Getting a job at Facebook is one of the most sought after positions for many business career hopefuls. If you land an interview, your next big step is preparing for the process ahead. Gaining some insight into the Facebook interview process can be a huge help as you start to prep for the big day.
Preparing for your interview will help you walk in feeling confident and leave knowing you’re one of the top candidates. Since many people have already been through the process, we’ve put together some insights to get you started.
What to Expect During the Facebook Interview Process
The Facebook interview process is divided into two unique stages. Here’s what you need to know about them.
Stage 1: Screen
Stage one of your interview process is a phone screen with a Facebook engineer. During this phase, they want to learn more about who you are and your career aspirations.
First, you’ll interview with a Facebook engineer and be asked some generalized coding questions. They will give you a chance to talk about your career aspirations and then you can ask your questions during the last five minutes of the initial screening call.
This is usually only a thirty-minute call. So, sit down and get prepared as much as possible to showcase your skills.
Preparing for Stage 1
To get prepared, you’ll want to practice answering coding questions. You can use tons of online websites to work with practice questions, such as Careercup and Topcoder.
In addition to answering coding questions, you’ll want to be able to write code in a text editor, by hand, and under timed tests.
Lastly, have some answers prepared about your career aspirations and where you’d like to grow while at Facebook. You’ll also want to prepare one or two knock-out questions to ask your interviewer at the end.
Stage 2: On-site Facebook Interview
Your on-site interview will be much more intense than the phone screen. It includes your coding and design interview, a series of behavioral questions, and leaves room for you to ask your own questions.
Here’s what you need to know about preparing for Stage two.
Preparing for Stage 2
You’ll have four to five separate interviews throughout the day, with each set-up to get to know different aspects of your experience. But there are three key components to the Facebook on-site portion.
- Coding Interview – 45 minutes long and consists of more difficult coding questions compared to the phone screen.
- Design Interview- 45 minutes long and tests your ability to solve non-trivial engineering design questions. This will either be about system design or product design, depending on your position.
- Behavioral Interview – More like a structured interview, they want to know how you interact with other co-workers and your work style.
Generally, you’ll go to lunch with another member of the team to split up the day. That’s a great time to have some additional questions about the job and experience working at the company.
For both the coding and design interviews, Facebook offers several resources to help engineers prepare for the type of questions asked. Study these questions as often as possible ahead of your interview.
Other than prepping, the best thing you can do is bring your full self to the table and show them what you’re made of.