Meta Onsite | E5 [Reject]

Round 1: Phone Screen

Questions:

1. Basic calculator: Basic Calculator II
   This was an easier version with only addition and multiplication. Solved it with constant space.

2. Wordbreak: Word Break
   I used bottom up DP to solve this.

Round 2: Onsite

Questions:

1. System Design: Design Facebook messenger. There'd only be messages between individuals, no groups.
   Was able to write the API and design and a few deep dives, but stumbled on a few things. Think this is why I didn’t get an offer.

2. Behavioral Questions: Standard behavioral questions. Only I remember are:

   • A time you made a mistake
   • Your favorite project
   • Worst co-worker you’ve worked with
     Could have prepared better for this.

3. Coding 1:

   • Max sum path: Binary Tree Maximum Path Sum
     Solved it recursively.
   • Maximum swap: Maximum Swap
     Solved it with n space. I used Java for this question which I feel like was a bad idea. Getting syntax right under pressure was harder than I would have thought.

4. Coding 2:

   • Maximum number of edges between two nodes in a binary search tree: Specific question not provided.
     Solved recursively.
   • Pick random citizen of a city: Random Pick with Weight
     Solved with n space and used binary search to select the proper city. He asked a follow-up question about using an int rather than a long.