Social media is one of the most significant technological advances since the advent of the Internet. The ability to connect on Facebook is a revolutionary step in social interaction. Budding tech professionals looking to learn how to get a job at Facebook should read this guide to ensure success.
But, before we explore the Facebook application process, let’s get some valuable company background on Facebook.
Facebook: Company Background
If you have seen David Fincher’s 2010 film The Social Network, you probably already have a grasp of how Facebook came to be. However, that’s not the entire story.
Harvard Students Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Andrew McCollum formed TheFacebook.com, the earliest version of what we now know as Facebook, in the mid-2000s.
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Facebook originally only catered to college students, requiring a college email address or invite from a fellow member to join. Zuckerberg eventually ditched this policy and the modern form of Facebook finally took off.
In the years since, Facebook.com has turned into a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. Facebook, along with Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft, is now part of the so-called “Big Five” extremely influential tech companies. According to Statista, Facebook earned an annual revenue of $70.7 billion in 2019.
Sure, some drama and legal battles sprang out of the rise of Facebook, but that’s not what makes a corporation like Facebook stand out. Let’s see why Facebook is one of the most unique companies to work for.
What’s It Like to Work at Facebook?
So, what’s the company culture like at Facebook? Its patented uniqueness makes it tricky to explain in only a few sentences, but Facebook has consistently scored number one on lists of most outstanding companies to work for over the past decade.
Below are a few ways that make working at Facebook stand out.
Excellent Health and Wellness Benefits
Many job applicants search for positions with outstanding benefits. Facebook offers several fantastic health benefits to its employees.
Facebook employees enjoy comprehensive health insurance policies, going beyond just vision and dental, such as Cancer Care Program, Fertility Coverage, Autism Coverage, Transgender Coverage, and Mental Health coverage. You can even acquire “Baby Cash,” dedicated to helping new parents afford babysitting services for when they’re at work, with up to $4,000 a year.
There is also fully-paid parental leave for new parents, generous paid time off, world-class tax assistance, and excellent life insurance. Finding a company that even comes close to Facebook’s many health and wellness benefits is a tall order.
Perks
Facebook aims to be different and revolutionary in all it does, including workplace benefits. Sure, you have cool perks like free food, but there are also unique benefits for dedicated Facebook employees.
Facebook employees can enjoy on-site laundry services, great company events, gym memberships, shuttle services, work from home packages, and significant employee discounts.
A Diverse Workload
Your day at Facebook rarely resembles the day before — days at Facebook are hardly typical. Instead of monotonous work, employees can easily find themselves working on many diverse and unique projects. One day, an employee may work on a UX project, while the next day, the same employee might tweak different facets of an Instagram ad.
This workload diversity keeps working days exciting and colorful. However, this could prove stressful to some, especially those trying to achieve a perfect work/life balance.
Getting a Job at Facebook
So, what does it take to land a job at Facebook? Let’s look at some of the key points behind the applying and interviewing process. We’ll evaluate how difficult it really is to join Facebook, analyze the application process, and give you interview tips to answer tough questions.
How Hard Is It to Land a Job at Facebook?
Landing a job at Facebook is challenging. Facebook is one of the most iconic tech companies to work for in modern history, so its standards are high. You must also consider the competition as many highly-skilled individuals are applying to work at Facebook.
As you can probably expect, it isn’t too easy landing a job at Facebook. However, there are some unique and interesting ways to overcome some roadblocks you may encounter.
Janelle Gale, Facebook vice president of human resources, offers a few key bits of advice for those interested in a job at the company.
She encourages applicants to submit resumes even if they don’t have relevant experience. It sounds counterintuitive, but Gale says Facebook values different skills over challenging experience. If you cannot bring valuable skills to the workplace, your experience may not be worth much.
Another aspect that Gale emphasizes is for you to be genuine. When we apply for jobs, we may add a veneer of professionalism that may not be entirely who we are. At Facebook, hiring managers strive to find individuals who are true to themselves.
If you have excellent skills on your resume and are unabashedly yourself, it might not be as difficult as you think to land a job at Facebook.
Applying for a Job at Facebook
A standard resume won’t precisely cut it for a Facebook application and interview process, unless you have the impressive credentials to back it up.
Sure, listing applicable work experience and hard and soft skills will help build your resume, but you’re going to need that extra magic to turn heads at Menlo Park. You’re going to need to spend time reflecting on who you are, your personal and professional goals, and what you can bring to a job position.
Let’s examine the finer points of what the interview and applicant process looks like at a company like Facebook.
Facebook Application and Interview Process
So you want to apply for a job position at Facebook. Where do you start? What should your resume look like? As is the same with many prolific companies, you will need a hefty and impressive amount of skills and work experience.
If you want an inside look at how Facebook goes about hiring people, Facebook Vice President of People Lori Goler offers some great tips and advice.
