I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Meta (Londres, Inglaterra) in Aug 2025
Interview
Disappointing Experience – Strong Performance but No Offer Despite Positive Feedback
I recently interviewed for a Network Production Engineer position at Meta (London). The process included a screening round where I successfully solved both coding problems:
• Problem 1: Battleship problem.
• Problem 2: Reading a file and finding repeated occurrences of words, along with explaining time and space complexity.
The first technical round covered networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, basic network topology, H-S-R-S-H communication, packet drop analysis, TCP flow control, and congestion control). I performed well in both rounds and received positive feedback from the interviewers.
However, five days later, I received a rejection email, stating they were “moving forward with other candidates.” Seeing the same position reposted on LinkedIn shortly afterward was frustrating and disheartening.
When I asked one interviewer about Meta’s work-life balance, his response felt dismissive and unprofessional, which added to the negative impression.
Advice to Management:
Please provide constructive feedback to candidates and maintain professionalism during all interactions. Transparency in the hiring process would improve candidate experience significantly.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Problem 1: Battleship problem.
• Problem 2: Reading a file and finding repeated occurrences of words, along with explaining time and space complexity.
The first technical round covered networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, basic network topology, H-S-R-S-H communication, packet drop analysis, TCP flow control, and congestion control). I performed well in both rounds and received positive feedback from the interviewers.
Full loop interview with 3 parts: Networking, SWE, Behavioural. Each 60 minutes. Networking interview: Asked about TCP, BGP, IP protocols, also about ARP protocol and Ethernet. SWE was a classic Meta SWE interview.
The process began with an online assessment covering networking, Linux, and coding fundamentals—15 MCQs in 16 minutes. Topics included TCP/IP, BGP, Python, troubleshooting, etc.
After passing, I moved on to two 45-minute technical interviews:
Coding Round: Focused on file handling, data structures, Big-O notation, and common algorithms.
Networking Round: Scenario-based, covered optical networking, switching/routing, and L0/L1 troubleshooting.
Pros:
Challenging but fair technical questions.
Interviewers were professional and respectful.
Process was well-organized and moved quickly.
Cons:
No detailed feedback post-interview.
Some questions were very Meta-specific with little public prep material.
Overall:
Great opportunity to demonstrate both software and deep networking skills. Would recommend preparing in-depth for both domains—especially optical layer concepts.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Walk me through how you'd troubleshoot a server that's not reachable.
What happens when you type a URL in a browser?
How does BGP work and when would you prefer it over OSPF?
Describe a time you troubleshooted a complex network issue.
Explain how TCP handshake works.
What's the difference between TCP and UDP?
How do you find a memory leak in a Python script?
What are common causes of high CPU usage on a Linux server?
Explain optical networking and the challenges at Layer 0/1.
How does DNS resolution work behind the scenes?