Start free
All Meta rounds

Meta · Software engineer · E4/E5

System Design / Product Architecture ('Ninja')

Spoken design on a collaborative diagram

What they actually ask

The question shapes this round uses. Larpy does not read these out. It builds each one from your own resume, because the generic version is the one you have already rehearsed.

  • “Design Instagram (media upload, storage, and feed).”
  • “Design the Facebook News Feed (generation, ranking, fan-out).”
  • “Design Facebook Messenger / a real-time chat system.”
  • “Design a notification / push fan-out system at scale.”
  • “Design a typeahead / search autocomplete.”
  • “Design a nearby-friends proximity (geo) service.”
  • “Design a rate limiter.”
  • “Design the API and client-server flow for a feature like Instagram Stories.”

What this round is judged on

  • Requirements & scoping · functional and non-functional, scale estimates
  • High-level architecture · coherent end-to-end design
  • Deep dive & data modeling · component detail and schema
  • Tradeoffs & scalability · justify choices, handle bottlenecks and failure
  • Drive (E5) · senior ownership and direction

Where this round sits

Meta’s published process. Lime marks the stage this round runs.

  1. 01
    Recruiter Screen
  2. 02
    Technical Phone Screen
  3. 03
    Onsite 'Full Loop'this round
  4. 04
    Team Matching
  5. 05
    Hiring Committee & Offer
What happens in each stage›
Recruiter Screen
~30 min non-technical call: motivation, background, timeline, and level calibration (E4 vs E5).
Technical Phone Screen
45 min live coding in a shared editor (CoderPad), typically 1-2 problems. Gate to the onsite.
Onsite 'Full Loop'
Four scored 45-min rounds: two coding, one system design or product architecture ('Ninja'), one behavioral ('Jedi').
Team Matching
After a hire decision; conversations with teams. Can affect final level and offer conversion, not scored as a competency.
Hiring Committee & Offer
Committee reviews packet, confirms level (E4 vs E5, with down-leveling common), and extends offer.

Sources

Built from what Meta publishes about its own process and from real interview data. No leaked question lists. The questions you get are generated against your own resume, so they are not from anyone else's interview.

Sources last checked . Hiring loops change, so this date is the honest limit on everything above.

Other Meta rounds