With a headcount of 52,534 as of June 2020, Facebook is one of the tech giants every job aspirant would ever want to work with. According to Recruiter Box, the social media giant receives as many as 250,000 job applications every year. It explains the competition and how hard it is to get a job at Facebook. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to get a job at Facebook.
During one of his periodic town hall-style forums, Mark Zuckerberg revealed the secret of what it takes for an applicant to get a job at Facebook. “I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person,” he said. He believes this is what makes his company a “pretty strong organization”.
Keep moving ahead in this career guidance post if you are keen on how to land a job at Facebook. You can also explore various aspects of getting hired into Facebook.
A Glimpse at Facebook’s journey
The social media giant’s journey from making a humble beginning in a Harvard dorm room to establishing offices in 70 cities worldwide is undoubtedly inspiring. What started as ‘The Facebook’ in 2004 transformed into ‘Facebook’ by dropping ‘The’ the very next year. As its popularity kept soaring, Facebook expanded its spread year after year. Currently, Facebook has Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Oculus VR in its kitty and the total revenue by the end of 2019 is US$70.697 billion.
Mark believes that at times companies may have to compromise while hiring due to deadlines and an inadequate supply of talent. But, if they have to sustain and make a difference in the long term, handpicking the best talent is the only option, he stresses.
Facebook’s Five Core Values
One of the most sought-after global companies to work with, Facebook aims to stand by its Five Core Values:
- Be Bold: Fortune favors the brave. Nothing great is achieved by hesitating to take risks. And this is what Facebook believes.
- Focus on Impact: At Facebook, every employee is encouraged to look at the big picture. Solving the most important problems should be given priority over sweating over trivial matters.
- Move Fast: It is better to move fast and make mistakes than to move slowly and miss opportunities.
- Be Open: Better decisions come out when the company is transparent and open to its employees. Thus, every employee in the company has access to as much information as possible.
- Build Social Value: For Facebook, bringing the world together is not just to grow their business, it is one of the core values the company abides by.
The Work Culture at Facebook
At Facebook, the teams are small – this promotes agility and iteration to develop new products. The company believes this is a way to build stronger communities. Employees here are happy to be a part of the company that makes a difference and meaningful impact on so many people’s lives.
Related: Virtual Interview Best Practices
Perks of Working at Facebook
Facebook’s compensation is one of its attractive features besides the multitude of perks that its employees enjoy. The salaries for experienced and tech positions are above the market levels same as in many other tech companies.
Employees at Facebook savor a bunch of benefits like those in major IT giants such as Apple, Netflix, Microsoft, or Google:
- 21 days of paid vacation for full-time employees
- ‘Baby cash’ for new parents amounting to $4,000
- Financial assistance for egg-freezing and adoption fees
- 4 months paid paternal leave to all its US employees
- Free meals and snacks at any time of the day
- Onsite health and dental care facilities
- Menlo Park workers have an arcade full of video games, a dry-cleaning facility, free charging of electric vehicles, and an onsite barbershop
Hiring Process at Facebook
Facebook’s hiring process is guided by its Diversity First principle. At Facebook, not every role is only for technical or software engineering students. In one of her interviews with The Muse, Liz Wamai – VP, Recruiting at Facebook, shared many insights regarding the hiring process at Facebook.
The hiring process at Facebook varies from role to role. However, if you are interested in getting a job at Facebook, you should be ready for the following hiring process:
- Once the resume is shortlisted, screening is the next step where the recruiter gets in touch with you over the phone.
- It can be followed by multiple rounds of screenings by your direct manager or cross-functional team managers with whom you may have to collaborate on a day-to-day basis.
- The whole process may take anywhere around 90 days, and the decision usually depends on the feedback given by the interviewers.
Facebook Interview Tips
Want to take a close look at the interview process at Facebook? We’ve got you covered.
Here are some Facebook interview tips from Nicolas Spiegelberg, a manager on the iOS infra team at Facebook. He shared his personal experience of how the interview process will be on Facebook during his talk with Business Insider.
Spiegelberg was a 2006 graduate with a Masters in Computer Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a 4.0 GPA. After a brief stint in a telecommunications company, he applied for Facebook in 2009.
The first round included solving fun puzzles where he worked on a variant of the ‘Stable Marriage Problem’.
Later, there was a 45-minute screening over the phone which tested his coding skills. He says it was during this telephonic round that he got a chance to gather insights from his interviewer about what motivates one to work at Facebook.
Spiegelberg’s further rounds were at California campus. He went through 4 interviews that lasted around 10 hours with quick breaks in between. He revealed that candidates who fly for long distances to appear for interviews at Facebook get a day to rest before their big day. And he strongly advises one to use this day to relax and refresh to get ready for their big day.
While two of his interview rounds focused on coding and algorithms and tested his programming skills, another round assessed his work philosophy. Here the recruiters asked him to share the lessons he learned from his past working experiences. The final interview was on System Design, plus there were two follow-up phone screens. Spiegelberg shares that candidates get ample scope to convince the hiring managers that they can make a difference if hired.
