✅ Top Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions | Facebook Jedi Interview Round 🔥

The Interview Sage
The Interview Sage
Published in
15 min readAug 14, 2021
Top Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions

Have you ever wondered which questions do usually come in Behavioral Interviews at Facebook?

Before we discuss the top questions, let us understand what the Behavioral Interview Round is.

  1. Behavioral Interview Round is also known as the Jedi Interview round at Facebook.
  2. It is about you and your history, your résumé, and your motivation.
  3. The purpose of this interview is to assess whether the candidate will thrive in Facebook’s peer-to-peer, minimal process, and unstructured engineering organization.

For Software Engineers, the behavioral interview is actually part behavioral and part coding. The coding part is a shorter version of the usual coding interviews and is included to supplement the other two coding interviews to get an additional coding signal.

Tips & Tricks to effectively prepare for Behavioral Interviews

Tips & Tricks to effectively prepare for Behavioral Interviews
Tips & Tricks to effectively prepare for Behavioral Interviews
  1. Know yourself! Take the time to review your résumé, as the interviewer will almost certainly ask about key events in your work history.
  2. Have concrete examples or anecdotes to support each of the questions.
  3. Familiarize yourself with Facebook’s mission statement and its five core values:
    — Be Bold,
    — Focus on Impact,
    — Move Fast,
    — Be Open, and
    — Build Social Value.
  4. Be yourself! Be open and honest about your successes and failures.
  5. Be humble and focus on teamwork, leadership, and mentorship qualities.

Now let us review the top behavioral questions which are usually asked at Facebook.

Part 1

Part 2

Question 1: Tell Me About A Time You Had To Handle Pressure

Tell Me About A Time You Had To Handle Pressure
Tell Me About A Time You Had To Handle Pressure

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, Sample Answer (Example), and a Special Case of “Never Worked Under Pressure”.

Handling work pressure and stressful situations is a crucial part of everyone’s career journey. Interviewers often ask candidates to tell about a time they had to handle pressure at their workplace.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell Me About A Time You Had To Handle Pressure”

Everyone faces stressful situations and comes under pressure once in a while at their jobs. Through this question, the interviewer’s goal is to assess whether you can perform in challenging situations or unstructured environments and distinguish between the urgent and the important.

They are trying to understand if you can stay calm, exercise judgment, and act responsibly in such unexpected high-pressure scenarios. They are also evaluating your:

  • Communication,
  • Time management,
  • Problem-solving, and
  • Decision-making skills.

Employers want to know if you can:

  • Handle competing priorities,
  • Shift gears when needed, and
  • Understand the implications of missing deadlines.

They are looking to see if your coworkers can rely on you to get the work done.

Question 2: Tell Me About A Time You Worked With A Difficult Person

Tell Me About A Time You Worked With A Difficult Person
Tell Me About A Time You Worked With A Difficult Person

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, Sample Answer (Example), and a Special Case of “Never worked with a difficult person”.

“Tell me about a time you worked with a difficult person” is one of the most frequent questions asked in behavioral interviews. Interviewers sometimes phrase this question as “Tell me about a time you worked with someone challenging”.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell Me About A Time You Worked With A Difficult Person”

Once in a while, in every workplace, you will face a situation where you have to work with a colleague who has a difficult personality. By asking this question, the interviewer’s goal is to assess how you work in difficult situations or unstructured environments.

They are trying to judge your:

  • Maturity level,
  • Communication skills, and
  • Willingness to speak up irrespective of your coworkers’ seniority.

They are also evaluating whether you are empathetic and respectful towards your colleagues while understanding your coworker’s motivations and viewpoints behind the conflict.

A crucial element to this question is that the interviewer is looking for a positive resolution of the conflict that benefits the company and not just an individual. They are trying to see if you are flexible to compromise and open to learning from challenging experiences.

Question 3: Tell Me About A Time When The Project Was Ambiguous

Tell Me About A Time When The Project Was Ambiguous
Tell Me About A Time When The Project Was Ambiguous

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, Sample Answer (Example), and a Special Case of “Never Worked On Ambiguous Projects”.

