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Role: Software Engineer, Product

College: Not Specified

Interview Date: April 2024

Interview Type: Full-Time

Result: Not moving forward (Rejected after phone screen)

Difficulty: Medium

Rounds: 1 (Phone Screen)

Topics Asked: Data Structures, Algorithms (Easy and Medium LeetCode problems)

Experience:

This candidate interviewed for a Software Engineer Product role at Meta.

The first technical phone screen was 45 minutes long, with 5 minutes for introductory talk and then straight to coding questions.

The candidate was asked one easy and one medium LeetCode-style question. They prepared using NeetCode and LeetCode Premium.

The interviewer was described as nice, providing example inputs, assistance, and hints. The candidate solved both questions optimally.

Despite solving both problems correctly and optimally, the candidate did not move forward to the on-site rounds.

A friend at Meta pulled the file and provided feedback: the candidate received "HORRIBLE feedback." The candidate believes the issue was nervousness, leading to being "tongue-tied a little when I was vocalizing my thoughts" and sounding like a "noob" at times.

The key takeaway and tip from this experience is to practice vocalizing and explaining thoughts clearly while solving LeetCode problems, as this demonstrates understanding and guides the interviewer.