Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions

We’ve created this quick guide to help you improve your chances of answering Facebook / Meta behavioral interview questions. We’ll explain what behavioral questions are, the different categories, and how to answer them.

Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions

Although Facebook/ Meta behavioral interview questions don’t usually seem difficult compared to technical questions, the interviewer uses these questions to determine if you’re a good fit for the company. In other words, you need to prepare for these inquiries to stand out from the competition.

So what can you expect in this part of the interview process? Let’s begin.

What Are Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions?

Part of Facebook’s hiring process is asking behavioral questions based on past experiences. These questions focus on soft skills like teamwork, leadership, communication, etc.

Usually, the interviewer asks behavioral questions at every step of the interview process. Facebook’s behavioral questions appear during the initial phone screening or the onsite interview.

Sometimes, interviewers pose Facebook interview behavioral questions as icebreakers if you’re applying for a technical role. The frequency of these questions usually varies.

You need to be prepared for them, especially when applying for leadership roles. Your answers will help the interviewer determine your growth, self-awareness, and willingness to be a team player. You should also expect questions about your interests, strengths, and weaknesses.

Categories of Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions

Now that you know what Facebook interview behavioral questions are, let's find out the different categories they fall into and some sample questions to help you prepare. The questions in this article are common when you’re applying for software engineer, product designer, program manager, and product manager roles.

Categories of Facebook behavioral interview questions include:

  • Teamwork
  • General
  • Leadership
  • Role Specific

Below, we broke the various categories into questions to make them easier to understand. Each class assesses a quality Facebook looks out for in candidates.

For example, managerial positions tend to have more Facebook leadership interview questions. We’ll start with the general questions that apply to every job role.

General Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions

The first set of questions to expect is the general behavioral questions. When an interviewer asks these questions, they’re looking to gain an overall view of your experience.

So, for example, you’ll notice that Facebook is curious about your motivations, resume, and how you can handle difficult situations. Facebook is also interested in why you want to work for them.

Your answers should demonstrate how your goals align with the company’s core values. Express your willingness to take risks, a bias for action, and your lessons from past mistakes.

Below are some of the top general behavioral interview questions to note.

  • Why Facebook?
  • Why did you choose this position?
  • Tell me about your past experiences
  • Tell me about a time you failed and the lessons you learned from it
  • What would others say about you?
  • Tell me about a past conflict you had to handle
  • Tell me about your interests and top skills
  • What do you consider the highest achievement of your career?

Teamwork Facebook Interview Behavioral Questions

Most of the time, employees at Facebook work in cross-functional teams, so you need to have excellent communication skills. You should also be able to work efficiently in a group and build trust and relationships with your team.

At this point of the behavioral interview, the interviewer wants you to share stories relating to your past experiences. Your answer should demonstrate your collaboration and partnership skills.

Some typical teamwork behavioral questions to practice before your interview include:

  • Tell me about when you got constructive feedback?
  • Tell me about a period you had to resolve conflict in your team
  • How do you handle disagreements with your teammates?
  • Tell me about a period you had to work with cross-functional teams and what your role was

Leadership Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions

Facebook is always looking for people who can motivate teams and collaborate. These Facebook leadership interview questions evaluate your ability to resolve problems, build relationships and drive alignment. Again, most of the roles at Facebook involve working with team members and leading when necessary.

Therefore, your answers should show that you have empathy and drive. If you’re interviewing for a managerial role, reflect on how you earn trust and take ownership of your answers. You also need to portray your progress and how you’ve grown from past experiences.

Some common Facebook leadership behavioral interview questions include:

  • Tell me about a time you were the leader of a team
  • Tell me about when you had to step up and take responsibility for your team
  • Who would you consider your worst boss, and why were they bad?

Role-Specific Behavioral Questions

The final category of behavioral questions is usually specific to the role you’re applying for. For example, if you’re applying for a product design role, the question could be, ‘what made you consider a career in design?’

While you should expect a combination of these categories during the interview, the following questions apply when applying to a tech role:

  • Tell me about your favorite project and the challenges you faced while working on them
  • Tell me about a previous product you led from its idea stage to the launching stage (product managers)
  • Tell me about when you struggled with a software project (software engineers)
  • Tell me about one of the best analytic projects you’ve worked on (data science)
  • What motivated you into a career in design (Product design)
  • How do you influence products? (Product manager)

How To Answer Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions – STAR Technique

Now that you know some of the common questions to expect in Facebook behavioral interviews, you’re probably clueless about how to answer them. A common technique that effectively answers the question is the STAR approach.

STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. The STAR method of answering behavioral questions is quite popular because it’s pretty easy to remember. With the STAR technique, you can easily explain a past scenario and describe your reaction and the results of your actions.

Below is a breakdown of how the STAR method works.

  • Situation – Outline the position you were in briefly. Ensure you limit this part of the answer to just a few sentences. However, it should have enough information to explain what happened clearly.
  • Task – Your next step is outlining the task you have based on the situation. Again, this part should just be limited to one or two sentences.
  • Action – Now, explain the steps you took to complete the task and deal with the situation. This part is what the interviewer is looking to hear. Ensure you clearly state your action and how it solved the problem.
  • Result – The last part features the result of your actions. This is the goal of Facebook behavioral interview questions. How did your effort help to solve the problem and achieve the task? If you can, include statistics and other impressive details that portray how you achieved these results.

Sample STAR Responses to Facebook Interview Behavioral Questions

Below are Facebook behavioral interview questions and answers that follow the STAR technique.

Question 1: Tell me about a period you overcame a challenge

  • Situation – Advertising revenue was beginning to fall off, and most long-term advertisers were no longer renewing contracts.
  • Task – The goal was to generate new ideas, incentives, and materials that would result in a 15% increase in advertisers.
  • Action – I designed a promotional packet to go with the rate sheet and compared it with the benefits of other ad media in the industry. I also set up a training session for the account executives in my company with a School of Business Administration professor who taught the executives competitive selling strategies.
  • Result – We signed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five more for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by 20% the following year.

Question 2: Tell me about a time you performed well under pressure

  • Situation: My co-worker had an emergency at my previous job and needed to take time off work for a few weeks. However, he left a vital project unfinished and without a manager.
  • Task: My supervisor asked me to take on the project without a deadline extension. I had only days to complete a project that should have taken weeks.
  • Action: I requested a reduction of my weekly assignment, which my supervisor granted. This allotted me more time to work on this project. I was also able to delegate some of my weekly tasks to some teammates.
  • Result: With more time on my hand, I could finish the project accurately and in record time. My supervisor appreciated my drive and awarded me more projects, alongside a pay raise and promotion.

Tips on Acing Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions

Here are a few tips for acing Facebook behavioral interview questions:

  • Prepare an introduction covering education, work experience, interests, and past projects
  • Practice based on the job description
  • Focus on your strengths
  • Put a positive spin on setbacks
  • Use action words

Final Thoughts

Like every other tech company, Facebook continually updates its behavioral interview questions. Therefore, expect anything. The best way to prepare for Facebook behavioral interview questions is to study the different categories and learn how to use the STAR technique.