“Tell me about a time when the project was ambiguous” is one of the tough questions asked in the behavioral interview.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell Me About A Time When The Project Was Ambiguous”

In everyone’s career journey, they face a challenging situation where they need to work on a task that is ambiguous, uncertain, and does not have a clear path forward. By this question, the interviewer’s goal is not to trick you but to assess how well you can adapt and perform in challenging situations and unstructured environments.

They are trying to understand your ability to be:

  • Proactive,
  • Stay calm,
  • Exercise judgment, and
  • Act responsibly in such unexpected scenarios.

They are assessing your perseverance to explore the ambiguity and learn new things, despite the challenges. They are also evaluating your:

  • Communication,
  • Time management,
  • Problem-solving, and
  • Decision-making skills.

Employers want to know if you can handle competing priorities, shift gears when needed, and understand the implications of missing deadlines. They are looking to see if your coworkers can rely on you to get the work done.

Question 4: Tell Me About A Time You Worked On Something Outside Your OKR

Tell Me About A Time You Worked On Something Outside Your OKR
Tell Me About A Time You Worked On Something Outside Your OKR

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, Sample Answer (Example), and a Special Case of “Don’t Have Any Work Experience”.

“Tell me about a time when you worked on something outside your OKR” is a popular open-ended question asked in behavioral interviews.

OKR stands for Objectives and Key Results, which is a goal-setting framework for defining and tracking objectives and their outcomes.

Interviewers also tend to ask this famous question in the following ways:

  1. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond.
  2. Tell me about a time when you exceeded your coworkers’ or manager’s expectations.
  3. Describe a time you went beyond the expectations of a customer.
  4. Have you ever exceeded expectations in one of your previous jobs?
  5. Have you ever worked on a side-project at your workplace?

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell Me About A Time You Worked On Something Outside Your OKR”

To grow in Software Engineering careers, employers expect developers to exceed expectations for promotions to the next level. By this question, the interviewer is trying to assess your:

  • Work ethic,
  • Personality, and
  • Motivation to take on new challenges with a positive attitude.

They are trying to understand your ability to be proactive and your perseverance to learn new things continuously. Employers want to know if you are independent in your thought process and have the willingness to do more than what is expected from you.

They are also evaluating your:

  • Communication,
  • Time management,
  • Problem-solving, and
  • Decision-making skills.

Question 5: Tell Me About A Time You Had To Learn Something Quickly

Tell Me About A Time You Had To Learn Something Quickly
Tell Me About A Time You Had To Learn Something Quickly

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, Sample Answer (Example), and a Special Case of “Don’t Have Any Work Experience”.

Another popular behavioral interview question is “Tell me about a time you had to learn something quickly”.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell Me About A Time You Had To Learn Something Quickly”

In everyone’s career journey, they face a situation when they have to learn something quickly to succeed at their job. By this question, the interviewer’s goal is not to trick you but to assess how well you can adapt and perform in challenging situations and unstructured environments.

They are trying to understand your enthusiasm to:

  • Learn new things,
  • Exercise judgment under pressure, and
  • Shift gears when needed.

They are also evaluating your:

  • Communication skills,
  • Ability to self-identify the gaps in your skills, and
  • The willingness to improve yourself continuously.

They are looking to see if you understand the implications of missing deadlines and can your coworkers rely on you to get the work done.

Question 6: Tell Me About A Time You Received Constructive Feedback

Tell Me About A Time You Received Constructive Feedback
Tell Me About A Time You Received Constructive Feedback

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, Sample Answer (Example), and a Special Case of “Don’t Have Any Work Experience”.

“Tell me about a time you received constructive feedback” is one of the most challenging questions asked in the behavioral interview. Interviewers sometimes also ask this question as “What is your greatest weakness?”

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell Me About A Time You Received Constructive Feedback”

Everyone makes mistakes in their careers and has received constructive feedback from their managers or peers. By this question, the interviewer’s goal is not to trick you but to assess how you react when you receive feedback from others.

They want to get a handle on how well you can adapt and perform in challenging situations and unstructured environments. They are trying to judge your ability to stay calm and composed with the right attitude when receiving criticism of any type, whether constructive or negative.

Employers want to understand your enthusiasm to:

  • Learn new things,
  • Exercise judgment under pressure, and
  • Shift gears when needed.

They are also evaluating your:

  • Communication skills,
  • Ability to identify the gaps in your skills, and
  • The willingness to improve yourself continuously.

