing employee to learn more about the company culture.
After Interviews: The candidate’s interview performance along with resume is judged in the candidate review meeting. If the result is split between 'no hires' and 'hires' then the candidate might be expected to attend one final interview to settle the debate.
Hired: Once the team and you both are comfortable and ready to start, the offer letter is prepared and shared with you by the recruiters and you are HIRED!

Interview Rounds

Phone Screenings(Two Rounds) The candidate might have to give two telephonic interviews. The first one will be the initial recruiter phone screening and the second will be a technical phone interview. The first round mainly focuses on behavioural questions while the second one is more DS/Algo oriented.
Algo DS Interviews (Four or Five Rounds) The candidate will typically get two to three coding interviews, one design interview, and one behavioral interview. Each interview lasts about 45 minutes. An experienced candidate might have more design interviews than, say, a junior candidate.

Cracking the Facebook Software Engineering Interview

Facebook Coding Questions

Longest Increasing Subsequence

Problem Description Find the longest increasing subsequence of a given array of integers, A. In other words, find a subsequence of array in which the...

Unique Paths in a Grid

Given a grid of size m * n, lets assume you are starting at (1,1) and your goal is to reach (m,n). At any instance, if you are on (x,y), you can either...

Ways to Decode

Problem Description A message containing letters from A-Z is being encoded to numbers using the following mapping: 'A' -> 1 'B' -> 2 ... 'Z...

Best Time to Buy and Sell Stocks II

Problem Description Say you have an array, A, for which the ith element is the price of a given stock on day i. Design an algorithm to find the maxim...

Best Time to Buy and Sell Stocks III

Problem Description Say you have an array, A, for which the ith element is the price of a given stock on day i.Design an algorithm to find the maximu...

Best Time to Buy and Sell Stocks I

Problem DescriptionSay you have an array, A, for which the ith element is the price of a given stock on day i. If you were only permitted to complete a...

Regular Expression Match

Problem Description Implement wildcard pattern matching with support for '?' and '*' for strings A and B. '?' : Matches any single character. '*' : ...

Regular Expression II

Problem Description Implement regular expression matching with support for '.' and '*'.'.' Matches any single character. '*' Matches zero or more of ...

Add Two Numbers as Lists

You are given two linked lists representing two non-negative numbers. The digits are stored in reverse order and each of their nodes contain a single d...

Reverse Link List II

Reverse a linked list from position m to n. Do it in-place and in one-pass. For example: Given 1->2->3->4->5->NULL, m = 2 and n = 4, r...

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Tips for Facebook Interview Preparation

Learn About Core Values - Facebook has five core values: move fast, be bold, focus on impact, be open, and build social value. Candidate needs to familiarize themselves with these and keep them in mind especially during the behavioral interview. Being honest about successes as well as failures is also necessary.
Make Things Simpler - During the design interviews, it is important to break it down and then simplify it for the interviewer. It helps save time and helps focus on things that are more important than the rest. Thinking about how you would design things at Facebook is a good place to start.
Use What You Have Efficiently - The coding interviews can often leave a candidate running out of time, and so it is necessary to plan things accordingly. From choosing the programming language one is most comfortable with, to choosing the most optimal solution by thinking for a few minutes rather than going all out at it from the beginning, efficiency is key. Find Out More.

FAQ

How many rounds of interview does Facebook have?

6-7 Rounds: Phone Screenings(Two Rounds), Algo DS Interviews (Four or Five Rounds). Find out More.
Why do you want to work at Facebook?

Most large tech companies ask this question during an interview process and Facebook is no different. Be specific about the things you want to do, rather than something vague. Talk about the company-specific products that interest you and what kind of work you look forward to doing.
Is Python allowed in coding interviews? Which programming language is used in a Facebook interview?

You are free to use any programming language, including Python, during a Facebook coding interview.
Is it hard to get hired at Facebook?

The Facebook recruitment process is designed to be intricate and arduous, but not to fail you. The process will be hard for those who prepare it overnight and wait for a miracle to happen.
Otherwise, at the Facebook company, they even give you all the prepping material and, mock interview trial runs. They want every interviewee to experience the beauty of this process and brace themselves for the Facebook coding challenge, and for the environment at the company. Besides, they want you to discover yourself in that process.
What are the different levels of software engineers at Facebook?
There are 6 levels of software engineer titles at Facebook.
- Software Engineer Level I (E3)
- Software Engineer Level II (E4)
- Software Engineer Level III (E5)
- Software Engineer Level IV (E6)
- Software Engineer Level V (E7)
- Software Engineer Level VI (E8)
However, at Facebook the engineer regardless of whatever level is called a software engineer only.
How can I get a job at Facebook?

You can check out the Facebook careers page for an opening position in any of the locations of the company. You could filter out according to the category, role and location. The process over screening, interview process and everything can take up to approximately 90 days. According to your skill and interest, you can apply for 3 job positions after a gap of 90 days in each. After applying, wait for interviews after resume shortlisting and then start preparing.
What are the benefits of working at Facebook?

There are several benefits of working at a company of such scale and magnitude. Starting from salaries that are very competitive, to being able to contribute to building a product that millions use every day, the experience of working at Facebook has been known to be enriching for many.
Mistakes to avoid during a Facebook interview

Don’t appear underconfident, and ensure to follow the aforementioned tips while preparing for an interview at the company.