Timeline
September 26: Recruiter contacted me
October 4: Submitted technical + behavioral online assessment
October 7: Received final interview invitation.
November 4: Completed final interview process.
OA
For the technical, the first two felt like easies, third was an easier medium, pretty sure fourth was a medium but definitely a bit trickier. Passed all known test cases for all questions with allotted time limit. Make sure to use their 6 core values during the behavioral. I’ve heard of people getting rejected despite getting 4/4 on the technical and I feel like it’s because the behavioral is completely marginalized. Can’t imagine they’d take the time to send it if it wasn’t a part of their decision making process.
Preparation
Questions tagged with “google” on Leetcode 150 and Leetcode Premium in the past 30 days.
The Interview Process
Round 1：Coding
Q1: Given an array nums, find the length of the longest subarray with the maximum value after the bitwise AND operation.
When two numbers are subjected to the bitwise AND operation, the result is either unchanged or smaller than the original two numbers. When the two numbers are different, the result becomes smaller. Therefore, the key to solving this problem lies in utilizing this characteristic. We can conclude that the maximum value of the subarray after the bitwise AND operation equals the maximum element of the array.
Thus, this problem can be transformed into: finding the longest subsequence containing only the largest elements of the array, which is simpler. I provide a detailed explanation of the solution from start to finish, including clarification of details, test cases, and ultimately arriving at a solution optimized for both space and time complexity.
Q2: Diameter of a Binary Tree
Use DFS (Depth-First Search) to calculate the depth of all nodes in the left and right subtrees. If the node is None, it indicates that the length of this segment is 0. If the node is not None, continue searching the subtree. When reaching the bottom level, return values starting from 0 and incrementing by 1 for each level up. Update the diameter each time a value is returned.
Round 2：Behavioral
The questions I was asked:
Q1: Tell me about a past challenge or conflict you handled?
Q2: Tell me about the greatest accomplishment of your career?
Q3: Tell me about what you want to do in the future?
Q4: Walk me through your resume
I thoroughly enjoyed this interview. The interviewer left a positive impression overall, maintaining a smile throughout. He nodded in agreement with all my answers. I incorporated as many elements as possible from the six core values. My final answer was a bit shaky because I hadn’t prepared sufficiently, but I believe I had thought it through, as he didn’t provide any negative feedback. The subsequent Q&A session also went smoothly.
As I mentioned at the beginning, in recent years, the BQ interview has been the most easily overlooked yet not straightforward stage for international students applying for data roles at tech giants. Its importance is on par with coding and SD interviews. Meta’s behavioral interview questions are not standardized, and the interviewer can ask you any questions they wish.
In summary, Meta’s BQ interview primarily assesses the following five areas: Resolving Conflict, Growing Continuously, Embracing Ambiguity, Driving Results, and Communicating Effectively.
Round 3：Coding
Q1: Sum of two numbers
Create a hash table Map map = new HashMap<>(), first calculate the difference, then search for the difference in the result list. If it does not exist, store it; if it exists, output it.
Q2: Longest consecutive sequence
First, create a set, then add the elements to the set and iterate through it. If the set does not contain the element preceding the current element, start counting from that element. If the element following the current element exists, move the pointer forward, increment the count, and record the maximum value in the loop.
## Interview Summary & Suggestions
I believe I have a chance of receiving an offer, but no one can say for sure about Meta. I also reached out to recruiters through campus events. However, I’m not sure if it will be useful since I’ve already made it to the final round. My best advice is to focus on the problems marked as “Meta” on Leetcode Premium, as this was very helpful for me—I recognized all four problem variations during the interview. Also, keep in mind Meta’s six core values. If you encounter any difficulties or have any questions while preparing for the interview, feel free to come here for answers!