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Meta interview, from the AI-assisted coding round to team match.

Updated · Sources at the end

Meta changed its engineering interviews in 2025 and 2026. Its hiring FAQ now says many interviews include an AI assistant built into CoderPad, that candidates are expected to use it, with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or Meta's models to pick from, and that design interviews run in CoderPad with Mermaid diagrams and the same assistant. Candidates describe the AI-assisted coding round as one 60-minute problem in a small multi-file codebase, in three phases: fix a bug, build the feature, then make it faster. No outside AI tools are allowed.

The rest of the loop is Meta's long-standing one. Its own guide describes 4 to 6 interviews of 45 minutes: coding rounds where you solve about two problems in 40 minutes, without dynamic programming; a design round that is either system design or product architecture depending on the role; and a behavioural round on five areas. Passing the loop is not the offer: you then match with a team, which candidates in 2025 and 2026 report taking weeks to months.

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01

Who Meta hires

Meta hires software engineers from new graduates (E3) to staff and above (E6 and higher) across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Reality Labs and its AI teams, with separate product and infrastructure tracks and iOS and Android engineers. Hiring has been uneven: Meta cut about 5% of staff as low performers in early 2025 and about 8,000 roles, roughly 10%, in May 2026, with engineers and engineering managers among the hardest hit, and candidates reported freezes on some roles in June. Instagram's US staff have been in the office five days a week since February 2026.

The loop changes with the level and the track. These are the versions candidates report in 2025 and 2026.

  • Track · E3

    E3, new graduates

    Reported as three onsite rounds: one classic coding round, one AI-assisted coding round and one behavioural round. No design round.

  • Track · E4 and E5

    E4 and E5

    Four rounds: one classic coding, one AI-assisted coding, one design and one behavioural. Product roles get product architecture; infrastructure roles get system design, and some 2026 infrastructure loops had two system design rounds. At E5 the design and behavioural rounds are reported to decide between E5 and a down-level to E4.

  • Track · E6 and up

    E6 and above

    Two design rounds, one or two coding rounds, behavioural, and sometimes a retrospective on a past project. Candidates report the screen as an hour with an engineer, often a manager, which can down-level to E5.

  • Track · Mobile

    iOS and Android

    Meta's iOS screen mixes coding with Swift, Objective-C and iOS API questions, and common tasks such as fetching data and showing it in a list. Onsite, mobile candidates report one or two mobile design rounds: an infinite photo feed, a chat app with images, a travel booking flow, an app that sets the wallpaper from Facebook photos.

  • Track · London

    Meta London

    The loop is the same; team matching and pay are different. Read the Meta London guide for those.

02

What is the Meta interview process?

Meta says the process usually takes about 2 to 3 months: a recruiter conversation, an initial screen and a full loop. The stages below follow Meta's own guides; the online assessment, the AI round's format and the round mix by level come from candidates and are marked so.

01
Recruiter conversation
About 30 minutes

Level, track and timeline. Some roles start with a short prescreen form, Meta says. Ask which rounds your loop has, including the AI-assisted ones.

02
Online assessment
Reported: CodeSignal, 90 minutes, proctored

One problem built in four progressive stages, such as an in-memory database with expiry or cloud file storage.

Common since 2025, for some candidates
03
Initial screen
45 minutes with an engineer

Meta's guide: about 35 minutes for two coding problems on fundamentals such as trees and recursion, then your questions. Meta asks you to say if you have seen a problem before. iOS screens add iOS questions.

04
Onsite: classic coding
45 minutes

About two problems in 40 minutes, Meta says, without dynamic programming. The code is not run, so check it by hand; Meta counts catching your own bugs in your favour.

05
Onsite: AI-assisted coding
Reported: 60 minutes in CoderPad

One problem in a small multi-file codebase, with an AI assistant you are expected to use. The section below covers it.

06
Onsite: design
45 minutes, in CoderPad with Mermaid and the AI assistant

System design (distributed systems, scale, performance) or product architecture (APIs, usability), by role. The design section below covers both.

E4 and above
07
Onsite: behavioural
45 minutes

Five areas Meta names: resolving conflict, growing continuously, embracing ambiguity, driving results, communicating effectively. Meta suggests outlining two or three major projects in advance.

08
Team match, then offer
Calls with managers who have openings

Meta matches you with a team before the offer. Candidates in 2025 and 2026 report waits of two to three months, and some loops closed without a match; interview results are reported valid for 10 to 12 months.

03

Meta AI coding interview: the AI-assisted round

Meta's own FAQ and candidate reports

The Meta AI coding interview is a coding round where you work in CoderPad with an AI assistant built in, and Meta's hiring FAQ says candidates are expected to use it, choosing between Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Meta's models. Business Insider reported the change in July 2025 and candidates have met it since October 2025, from new graduates to E7. They describe one 60-minute problem in a small multi-file codebase, in three phases: fix a bug, implement the feature, optimise. Not finishing every phase is reported as fine.

