It should come as no surprise to learn many job seekers dream of landing a job at Facebook, which consistently earns top marks on “the best places to work” lists.
Thousands of candidates, both engineering and non-tech alike, seek out jobs at Facebook, which has offices all over the world. When you work at Facebook, I’m told, not only are you a part of creating something that has the potential to touch the lives of billions of people around the world, you also have opportunity for career advancement, good employee benefits and yes, the famous Facebook campus and all that goes along with that.
I visited Facebook HQ in Menlo Park recently and got to see the inside of the campus on a busy afternoon and it’s easy to see why people want to work there. It’s like a small city unto itself with numbered buildings, several cafeterias and food options in each, and a diverse group of employees walking around with laptops and phones, going from comfy workspaces to meeting rooms.
With thousands of applicants vying to be a part of the Facebook team, how do you know what they’re looking for? And how do you make yourself stand out from the crowd of applicants? I got the inside scoop from Laura Reyes, Diversity Recruiting Leader at Facebook.
What’s your interview process like?
While specific interview process steps vary by role and team, people interviewing with Facebook will generally meet with multiple team members—including managers and peers. We try to make the interview process as personal as possible because we want to get to know the person behind the resume: who they are, what motivates them, what they’re good at and what they could bring to the Facebook team.
People who interview for technical roles may participate in multiple coding interviews via phone/video chat or onsite, during which they’ll solve problems based on CS fundamentals, systems design, and more. The coding components of technical interviews are part of a multi-faceted interview process that also takes into account the skills and strengths necessary for the role and level and how well each interviewee will operate in Facebook’s environment. Like many things at Facebook, we continue to evaluate and adjust our technical interview process as we grow. And we’ll continue to invest in improving our hiring process and testing new tools and methods that best fit our needs at Facebook.
How can someone best prepare for an interview?
Do your homework. Understand Facebook’s mission and values and think about how your own experiences and strengths align. Visit Facebook’s
careers website for more information about the company, our interview process or what we build.
Prepare some examples of your past experience. Brainstorm some concrete, detailed examples from your experience and be prepared to speak about them. Think of times when you’ve built something, improved something, or collaborated with others to create something better than you could build on your own. Explain the problem and your approach: How did you try to build a solution? What worked, and what didn’t? What did you learn, or what would you do differently next time?
For technical interviews, practice coding. Review CS fundamentals like data structures and algorithm design/analysis, and practice using the platform (such as a collaborative code editor or a whiteboard) you’ll use to code during your interview. While you code, practice talking through the problem and your decisions as you go.
Ask your recruiter. Work with your recruiter to understand what your specific interview process will include and the best ways to prepare. This advice may be different depending on what role you’re interviewing for, especially for technical roles.
Is there one tough question that’s always asked?
What one candidate may consider a tough question, another may not. But there is one question we always ask. On your very best day at work—the day you came home and thought you had the best job in the world—what did you do that day? This question helps Facebook interviewers identify someone’s true passions and strengths and whether those match what Facebook is looking for because we want each person who works here to thrive in their role. We know that when people do work, they enjoy, they’re more engaged and more likely to be successful.
Are there right and wrong answers?
There is rarely one right or wrong answer to a Facebook interview question. Our interviewers are trying to gauge how people interviewing approach problems. We want to know how YOU would approach a problem, not what you think we believe is the BEST way to approach a problem because diverse approaches, perspectives and backgrounds strengthen what we build.
How do you determine the right candidate?
For both tech and non-tech roles, Facebook values candidates with diverse backgrounds, traits, and experience. We’re also a strengths-based company. We’re always looking for someone who is great at—and loves doing—what they’ll be doing in the role they’re interviewing for.
What skills are you looking for in a candidate?
We hire builders. Whether we’re interviewing an engineer, a finance analyst, or a designer, we’re looking for people who like to build things and solve problems. Our teams are constantly innovating and iterating. We look for people who can identify areas of potential impact, move fast to create solutions, and help us continuously improve how and what we build.
It seems like many companies are complaining about a lack of available, skilled tech talent, is that an issue for Facebook?
We're always looking for skilled tech talent, and we’re always looking to build teams with diverse backgrounds and experiences to strengthen our decision-making, our products and how we serve our communities. We believe it’s crucial to both our company and to the world to support technical education initiatives that help the next generation understand the opportunities in tech, access the education that they need to take advantage of those opportunities, feel welcomed and supported by people in the tech world and develop a passion for learning and building technical solutions.
You can learn more about our computer science education initiatives and programs on our diversity website.
How do you address diversity in your hiring at Facebook?
At Facebook, we are more focused than ever on creating a diverse workforce and supporting our people. Today, there are more people of diverse backgrounds and experiences, more people of color, more women in both technical and business roles, and more underrepresented people in leadership here. We envision a company where in the next five years, at least 50% of our workforce will be women, people who are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islanders, people with two or more ethnicities, people with disabilities, and veterans. In doing this, we aim to double our number of women globally and Black and Hispanic employees in the US. It will be a company that reflects and better serves the people on our platforms, services and products.