According to Goler, people interested in applying for a job position at Facebook should tailor their resumes to reflect Facebook’s company culture. This means that applicants should have a resume focused on building, learning, and creating.
Facebook hiring managers love to see individuals who don’t rest on their laurels. Hiring managers want to see someone who exhibits a creative streak, someone who is determined to improve and grow continually.
Once you land a Facebook interview, potential employees will take part in a positive experience, filled with exercises to complete and questions to answer.
The interview process also entirely depends on what team you apply for. For example, data analysts and scientists will need to solve specific computer problems during the hiring process.
You should always take your time and show your work when you are solving problems during your interview. Understandably, you can feel pressured during a Facebook interview, but if you give yourself enough time and remember that everyone is rooting for you, you will succeed.
Engineer Liat B. emphasizes that: “Everyone wants to see you succeed, so just enjoy the process! Put concerns aside during the interview and remember to be yourself.”
Facebook Career Opportunities: Job Titles and Descriptions
As with many prolific tech companies, there is no shortage of diverse and exciting positions. Will you focus on something like Facebook’s UX design? Or are you an accomplished data scientist who wants to analyze and harness the data of billions of users?
Let’s explore some of the unique job openings at Facebook, the salaries, and required experience.
Data Scientist, Analytics
- Salary: $108K–$174K
- Benefits: Maternity & paternity leave, health insurance, free food
- Level: Mid-level, senior level
- Required Experience: 2 or more years of quantitative experience
- Required Education: BA/BS in computer science, math, physics, engineering, statistics or other technical fields
Data is everything. Facebook recognizes the power of data and what practical data analysis can mean for the future. As a data scientist at Facebook, you will be working in the trenches, poring over hundreds of thousands of data points from Instagram and Facebook, to glean helpful information.
This information can help paint pictures of user behaviors and what UX/UI design features work.
To become a Facebook data scientist, you need a considerable amount of data analysis experience, along with a proficiency in data-gathering programs. Learning a powerful tool like Stata can help fill out your resume and pad up your credentials.
The Facebook data scientist works in four key areas: Product Operations, Exploratory Analysis, Product Leadership, and Data Infrastructure.
This job requires some advanced IT skills.
Administrative Specialist Lead
- Salary: $39K–$100K
- Benefits: Maternity & paternity leave, health insurance, free food
- Level: Mid-level, senior Level
- Required Experience: Extensive experience in working as a manager, handling clients, and working with cross-functional teams
- Required Education: Bachelor of arts or bachelor of science
The administrative specialist lead is a uniquely special position at Facebook. You will need crucial managerial skills, leadership qualities, and software development experience.
The administrative specialist lead is the individual responsible for overseeing all the functions of the administrations team. As you can imagine, this is a considerable responsibility. Many teams at Facebook grow at a rapid pace, so work is never dull.
This is especially true of the administration team. The administration team is responsible for calendaring, creating comprehensive reports for executives, and keeping a clear line of inter-team communications open.
This is the perfect position for an extremely organized individual who wants to harness their leadership skills.
Software Engineer
- Salary: $101K–$160K
- Benefits: Maternity & paternity leave, health insurance, free food
- Level: Mid-level, senior level
- Required Experience: 3 years C/C++ experience, computer architecture
- Required Education: BS or advanced degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer vision
The software engineer position is a great one at any company. At Facebook in particular, software engineers are the lifeblood of the day-to-day operations. Software engineers ensure that Facebook is bug-free, and the UX/UI experiences are all up to date and in working order.
In addition, software engineers work intimately with researchers at Facebook Reality Labs to better develop software that meets the high standards of Facebook and the public at large.
The experience and education you will need are extensive. You need to be software-literate and able to use multiple coding languages.
Sales Operation Associate
- Salary: $39K–$75K
- Benefits: Maternity & paternity leave, health insurance, free food
- Level: Entry-level, mid-level
- Required Experience: Work experience in finance, consulting, sales
- Required Education: BA/BS in statistics, computer science, math
The sales side of Facebook is a powerful force. Those in the sales operations associate position have many responsibilities.
In this position, you will need to build fruitful and strong client relationships across the world. You’ll need to think ahead, plan for the future extensively, and understand the nuances of sales and business.
This is perfect for those with experience in sales, finance, or just determined individuals and fast learners.
What Does It Take to Get a Job at Facebook?
Hopefully, the mystique of applying for a job at a tech giant like Facebook is gone. While many aspects of the applicant and interview process are somewhat rigorous, Facebook is ultimately a company that values growth, innovation, and creation.
In the end, you will need a good mix of hard and soft skills, applicable experience in your applied position, and a great attitude to join the diverse and massive Facebook team.
Whichever position you choose to apply to, be yourself, tailor your resume to the company’s long-term vision, and prove you want to innovate. With these tidbits in mind, you can easily land a job at Facebook.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
