Archive · 9 Aug 2026
Laid-Off Meta Engineer: 5 Interview Rounds, 0 Offers
A man who used to build software for a big technology company called Meta lost his job a few months ago.
He has spent four months trying to find a new job, but it has not been easy.
Every day he fills out at least 20 job applications and practices coding puzzles.
He even got invited to five complete job interviews, which is a good sign.
But after every interview, the company said no, and he got zero job offers.
He felt confused and asked people on the internet for advice.
Many kind strangers gave him tips, like asking companies why they said no.
Some people said he should think about taking a job that pays less money at first.
This story shows that finding a job can be really hard, even for very skilled workers.
A former Meta software engineer with five years of experience has been job hunting for four months since being laid off.
He completed five full interview loops but received zero offers, including a rejection after his latest final round.
He applies to at least 20 jobs daily and solves 6–8 LeetCode problems each day while targeting $150k+ compensation.
He says today's job market is much harder than what he faced in 2020 and has asked Reddit whether his approach is wrong.
Reddit users advised seeking interview feedback, improving soft skills, and recalibrating salary expectations.
- Who
- A former Meta software engineer (name not disclosed) who spent five years at the company, two as a new grad engineer and three as a software engineer.
- What
- Has received zero offers despite completing five full interview rounds over four months of job hunting.
- When
- Four months after his layoff; his latest rejection came on the day of his Reddit post, published August 09, 2026.
- Where
- His location is not stated; he is targeting Big Tech companies with $150k+ compensation and shared his story on Reddit.
- Why
- He was laid off from Meta and wants advice on what he is doing wrong after repeated final-round rejections.
Improve Interview Execution and Persist
Recalibrate Expectations and Widen the Search
Target salary and company type
Improve Interview Execution and Persist
Keep targeting Big Tech or companies offering similar $150k+ compensation, since his background justifies it.
Recalibrate Expectations and Widen the Search
Reset expectations: with only one employer's experience, he may be out of work a while unless he accepts $150k or less or considers smaller companies and other industries.
Reason behind the rejections
Improve Interview Execution and Persist
Interviews are the bottleneck: he gets interviews, so his resume works, and he should pass them by seeking feedback and improving technical and behavioural performance.
Recalibrate Expectations and Widen the Search
Soft skills and personal fit are likely the issue: he probably meets technical criteria, and companies may simply be choosing candidates they like more.
- Former employer
- Meta (5 years: 2 as new grad engineer, 3 as software engineer)
- Time spent job hunting
- 4 months
- Full interview rounds completed
- 5
- Offers received
- 0
- Job applications per day
- At least 20
- Coding problems solved per day
- 6-8 LeetCode problems
- Target compensation
- $150k+
- Education
- Graduate of a top college