Meta E4 sys design
Hi, I had a sys design interview for E4 recently. I feel like I didn't do well, as I didn't display enough signals that I know stuff. Specifically, I created some high level design of the system (without mentioning architecture stuff, only talking about the services of the system). Then, the interviewer wanted me to focus on only 1 subsystem, that was mainly based on a distributed MQ and discussed some internal stuff. The other components entailed juicy stuff like replication or CDNs, but didn't have the chance to go over me. Also, I think because I interviewed for E4, the interviewer didn't let me drive the conversation and paused me at times. Also, I feel like I didn't do well on that internal stuff we discussed. I presented 2 solutions and I couldn't convey well which one to use on the system (but I presented the trade offs pretty well). Generally, I feel like I really bombed this interview. I need now to have the rest of the interviews (2 coding + beh), but I am not really in the mood and I have some (lower paying) alternatives to Meta. Should I try my best in those interviews to get the job or are my chances low and I shouldn't bother to try hard? Thanks!
How did you prepare for the system design interview?
Read Alex Xu's SD interview vol 1 and some parts from vol 2, most of Martin Kleppman's Designing data intensive applications. Also, went through the frequent SD questions asked at Meta on some leetcode forum post. Most of them have solutions on YouTube. I loved the videos by System Design Fight Club. This is a must. The question I got was part of this list.
Btw I followed SDFC design and failed. So we’ll see.
For sure finish the interview, do the right thing. Corny, but you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take
Makes sense
Is Meta hiring E4 right now? They told me they only hire seniors.
you prepped more than me
A failed interview is a training opportunity for new positions. You cannot know the result. In my experience, I felt like the onsite went pretty much well but I couldnt get the job, in some cases it went very bad and even I said "I dont know" to the questions multiple times they offered me. In FAANG, the hiring bar is high and competitive. Even if it is a fail, I would give my best shot for the remaining ones.
It can go both ways. Thanks for the insight!