  • What it grades: Candidates and prep sites report the same four areas as the classic coding round: problem solving, coding, verification and communication. A former interviewer wrote that Meta does not score prompt engineering, and that they failed candidates who leaned on the assistant as a crutch.
  • The problems: Reported problems include a maze solver with walls and one-way gates (the most reported), maximising unique characters across words, a card game, a friend recommender and an online food order assignment system. Prep sites estimate the pool at about 9 to 12.
  • Using the assistant well: Read the code and tests yourself first. Ask the assistant for specific help, such as how a class is used or a first version of a function, then read what it wrote and run the tests. Say out loud what you are checking.
  • Languages and practice: Meta lists Python, Java, TypeScript, C++, C#, Kotlin, Swift, Rust and Go, and offers a practice session in the same tool. Take it, and practise reading, debugging and building on code you did not write.
  • One rule that seems to conflict: Meta's full-loop guide still says not to use AI tools like ChatGPT, while its hiring FAQ says to use the built-in assistant. Both hold: the assistant inside CoderPad is authorised, and no outside AI tools are, in any round.

Since about May 2026 some candidates report loops with two AI-assisted coding rounds and an AI-assisted design round. Ask your recruiter which version you have.

The rest of the loop depends on your role. Pick it, or paste the posting, and Calibrd predicts the rounds and questions you are likely to get at Meta.

Predict my Meta questions →
04

Meta system design and product architecture interviews

Meta's own guide and candidate reports

Meta's design interview is 45 minutes and comes in two kinds, chosen by the role: system design, focused on distributed systems, scale, performance and efficiency, and product architecture, focused on API design, usability and utility. Prep sites report that infrastructure roles get system design and product roles get product architecture. Meta grades both on problem navigation, solution design, technical excellence and technical communication, and its FAQ says design interviews now run in CoderPad with Mermaid diagrams and the AI assistant.

  • Meta's own examples: System design: a URL shortener, Facebook chat, worldwide video distribution. Product architecture: a service or product API, a chat service or feed API, an email server. Its sample opener is how you would architect the front end of a messaging system.
  • What candidates were asked: Ticket booking like Ticketmaster and an online judge with a live leaderboard (six reports each, 2025 to 2026), news feed (five), file sync like Dropbox and chat (four each). Product architecture leans on the APIs and data model; system design on scale and failure.
  • Draw in Mermaid: Practise drawing a design in Mermaid Markdown before the day, since that replaces a whiteboard. Keep diagrams small: boxes, arrows, one label each.
  • At E6, two rounds: Staff candidates report two design rounds and sometimes a retrospective on a project they led. Prepare one system you built that you can defend in depth.
  • Mobile design: iOS and Android candidates report mobile design rounds: an infinite photo feed, a chat app with images, a travel booking flow. Meta's own Android example is an email client, which Meta says it would not ask. The mobile system design guide covers this round across companies.

Meta's guide lists Excalidraw as a resource; candidates in 2026 report drawing in CoderPad with Mermaid. Ask your recruiter which tool your round uses.

05

What Meta screens for

Meta's guides publish how each round is graded, which is more than most companies say:

  • Coding: communication, problem solving, coding and verification, the four areas in Meta's guide
  • Design: problem navigation, solution design, technical excellence and technical communication
  • Behavioural: conflict, growth, ambiguity, results and communication, told as specific stories
  • With AI: checking what the assistant writes; a former interviewer wrote they failed candidates who used it as a crutch
  • Saying when you have seen a problem before, which Meta's screen guide asks for
06

Meta interview questions

Candidate-reported themes

Meta's behavioural round asks about five areas it names, and its coding rounds lean on trees, string parsing and heaps more than anything else. The questions here follow Meta's guides and what candidates report.

Behavioural & motivation

  • Why Meta?Listening for: Specificity · Connection · Research
  • Tell me about a conflict with a colleague and how you resolved it.Listening for: A real conflict · How it was resolved · The relationship after
  • Tell me about a time you had to act with a lot of ambiguity.Listening for: What was unclear · How they moved · Result and learning
  • Tell me about the project with the biggest impact you drove.Listening for: Scope and your part · How they drove it · Impact in numbers
  • Tell me about feedback that changed how you work.Listening for: The feedback · What changed · Evidence it stuck

