What I Learned from a 4‑Hour Meituan Tech Interview: Insights & Strategies

Origin

I have been using Meituan's products for a long time, but what impressed me most was their technical blog (tech.meituan.com). When Meituan's tech team announced a recruitment, I decided to apply and attend the interview.

Two days ago I missed posting an article because I was preparing for a Meituan interview; today I make up for it with a pure knowledge share.

Learning Interview Questions

Preparing interview questions in advance turned out to be almost useless during the actual interview, but the process of studying them gave me new insights and breakthroughs, especially in rapid material collection and fast learning abilities.

My ability to quickly gather and organize high‑quality interview questions online allowed me to create a customized set in one day.

Applying the Feynman learning method for about a month, I wrote an article that gained over 20,000 reads on CSDN, reinforcing the method's effectiveness for mastering interview material.

Using the Feynman method, I followed four steps: set the goal to truly understand the questions, teach myself by pretending to answer them, identify gaps through research, and refine the material into concise, conversational explanations.

"Interviewing" Your Interviewer

The interview process is a two‑way evaluation: while interviewers assess you, you also assess them and the company's culture. Maintaining confidence and multiple options leads to a better performance.

Four hours, three interviewers, three rounds covered practical skills, fundamentals, learning ability, and broader cognition.

Round 1 – Cognitive Perspective

The first interview focused on technical depth, career aspirations, and personal growth, revealing the interviewer's emphasis on long‑term vision and cognitive development.

Round 2 – Deep‑Dive Technical

The second interview aggressively probed the technologies I am most familiar with, testing my problem‑solving approach and ability to design solutions on the spot.

Round 3 – Broad Knowledge & Rules

The third interview asked fewer technical questions and instead explored my experiences, new knowledge acquisition, and adherence to operational principles, suggesting the interviewer’s focus on operations‑related skills.

Interview Review

Each interviewer highlighted different strengths, offering valuable professional insights. The overall design discourages rote memorization of questions and emphasizes continuous knowledge accumulation and practical ability.

Key takeaways: understand the underlying logic of interview topics, continuously build a solid knowledge base, and view interviews as opportunities for personal growth rather than mere tests.