I applied through a recruiter. The process took 4 weeks. I interviewed at Meta
Interview
Recruiter reached out over Linkedin. One video interview followed by on site final interviews at Menlo Park.
The logistics of it all went smoothly but there were two major negative points for me:
First, the job title is very misleading. This role is a data analyst with product experience and SQL skills, nothing more technical than that. They are open about this after you've actually started the process, but they still call it data scientist because it's a more attractive title and gets more applicants.
But more importantly, during my final round, I literally couldn't understand two of my interviewers due to their broken English and thick accents. Spent a lot of my time and their time to throw it all away over something like this.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Mostly product analysis cases with some light data processing, nothing data science related
Tough interview overall—definitely not what I expected. The technical rounds were intense, particularly when they had me design an A/B test for the News Feed ranking algorithm. I had to discuss metrics and sample sizes in detail. Lucky for me, the time I spent on PracHub right before the interview helped me nail that deep-dive question as it mirrored what I practiced. The behavioral questions felt standard but were still challenging. After a whirlwind process, they extended an offer, which I happily accepted.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Design an A/B test to evaluate a new ranking algorithm for the Facebook News Feed. Walk through metric selection (engagement, time-spent, MSI, well-being), unit of randomization given network effects between friends, sample size and power calculations, how you'd detect novelty effects vs. true lift, and how you'd handle a guardrail metric regressing while the primary metric is up.
Total 7 rounds: first round for resume screening, second for technical screening, then for on-site virtual with 4 interviews back to back, then hiring manager round after team matching and then salary negotiation with HR
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Meta’s evaluation rubrics focus heavily on "Product Thinking over Fancy Math". Interviewers want to see if you can operate like a product owner with an analytical mindset, navigating messy scenarios affecting billions of users
The Interview Process is very structured -
First Tech Screening round - 45 mins (usually can extend a bit depending on the interviewer)
- 2 SQL Questions ( Medium to Hard ) - based on Joins
Full Loop - 4 rounds 45 mins each.
- SQL
- Behavioral
- Analytical Execution - stats & prob, A/B testing, case study
- Analytical Reasoning - Case study
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Questions on Bayes Theorem, Probability distribution, etc.