Question 7: Tell Me About A Time A Project Took Longer Than Expected

Tell Me About A Time A Project Took Longer Than Expected

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, Sample Answer (Example), and a Special Case of “Don’t Have Any Work Experience”.

Software Engineering projects usually take longer time than planned. As a result, interviewers often ask the candidates to tell about a time when their project took longer than expected.

Evaluation Criteria

Tell Me About A Time A Project Took Longer Than Expected

Everyone in their career journey has worked on a project which has taken more time than initially planned. By asking this question, the interviewer’s goal is to assess whether you can adapt and perform in challenging situations or unstructured environments.

They want to get a handle on how well you can:

  • Manage competing priorities,
  • Understand the implications of missing deadlines, and
  • Shift gears when needed.

They are trying to see if you can distinguish between the urgent and the important.

Employers want to know your ability to stay calm, exercise judgment, and act responsibly in such unexpected high-pressure situations. They are assessing your perseverance to explore the ambiguity and learn new things, despite the challenges.

Interviewers are also evaluating your:

  • Communication,
  • Time management,
  • Problem-solving, and
  • Decision-making skills.

They are looking to see if your coworkers can rely on you to get the work done.

Question 8: Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone

Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone
Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, and a Special Case of “Never Had a Conflict”.

Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone is one of the most frequent questions asked in behavioral interviews.

Interviewers also tend to ask this famous question in the following ways:

  1. Tell me about a time you had a conflict with your manager.
  2. Share a situation where you faced a conflict at work.
  3. Have you ever worked with a difficult person?
  4. Describe a situation where two teams disagreed on a path forward.
  5. Tell me about a time you had a communication problem with a coworker.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone”
Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about a time you disagreed with someone”

Having conflicts is a part of everyone’s career journey. By this question, the interviewer is trying to evaluate you on the following:

  1. Assess how you work in difficult situations or unstructured environments.
  2. Judge your maturity level, communication skills, and willingness to speak up irrespective of your coworker’s seniority.
  3. Evaluate whether you are empathetic and respectful towards your colleagues while trying to understand your coworker’s motivations and viewpoints behind the conflict.
  4. A crucial element to this question is that the interviewer is looking for a positive resolution of the conflict that benefits the company and not just an individual.
  5. Interviewers are trying to see if you are flexible to compromise.
  6. And open to learning from challenging experiences.

Question 9: Tell me about a time you showed leadership

Tell me about a time you showed leadership
Tell me about a time you showed leadership

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, and a Special Case of “No Leadership Experience”.

Candidates often get asked in the behavior interviews to tell about a time when they showed leadership in their workplace.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about a time you showed leadership”
Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about a time you showed leadership”

By this question, the interviewers are looking to evaluate you on various attributes like:

  • Taking responsibility
  • Having confidence
  • Strong communication skills
  • Relationship-building skills

They want to understand what leadership means to you and see if you have ever taken the initiative to lead something at your current or past workplaces. For example:

  • Heading up an entire project
  • Mentoring a junior engineer
  • Proposing an alternate design to an existing problem
  • Onboarding a new engineer
  • Stepping up to fix an unexpected issue.

They want to know that you can lead with good judgment at times when leadership is required within the team or company.

Question 10: Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake

Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake
Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, and Tips & Tricks.

Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake is one of the most challenging and tricky questions asked by the interviewers.

Don’t be afraid of this question. Mistakes and failures are inevitable, and everyone makes them at some point during their job.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake”
Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake”

By this question, the interviewer is trying to understand your level of maturity and personal accountability.

They want to see how do you handle the situation when you experience a setback.

They are looking for candidates who:

  • Can take ownership of their actions,
  • Are self-aware, and
  • Strive to improve themselves from the learnings of their past experiences.

Question 11: Tell me about the project that you are most proud of

Tell me about the project that you are most proud of

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, and Tips & Tricks.

Another popular behavioral interview question is, Tell me about the project that you are most proud of.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about the project that you are most proud of”
Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about the project that you are most proud of”

Through this question, the interviewer is trying to assess whether your core skills and work ethics align with the company’s culture or not.

They are also trying to get a reading on how you define professional success.