Technical

  • Practice: return the vertical order traversal of a binary tree, top to bottom and left to right within each column. Then do it without sorting the columns at the end.Trees, the most reported topic: Binary Tree Vertical Order Traversal, Right Side View, Lowest Common Ancestor and Diameter are among the most named problems in 2025 and 2026 reports, often as variants. A practice questionListening for: Right approach · No final sort · Verified by hand
  • Practice: evaluate a string like 3+2*2-8/4 with +, -, * and / and no brackets, in one pass.Parsing with a stack: Basic Calculator II, Valid Word Abbreviation and Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses are reported again and again. A practice questionListening for: Precedence handled · Edge cases · Complexity
  • Practice: in an unfamiliar codebase with a maze loader and failing tests, fix the loader bug, implement the shortest path through the maze, then speed it up for very large mazes, using an AI assistant.The AI-assisted round: a maze: The most reported AI-round problem is a maze solver in a small codebase, with walls and one-way gates, in three phases: fix a bug, build the solver, make it faster. A practice questionListening for: Gets oriented · Uses AI with checks · Moves through phases
  • Practice: design ticket sales for a stadium concert where 20,000 seats sell out in minutes.Design: ticketing and leaderboards: The most reported design prompts in 2025 and 2026 are ticket booking like Ticketmaster and an online judge with a live leaderboard, then news feed, file sync and chat. A practice questionListening for: Requirements first · Holding seats safely · Surviving the rush

These are the reported themes, and your loop is role-specific. Paste the actual posting and Calibrd predicts the questions for that exact role and level. How the questions are predicted →

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07

Pay

E3$186K total a year (base $146K)
E4$300K total a year (base $185K)
E5$457K total a year (base $224K)
E6$778K total a year (base $273K)

Levels.fyi figures for Meta software engineers in the United States, from 13,881 submissions, read on 13 October 2026; E7 reaches about $1.8M. Meta's stock vests evenly over four years, quarterly, and refresher grants were reported cut by about 10% in 2025. Our big tech RSU guide covers what to ask about a grant.

08

How to prepare for a Meta interview

  1. Ask your recruiter which rounds your loop has, including how many are AI-assisted, and whether your design round is system design or product architecture.
  2. Take Meta's practice session in CoderPad and practise building on code you did not write, with an AI assistant you check.
  3. Practise two medium problems in 40 minutes on trees, string parsing and heaps, checking the code by hand without running it.
  4. Skip dynamic programming for the classic rounds, as Meta's guide says, but expect variants of common problems.
  5. Practise one design in Mermaid: a ticketing system or a live leaderboard, with the APIs and data model for product architecture.
  6. Write one story for each of Meta's five behavioural areas, and outline two or three major projects in depth.
  7. Expect team matching after the loop and keep other processes going while it runs.

This guide covers Meta's software engineering hiring in the US, including iOS and Android. Meta London has its own guide for team matching and pay there. For management and leadership roles the loop is similar but the bar shifts to people, delivery and strategy, so pair it with the leadership interview prep hub. The bar for your exact role comes from the role-by-role guides, and the prep that actually transfers is spoken, so run a mock interview before the real one.

Also interviewing at Uber, DoorDash or Netflix? Their guides follow the same format, from the first screen to the offer.

Knowing the questions isn’t the same as answering them out loud. Run a Meta mock: spoken answers, coached on the spot. Your first mock is free.

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09

FAQ & sources

What is Meta's interview process?

Meta says the process usually takes about 2 to 3 months: a recruiter conversation, an initial screen and a full loop. The stages, in order: Recruiter conversation; Online assessment; Initial screen; Onsite: classic coding; Onsite: AI-assisted coding; Onsite: design; Onsite: behavioural; Team match, then offer.

What does Meta look for in candidates?

Meta's guides publish how each round is graded, which is more than most companies say: Coding; Design; Behavioural; With AI.

What questions does Meta ask in interviews?

Meta's behavioural round asks about five areas it names, and its coding rounds lean on trees, string parsing and heaps more than anything else. Technical themes: Trees, the most reported topic; Parsing with a stack; The AI-assisted round: a maze; Design: ticketing and leaderboards.

What is the Meta AI coding interview?

The Meta AI coding interview is a coding round where you work in CoderPad with an AI assistant built in, and Meta's hiring FAQ says candidates are expected to use it, choosing between Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and Meta's models. Business Insider reported the change in July 2025 and candidates have met it since October 2025, from new graduates to E7. Covered on this page: What it grades; The problems; Using the assistant well; Languages and practice; One rule that seems to conflict.

What is the difference between Meta's system design and product architecture interviews?

Meta's design interview is 45 minutes and comes in two kinds, chosen by the role: system design, focused on distributed systems, scale, performance and efficiency, and product architecture, focused on API design, usability and utility. Prep sites report that infrastructure roles get system design and product roles get product architecture. Covered on this page: Meta's own examples; What candidates were asked; Draw in Mermaid; At E6, two rounds; Mobile design.

How do I prepare for a Meta interview?

Ask your recruiter which rounds your loop has, including how many are AI-assisted, and whether your design round is system design or product architecture. Take Meta's practice session in CoderPad and practise building on code you did not write, with an AI assistant you check.

Interview processes change. This reflects widely-reported and sourced conditions as of 2026 — confirm specifics with your recruiter, and treat it as a map rather than a guarantee.

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