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I see a bunch of posts on blind about the Facebook hiring process so I figured I'd give you guys a detailed look into my process as a non-tech M2. I'll do my best to include dates. I have over 12 years of senior leadership experience, multiple certifications, and hold a Ph.D. It's a longer post but I hope it can help someone! To stay anon- the dates aren’t accurate but represent a general time frame in which the events occurred. 8/31/20- I was referred to Facebook by a close friend for a leadership role 9/4/20- I find out I didn't get the role but a "Candidate Channels Advisor" from FB reached out to talk to me about working at Facebook. 9/7/20- I meet with the Channels Advisor and he tells me my resume is super impressive and that if I find roles I like and are qualified for, I can send to him directly. He will in turn reach out to those hiring teams Months go by- I would find roles and zero luck. 12/30/20- I find a role that seems like a perfect fit. I send to him and await his response. 1/4/21- A recruiter for the role I sent the advisor reaches out and schedules an introductory call for 1/14/21. 1/14/21- The call with the recruiter went super well. and I was passed on to the hiring manager. 1/24/21- The call with the hiring manager was awesome. Great feedback. I'm passed on to the loop. 02/05/21-02/14/21- I completed the loop. My focus areas were: People Managment, Project Retrospective, Operating @FB, Cross-Functional/Influence, and Domain (Project Retrospective) Here are my notes for each section: PEOPLE MANAGEMENT Deep dive into management experience. Questions/themes include: How do you evaluate a good team, course-correct one that’s unhealthy, or grow people. Helpful to think about past examples of successes and failures where you have navigated the complexity of growing, developing and supporting the folks in your org. Tips: • This interview will heavily focus on your current and past experience managing teams. Be sure to have a few examples in mind that clearly describe your approach or framework for leading and growing people. The interviewer will want to understand your team makeup as well. • Think through failures you’ve encountered in the past. The interviewer will want to get an idea for what could have been done differently or what you learned from the experience. • Be ready to speak through your reasons and motivations behind why you chose to be a manager or organizational leader. PROJECT RETROSPECTIVE Deep dive into a project you led from end to end. You’ll be asked to choose the project you want to discuss. No formal presentation needed, but you will have to talk through the different milestones in the project, so reflecting on the project in advance should be very helpful to illuminate/clarify the details. Tips: • Big focus of this interview will be your role, as strategic leader, in the project. While the project you choose can or will naturally be technical in nature, the focus of your narrative should focus more on how you drove strategy and partnerships, and less on, say, the technical details of your hands-on work (if any). • How did you scope it, roadmap it? What were the main goals or objectives? What metrics or data did you use to measure progress along the way? What was the outcome, business impact? • What parts of the project worked well? What were some of the key details that made a difference? • What parts didn’t go well? What could’ve been done differently? What did you learn from them? • Who were the cross-functional partners or stakeholders involved? How did you influence them to get them on board w/ this project or help in its execution? Any conflicts or disagreements involved – how did you resolve them? OPERATING @FACEBOOK This can be a wide-ranging discussion focused on how your leadership experience and ethos will translate to the unique environment that is Facebook. Important themes in this interview include conflict resolution, managing your team through change, openness/transparency as a leader or partner. Reflecting on Facebook’s 5 Core Values (Focus on Impact, Move Fast, Be Bold, Be Open, and Build Social Value) can be helpful in understanding Facebook’s ‘North Star’ when making decisions as leaders. Some people have also found this article interesting as well. Tips: • Your motivations, as a leader, will be covered in People Management as well, but probably most so in this interview. At Facebook, the move or decision from the IC track to manager track is never considered a “promotion.” Both tracks are equally valued. Why are you passionate about people management? What values uniquely define you as a leader? • “Feedback is a gift.” Think about a time when you had to give someone tough, but necessary, feedback – what were the circumstances, how did the message/feedback land? When were you given tough feedback – what did you do w/ that feedback? • A good way to think about this interview: “How do I solve non-technical problems as an org leader? How do I navigate through ambiguity? How do I build relationships across orgs? How do I contribute to big ideas or invest in the long game of making not just my team or org better but Facebook, as a company, better? CROSS-FUNCTIONAL/INFLUENCE Cross-functional relationships will be expansive in this role, including partnership at all levels of the company and a wide spectrum of tech and non-tech teams. How do you ensure you’re