Meta E6 ML-SWE / Downlevel

Coding Round 1

This round focused on algorithmic problem-solving. I was asked:

1. The "K Closest Points to Origin" problem. I had to find the K points closest to the origin (0,0) from a given set of points.
2. A variant of the "Subarray Sum Equals K" problem. Beyond just finding if a sum exists, I also had to return the length of the largest sub-sequence that sums to K.

Coding Round 2

The second coding round also tested my data structure and algorithm skills:

1. The "Kth Largest Element in an Array" problem, with a variant where I needed to return the index of the element instead of the element's value itself.
2. A unique, non-LeetCode problem. I was tasked with designing a system to issue tokens from a 16-bit integer space. The core constraint was that once a token is returned, the smallest available token should be re-issued next. I also needed to consider and handle various edge cases.

System Design Round

This round involved two significant system design challenges:

1. Designing the entire end-to-end system for Instagram's video feed.
2. Designing the feed ranking system for Facebook, with a specific emphasis on the second-stage ranker component.

Behavioral Round

The behavioral interview covered common topics such as conflict resolution, handling situations requiring pivoting, and other leadership principles.

Outcome

After completing all rounds, I received feedback that I was downleveled to an E5 offer. However, as I had other strong opportunities in both tech and finance, I decided to pass on the offer from Meta.