Your answer should focus on the project’s impact and outcomes, as this will demonstrate to the interviewer what you consider important and how you get things done.

Question 12: Tell me about a time you had to manage conflicting priorities

Tell me about a time you had to manage conflicting priorities
Tell me about a time you had to manage conflicting priorities

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, and a Special Case of “Never Had Conflicting Priorities”.

Time management is a crucial part of everyone’s career. Interviewers often ask candidates to tell about a time when they had to manage conflicting or shifting priorities at their workplace.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about a time you had to manage conflicting priorities”

Everyone deals with conflicting priorities and shifting deadlines in their jobs.

  1. By this question, the interviewer’s goal is to evaluate:
    — How you manage your time,
    — Exercise judgment,
    — Communicate, and
    — Shift gears when needed.
  2. They want to know if you can handle competing priorities and understand the implications of missing deadlines.
  3. The interviewers are trying to assess whether you can work under challenging situations or unstructured environments and distinguish between the urgent and the important.
  4. They are also looking to see if your coworkers can rely on you to get the work done.

Question 13: Tell me about yourself?

Tell me about yourself?
Tell me about yourself?

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, and Tips & Tricks.

A common question asked by the interviewers at the start of the behavioral interviews is, Tell me about yourself?

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about yourself?”
Evaluation Criteria for “Tell me about yourself?”
  1. This introductory question helps the interviewers in one of their primary goals, which is to get to know you.
  2. Interviewers try to learn various aspects about you from:
    — Your current and past experiences,
    — Your core strengths,
    — Your personality, and
    — Your ability to respond to an unstructured question.
  3. They also notice how well you can connect with your colleagues and communicate your ideas clearly and effectively.

Question 14: Why do you want to leave your current role?

Why do you want to leave your current role?
Why do you want to leave your current role?

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, and Tips & Tricks.

Interviewers often ask the question in behavioral interviews, why are you leaving your current role?

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Why do you want to leave your current role?”
Evaluation Criteria for “Why do you want to leave your current role?”

Through this question, the interviewer is trying to understand your intrinsic motivation to check whether you are running away from something or running towards something.

It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to the interviewer that you are someone who looks forward with a positive attitude in general.

Question 15: Do you have any questions for me?

Do you have any questions for me?
Do you have any questions for me?

Video Explanation with Evaluation Criteria, Questions that you can ask, and Tips & Tricks.

The interviewers often asked a critical question towards the end of the behavioral interviews: “Do you have any questions for me?”

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria for “Do you have any questions for me?”
Evaluation Criteria for “Do you have any questions for me?”

This question helps the interviewer to gauge your passion and interest in the current role you are applying for.

It would be best to frame your questions specific to the role and the company you are interviewing for. This will help demonstrate to the interviewer that you have done your homework about their company and culture.

It also gives you an opportunity to end the interview on a strong note.

Preparation Material

Learn more about the Evaluation Criteria, Response Framework, Tips & Tricks, and Sample Answers (Examples) to effectively prepare and answer the top questions asked in the Behavioral Interviews at Facebook. Certain special cases are also discussed which are usually faced by the candidates during these interviews.

⬇️ Detailed Notes on Top Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions — Part 1
⬇️ Detailed Notes on Top Facebook Behavioral Interview Questions — Part 2

Cracking the Facebook System Design Interview

In case if you have not read our Medium Article on Cracking the Facebook System Design Interview, we recommend reading it by clicking the below link:

Buy Us A Coffee
☕️ Buy us a Coffee at BuyMeACoffee.com/InterviewSage

To stay updated about new posts, Subscribe & Follow Us!

🎥 Youtube: youtube.com/TheInterviewSage
📸 Instagram: instagram.com/TheInterviewSage
🏠 Facebook: facebook.com/TheInterviewSage
👩‍💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/TheInterviewSage
🐦 Twitter: twitter.com/InterviewSage

This article is part of the series on Behavioral Interviews at Facebook. So, subscribe our YouTube channel to get notified when our next video in this series is published. Thanks for reading!

📸 Some images used are from freepik.com: Freepik, pch.vector, vectorjuice, pikisuperstar, rawpixel.com, slidesgo, stories, Upklyak, jcomp, macrovector_official, syarifahbrit, redgreystock

Full Disclosure & Disclaimer

--

--