being an effective partner? How do you keep your partner(s) accountable to your shared goals or objectives? Driving the right outcomes through influence, empathy and strong communication and networking skills are key – be ready to talk through your own examples of success in these areas as well as what principles underlie them. Tips: • Self-awareness will likely be probed in this interview, so be transparent about missteps you’ve made in the past when it comes to partnership. The important thing will be what you learned from it. • How did you effectively turn around a relationship for the better? What was key to that turn-around? • As a leader, how do you communicate w/ a non-engineering partner or team? How do you balance your goals against theirs? How do you put yourself in their shoes to better align potentially conflicting agendas, and how do you influence them to understand your worldview? • Think of examples that highlight effective/successful partnership as well as complex or challenging partnerships. DOMAIN (PROJECT/PROGRAM MANAGEMENT) This interview will focus namely on your problem-solving skills as a domain expert in your field. While you may be asked to highlight your own experience, you should also expect to be given hypothetical scenarios that would be reflective of real-world program/project management challenges you’d face at a company like Facebook. Common themes in this interview include how you would create a project from scratch, how data-driven you are in measuring progress against goal and implementing/executing amidst ambiguity and various obstacles. While the Operating @Facebook interview tackles how you solve non-technical problems within the org, the Domain interview tackles how you solve or help your team to solve the more technical aspects of the work, using all your know-how and tools in your toolbox. Tips: • Think about a project or program that you either created from scratch or had to iterate and drive. What was your mindset going into the project? What was the process from start to finish? What were the obstacles you faced and had to overcome? • Facebook is an ambitious company that’s constantly pushing the boundaries of our operational capabilities, services and products. How do you lead through ambiguity and driving initiatives in new territory? • There’s never just one way to build or drive a program. How do you methodically think through various approaches and ensure you’re optimizing for the right things and considering the best option(s)? 2/24/21- I find out from the recruiter that I didn't get the role. She told me I was a finalist and they were basically threading hairs between me and another candidate. She said I was such a strong interviewer that she wanted to stay in touch and hopefully slide me into a different spot. We stayed in contact for months. She would send various roles. None really appealed to me. Fast forward to June 2021. 6/5/21- A director from FB posts on LinkedIN that he is looking to hire a senior leader. The role looks interesting so I figure fuck it. Shoot him a DM. Worst case he ignores me. 6/5/21- I send a DM and within an hour get a response. He is super intrigued and wants to meet the next day. 6/6/21- I meet the hiring manager and we had a great convo. Im passed on to the loop. 06/7/21- 06/18/21- I complete the loop. I was armed with my previous notes so I was sure I would come in and kill it. 6/23/21- I received a thank you note from the recruiter. Odd because that has never happened to me before. 6/30/21- The recruiter reaches out to me and says my debrief is schedule for early next week. He then asks for my availability for a debrief. Now this is strange- why have a debrief with me if you haven't had one with the team yet. 7/1/21- I get the official offer for the role. 500k total comp for non-tech M2. I accept. He sends over the official docs that same day. 7/7/21- HireRight sends their forms. I fill them out. 7/12/21- HireRight is done. No issues. Cleared to start. Happy to answer any questions folks have. My role is remote so I am able to live anywhere. New TC: 500k Old TC: 150k #tech #Facebook #FB #jobs #leadership
Congrats OP. Thank you for being super detailed.
What was your role, level, and comp prior?
Leadership role but not even half the comp. I was all in 150k at my last role.
Good for you! I had similar experience at google. Was passed around to different recruiters and roles for a year but got in! My jump was not as big as your but I’m still happy!
I’d feel bad if I was a non tech m2.
Why comment or read this post? The op is sharing to help other folks, esp non tech folks on here
Union Bank: I'd feel bad if I was in your role.
Awesome post. Really enjoyed reading about your journey!
Appreciate you taking out time and writing such a detailed writeup. I am pretty sure that these advices will go for any leadership role. This is going in my bookmark !!
Did you just say “Add Social Value” ? This got to be a joke .
😂
Great post! Thanks for taking the time to write it out. All of this would apply to all tech leadership roles as well.
I think more than anything they realized you really wanted to work there. Most people would be turned off by interviewing that much. It’s why the 1 year off between applying is a screen for them.
Omg, so much work for 500k. I guess I'll just remain a SWE then.
Nope. Not my expertise. So I’m good lol
Do you feel that SWEs make easy money while you work so hard?