Rejected at Meta: Seeking Advice for Improvement
Hi everyone,
I’m feeling pretty down because I didn’t pass the first interview round at Meta, I applied for SWE AI/ML. I also learned (the hard way) about the cool-off period, which I wasn’t aware of beforehand.
As some context, I’m a Machine Learning Engineer (MLE) with 3+ years of experience and a math background. I had never practiced LeetCode before Meta reached out to me, so I only had about a month to prepare. In that time, I managed to solve 100+ problems. Unfortunately, during the interview, I was only able to fully solve 1 of the 2 questions due to time constraints.
One big lesson I learned: track how long it takes you to solve problems during your practice. Ideally, aim to solve medium/hard problems in under 20 minutes each.
This was my first time going through such a process, and I’m still very excited about SWE Machine Learning roles. I’d love to hear your advice on a few things:
- From a professional standpoint, what should I focus on to become a stronger candidate for Meta next year?
- Which other companies have a similar level of difficulty and focus in Machine Learning Engineering?
- Should I take a few months to study and prepare before applying to other companies, or should I apply now and prepare along the way? I want to avoid another cool-off period and be as prepared as possible.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all in advance!