Meta interview
- Result
- Rejected
- Posted
- 25 Oct 2025
Summary
I interviewed with Meta, navigating through a phone screen and two onsite coding rounds, including a custom BFS problem, and culminating in a system design discussion about an online chess game.
How it went
My interview journey with Meta began with a phone screen, where I was presented with LC 408 (Valid Word Abbreviation) and LC 791 (Custom Sort String). The onsite rounds followed. In Coding Round 1, I tackled LC 1650 (Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree III), where the interviewer specifically delved into the rationale behind the optimal space-efficient solution, and LC 1249 (Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses). Coding Round 2 involved a variation of LC 8 (String to Integer (atoi)) and a challenging custom problem: '0-1-2 BFS on a Grid' to find the minimum cost path. I initially approached it with BFS and a heap, but the interviewer pressed for a solution without a heap, which I couldn't provide within the time limit. The final round was a System Design interview, where I was asked to design a 1v1 online chess game along with a leaderboard.
Questions asked (7)
- 01
Valid Word Abbreviation
Data Structures & Algorithms · Medium
Open the problemI was asked to solve LeetCode 408: Valid Word Abbreviation.
- 02
Custom Sort String
Data Structures & Algorithms · Medium
Open the problemI was asked to solve LeetCode 791: Custom Sort String.
- 03
Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree III
Data Structures & Algorithms · Medium
Open the problemI was asked to solve LeetCode 1650: Lowest Common Ancestor of a Binary Tree III. The interviewer specifically wanted to understand why the optimal solution, which uses no extra space, works.
- 04
Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses
Data Structures & Algorithms · Medium
Open the problemI was asked to solve LeetCode 1249: Minimum Remove to Make Valid Parentheses.
- 05
String to Integer (atoi) - Variation
Data Structures & Algorithms · Medium
Open the problemI encountered a variation of LeetCode 8: String to Integer (atoi).
- 06
Minimum Cost Path in 0-1-2 Grid
Data Structures & Algorithms
You are given an m × n grid. Each cell contains an integer value from {0, 1, 2} representing the cost to enter that cell. You can move up, down, left, or right. Your task is to find the minimum cost required to move from the top-left cell (0, 0) to the bottom-right cell (m-1, n-1). [this is not min of total sum of path]
Example 1:
grid = [ [0, 0, 2], [0, 1, 1], [1, 2, 1] ]Output: 1
Example 2:
grid = [ [0, 0, 2], [0, 2, 2], [2, 2, 0] ]Output: 2
- 07
Design Online Chess Game with Leaderboard
System Design
Design an online 1 vs 1 chess game along with a leaderboard system.