Getting hired by Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, is a goal for many tech professionals. With over 83,000 employees globally, Meta is one of the biggest technology companies in the world. They are the creators of widely used platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus. Working at Meta means having the opportunity to make an impact on products used by billions of people.
However, getting hired by Meta is highly competitive. Only the most talented engineers, designers, researchers, and business professionals even get interviews. So what does it take to get a job offer from Meta? In this 5000+ word guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know, including:
Meta’s Hiring Philosophy
Meta looks for people who are extremely skilled in their field of expertise. They want innovators who can move fast and ship products that people love. The company values raw intelligence, drive, and creativity above all else. Prestige and education matter less than being able to demonstrate outstanding ability.
Meta’s Interview Process
You’ll need to excel in Meta’s rigorous interview process. Expect highly technical coding interviews if going for an engineering role. For other roles, you’ll be assessed on your broad thinking, communication skills, and culture fit. We’ll break down exactly what to expect.
Building Your Resume
Your resume needs to highlight your impressive achievements. We’ll look at what Meta looks for in resumes and how to make yours stand out. This includes optimizing for keywords that get past resume screening software.
Networking Your Way In
Referrals and insider connections greatly boost your odds of getting an interview. We’ll explore proven ways for networking your way into the company.
Acing the Coding Interview
For software engineering candidates, you’ll need to excel in Meta’s challenging technical interviews. We’ll provide tips for mastering the coding interview questions you’re likely to encounter.
By the end of this guide, you’ll understand exactly what it takes to get hired at one of the top technology companies in the world. Let’s get started!
Meta’s Hiring Philosophy
What does Meta look for when hiring? Their approach may differ from other big tech companies. Here are the key principles that guide Meta’s recruiting:
Raw Intelligence Matters Most
Meta cares far more about your sheer problem-solving ability than your credentials. They want wickedly smart people who can tackle challenges never faced before. Formal education and prestige matter less than being able to demonstrate raw intelligence during the interview process.
Value Creativity and New Perspectives
The company seeks people with bold, original thinking. They want innovators who can find clever solutions to hard problems. Bringing creative, unconventional perspectives is highly valued.
Drive to Make an Impact
Meta looks for driven self-starters who are obsessed with making an impact on real-world products. They want employees who take initiative, move fast, and get things done. Passion for Meta’s mission of connecting people is key.
A Bias for Action
Meta has a “move fast and break things” culture. They want people comfortable with moving quickly, without excessive process and bureaucracy. Be ready to ship products fast without waiting for perfection.
Teamwork and Communication Skills
While raw smarts are important, you also need the ability to collaborate and communicate complex ideas. Meta engineers work closely in teams and must convey their thinking to non-technical colleagues.
Overall, Meta wants extraordinarily talented people who can work effectively in teams to create products that improve people’s lives. With this hiring philosophy in mind, let’s look at how to get through their demanding interview process.
Meta’s Interview Process
Meta’s interview process is infamously rigorous. Expect 4-8 interviews, highly technical coding challenges, and quizzes on out-of-the-box thinking. Here’s what to expect at each stage:
1. Initial Phone Screen
The first interview is a 30 minute phone screen with a recruiter. They assess your resume for relevant experience and ask high-level questions about your background. The recruiter evaluates your communication skills and ensures you meet the basic qualifications.
2. Technical Phone Interview
The next step is a 1-hour technical phone interview. For software engineering roles, expect challenging coding questions testing your algorithms and data structures knowledge. Practice LeetCode! For other roles, you’ll get technical questions relevant to the position. Demonstrate you can think through problems out loud.
3. On-site Interviews
If you pass the tech screen, you’ll be invited for 4-8 on-site interviews over one full day.
For engineers, each 60-minute session will include deeply technical coding challenges. You’ll write functions and algorithms on a whiteboard. Verbalize your thought process as you code.
For other roles, expect a mix of behavioral, case, and role-specific interviews assessing your experience, critical thinking, and communication abilities.
Come prepared with in-depth knowledge of your domain and compelling stories that demonstrate desired competencies.
4. Technical Project Presentation
Some advanced engineering candidates will be assigned a take-home project to work on before the on-site. Be prepared to present your technical project in-person to engineers and leaders. Demonstrate your work and explain your thinking.
5. Final Interview
Once you complete the on-site, exceptional candidates may be invited back for a final executive interview. This is your chance to connect with leadership and show how you align with Meta’s mission and values.
Meta’s multi-stage interview process is challenging by design to surface the most talented prospects. With practice and preparation, you can ace it.
Building Your Resume
Meta receives over 2 million resumes every year for a few thousand open roles. Standing out from the pack starts with an outstanding resume tailored to Meta’s needs.
Here are tips for optimizing your resume to catch a recruiter’s eye:
Highlight Relevant Experience
Carefully review the job description and tailor your resume to the required qualifications. Include keywords and skills they are looking for. Clearly convey that you have the necessary background.