Cracking that interview was just the beginning of his career. Spiegelberg is more than happy to be a part of Facebook. He says the company is transparent, while the motivating factor is you get all chances to fix a problem on your own.
Resume Tips to Get a Job at Facebook
According to Wamai, your resume speaks for itself, and the cover letter carries a minimal weight. A well-drafted resume in crisp short paragraphs should serve the purpose well. Most times, Facebook’s recruiters do not give much priority for the cover letters. Except when the roles involve writing or storytelling, she adds.
Here, Wamai also shares a tip: If at all, you are keen on adding a cover letter, make sure to double-check if it is aligned with Facebook’s mission of connecting the community and bringing the world closer together.
However, it is your resume that holds the key when it comes to the Facebook job application. If you have the matching skill set and the background, your chances of hitting the bull’s eye are high.
Wamai observes a common mistake that applicants do. She says they apply for too many and diversified roles that are not in alignment with their skill set or career path.
On the other hand, you should also clearly understand the job description to ensure that you can meet the demands. This is because Facebook recruits people for profiles that are carved for the first time in the industry too.
At the end of the interview, it adds points if you ask relevant questions. Candidates who pose questions about their role and the contribution to the team have all chances to score a high impression on the interviewers.
Related: December Hiring Trends Myths Busted
What Does it Take to Get a Job at Facebook?
Agility, resilience, and the ability to collaborate – this is what Facebook looks for in a candidate, according to Liz Wamai. Facebook needs candidates who can be quick enough to make an impact on the community. Besides they should be able to take the initiative, inspire, and lead through change.
An ability to look at challenges as opportunities and the capacity to navigate the cross-functional nature of the teams is what you need to get a job at Facebook.
According to a CNBC interview with Janelle Gale, the vice president of human resources at Facebook explained that the ability to solve challenges, being yourself, and honesty are the traits they often look for in a candidate. He points that, as a candidate keen to get a job at Facebook, you always have a chance to prove these during a one-on-one discussion with your interviewers.
For skilled aspirants who are targeting entry-level jobs at Facebook and no relevant industry experience, Gale shares the good news. He encourages candidates with matching skill set to apply for a position irrespective of the experience.
Related: Recruitment trends in 2021
Degrees that are in Demand to Get a Job at Facebook
Facebook hires actively across dozens of teams – marketing, sales, policy, recruiting and sourcing accounting, and media. Wamai says that Facebook believes all these teams are equally important as much as software ones. The company is always on a constant look for project managers, business planning managers, data specialists, lawyers, and accountants. It considers the applications of both freshers and senior-level applicants who can design the future of the company.
According to Glassdoor reviews, some of the roles that are in demand at Facebook are Software engineering manager, Business operations manager, Senior software engineer, Research Scientist, and Security Engineer.
If you are targeting an entry-level job at Facebook, Software engineer, Product designer, Data scientist, User experience researcher, and Data engineer are some of the roles for you.
Noodle.com made a clear demarcation about which degrees help you to get a job at Facebook. According to its study, dissecting the jobs at Facebook department wise, the trends look like this:
Data and analytics:
- Roles: Data analysts, data scientists, data engineers, data science managers, and decision scientists.
- Qualification: A degree in computer science, math, physics, engineering, statistics, or a related technical field. Additionally, decision scientists need a degree in economics, operations research, or a similarly quantitative discipline.
Finance
- Roles: Accountants, accounting managers, financial analysts, and finance managers.
- Qualification: A degree in economics, math, finance, or accounting
Legal
- Roles: Associate general counsel, lead counsel, and patent counsel
- Qualification: Juris Doctor Degree
Software engineering
- Roles: Android and iOS software engineers, front-end engineers, solutions engineers, and full-stack engineers.
- Qualification: Earning a degree in computer science, information systems, or information technology
Security
- Roles: application security engineers, e-crime investigators, integrity scientists, risk and compliance analysts, and security analysts
- Qualification: A degree in computer science, computer engineering, information systems, or cybersecurity.
Research
- Roles: User experience (UX) researchers, research engineers, and research scientists. These openings are in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, computer vision, and robotics
- Qualification: Masters or a Ph.D. in computer science, machine learning, AI, or a similar technical or quantitative field. Besides, research candidates who are nearing the completion of research are also eligible.
You can explore the current job openings on Facebook here.
Conclusion
If you have been wondering that if it is really hard to get a job at Facebook, let us tell you – yes, it surely is! A job at Facebook is not for everyone. That said, it may neither be impossible too.
With the right mix of technical expertise and mindset that helps you attune to Facebook’s core values and work culture, landing your dream job at Facebook should not be daunting. Getting a job at Facebook takes hard work, an unbeatable skill set, and agility similar to cracking a job at many tech giants.
At this juncture, we want to share with you Facebook’s most-asked interview question: “On your very best day at work — the day you come home and think you have the best job in the world — what did you do that day?”
Have a convincing answer? Go ahead and apply for your dream role at Facebook.
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