Focus on Achievements, Not Just Responsibilities
Anyone can list generic responsibilities for each role. Meta wants to see impressive achievements that demonstrate excellence. Quantify your accomplishments with numbers.
Use Numbers to Demonstrate Scale
Meta values drive and impact at scale. Use numbers to convey the size and reach of projects you delivered. For example, highlight products used by millions of people.
Optimize for Applicant Tracking Systems
Use relevant keywords so resume screening software doesn’t filter you out. Mirror language from the job post such as specific skills and technologies sought.
Highlight Awards and Accolades
Being recognized for excellence, whether through awards, promotions or press coverage, helps you stand out. Don’t be shy about listing major accomplishments.
Convey Culture Fit
Without stating it outright, hint that your work style aligns with Meta’s values like taking initiative, creativity, and bias for action.
Check for Spelling and Grammar Errors
Sloppy mistakes make a bad impression. Have multiple people proofread to catch errors you may have missed.
With a polished, targeted resume, you can maximize your chances of getting past the initial screening stage. This puts you on the path to nailing the interview process.
Networking Your Way In
Referrals give candidates a major leg up in Meta’s hiring process. Internally referred applicants are much more likely to get interviews and offers than those applying cold.
Here are effective ways to network your way into the company:
Connect with Meta Employees on LinkedIn
Reach out to current and former Meta employees who work in your target department. Express interest in their work and ask for a short informational interview to learn more about the team.
Attended Meta Networking Events
Go to Meta recruiting mixers and technology events in your city. Introduce yourself to employees and recruiters there. Collect business cards for following up afterward.
Get Referrals From Friends Who Work There
The best source for referrals is friends inside Meta. Even if they aren’t in your department, they can connect you with the right people.
Leverage Your School’s Alumni Network
Join alumni groups on LinkedIn and Facebook to connect with fellow graduates working at Meta. Bond over shared experiences from your school days.
Participate in Meta Online Communities
Get involved in Meta groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Reddit. Share your expertise and build connections within the Meta community.
Attend Hackathons and Industry Events
At hackathons and conferences, introduce yourself to Meta employees who attend. Impress them by showcasing your skills and sharing your passion for technology. Exchange contact info.
Persistence and creativity in networking goes a long way. The connections you make can help propel you through the recruiting process.
Acing the Coding Interview
For software engineering candidates, mastering Meta’s notoriously challenging technical interviews is crucial. Expect complex coding problems testing your algorithms, data structures, and system design knowledge.
Here are tips for conquering the technical interview:
Grind LeetCode
Most coding questions resemble problems on LeetCode.com and Glassdoor. Practicing similar questions builds speed and accuracy. Strive for 100+ LeetCode problems solved. Know common patterns like two pointers, sliding windows, memoization.
Deeply Understand Data Structures
Have mastery over arrays, lists, trees, graphs, hash tables. Know the time and space complexity tradeoffs for core data structure operations.
Brush Up on Algorithms
Review sorting algorithms like quicksort, merge sort. Know search algorithms like binary search, DFS, BFS. Understand dynamic programming. Expect algo questions tailored to the role.
Speak Your Thought Process Out Loud
Explain your thinking as you code. Walk through your approach, analyze complexity tradeoffs, and comment on optimizations. Good communication is key.
Write Clean, Maintainable Code
Craft your code as if it will be maintained by others. Use descriptive variable names, break into functions, add comments explaining logic. Well-structured code matters.
Double Check Your Syntax
Take the extra minute to carefully verify your code compiles and runs as intended. Fix silly syntax errors before moving forward.
Show You Can Optimize Solutions
After presenting your initial solution, suggest ways to optimize with additional time. This could be through more efficient data structures, concurrency, caching, or other improvements.
With diligent practice, you can master the technical skills needed to shine in Meta’s rigorous coding interviews.
Conclusion
Getting hired by Meta is a challenging but attainable goal. They hire only the most talented builders and innovators. With the right strategy, you can prove you meet their high bar.
The keys are demonstrating outstanding problem-solving abilities, creativity, drive to make an impact, and teamwork skills. Having insider referrals gives you a major advantage. With focused preparation, you can ace their interviews.
Landing a job at Meta takes persistence. But once on board, you’ll have incredible opportunities to learn, grow your skills, and make your mark on products used worldwide. By following the guidance in this guide, you can maximize your chances of getting hired.
| Section | Key Takeaways |
|---|---|
| Meta’s Hiring Philosophy | They value raw intelligence, creativity, drive to make an impact, bias for action, teamwork skills |
| Meta’s Interview Process | Technical coding interviews and assessments of critical thinking. 4-8 intense interviews. |
| Building Your Resume | Highlight relevant experience, achievements, awards. Optimize for resume screening. |
| Networking Your Way In | Leverage referrals, alumni networks, LinkedIn, events to build connections. |
| Acing the Coding Interview | Practice LeetCode, master data structures/algorithms, explain thought process. |