Recapping my video onsite interview at Facebook

#tech #facebook #fb #meta #interview

TC: $77,250 and Wish stock

3 interviewers on the panel. Went for 2 hours and 25 minutes.

I had a good 6 pages of scripted interview notes/example stories. Hours of prep with a friend in project management.

Job is: Project Manager, Commerce Operations (Product Data Operations)

TLDR: Hardest interview I've ever done. I think it's a toss up but I have a decent shot (unless the bar is even higher than I think). I put the work in. I really want this. Potential new TC could be $164,500 or more which would be life changing for me. Will hear back about result by 2/8.

1. Leadership

This was probably my worst loop.

They went right into situational/behavioral questions about leadership.

What I noted down about this section in the prep call with the recruiter:

Focus on my professional goals

Why am I interested in this career path?

How do I work with cross functional leaders?

Out the window. A lot of curveballs. It wasn't like they caught me totally by surprise and just ambushed me, but I was on the back foot a lot and winging it for a substantial portion.

I tried to tie in my existing stories into leadership themes. For example, I used a story about internal tooling as a situation where I motivated my team (by developing an internal tool to make their lives easier...I don't even remember at this point).

I didn't freeze up. I tried to make the best of it. I just don't know if they were convinced.

2. Project Management

Continuing the trend from the first interview, after short intros, right into a flurry of situational/behavioral questions.

https://media3.giphy.com/media/3o6Zt0KfLlCg5m5Mf6/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47t6hbw0xld77z25z49xomafhigx1ulq9hu1514okt&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g

I do think I overcame the initial start in the first loop, and I was stronger this time around.

I led with my best story about a complex project. I just knew as I was going through it that it was my best punch out of what was on my notes and I think it did the job.

I had another good story of me managing a lot of different things going on at once.

This loop wasn't perfect. I made mistakes as well and one of them had to do with like....a time I pushed back/a conflict I had with a colleague. I talked about how my manager gave me a project handling support for a new company initiative. I don't think I put myself in the best light, and it sounded a little like I was complaining. I did tie it back into the project management theme of how I think I could have defined the ask and requirements better initially and been really focused on that at the time.

3. Problem Solving

This was the case study part of the interview.

I stumbled out of the gate. They provided the prompt (owner of coffee shop, steady revenue growth initially, last 3 months had a month over month drop in revenue) and the first question was how I would explore the drop in revenue further.

I took a holistic perspective, and they interjected to kind of guide me back towards staying focused on revenue.

I tried to take that help being offered but I was kind of nervous/frazzled and I had a weak, vague response about how I would use those things and others to look at revenue.

I do think I got stronger as this loop went on. They provided two slides (a small data set).

The first one was like a sample product portfolio with purchase volume and it was basically about what insights I could derive from the given data.

The second slide was different metrics comparing the coffee shop website with third party apps. The goal was also what insights I could derive and what solutions I would implement based on those insights.

I think I did a good job here. I made it a point to use "qualitative" and "quantitative" data and talk about examples as well as walking through my thought process in a detailed way.

I was a little thrown off initially because I was expecting this to be like, I get presented a scenario, and then I have some time to work on it, and then present my plan. As opposed to walking through it together with the interviewer. I actually asked them about that structure to clarify.

Towards the end, I felt like their feedback was noticeably very positive. In response to me, they said, "You hit it right on the head" etc. I think I gave them the answer they were looking for in the end.

- Ending thoughts

It was the hardest interview I've ever done. I think I got stronger as the interview went on. I'm pretty sure that I used every example in the scripted notes, and even then, the interviewers went two or three times farther.

It was no joke. It was all I could do to to just counter and stay on my feet while throwing out some shots when I had the chance.

If I had to estimate/ballpark the result right now, thinking positive but also kind of realistically, I'd say:

- The first interviewer is probably a no
- The second interviewer is a toss up, but leaning yes. I gave them my best shots and while I wasn't perfect, I think I may have done enough
- The third interviewer is leaning yes, if not an outright yes. I started slow with them but I got stronger and I think I closed well.

I don't know though. The times in the past when I've been confident that I did really well, I failed and didn't get the job. The times when I haven't been confident, I ended up getting the job.

I do feel like the examples I had in my notes were good, if not strong, and I think that counted for something.

It was a battle.

I want this. I really do. My current TC is above. If I get the job, it would be life changing.

I was told by the initial recruiter that there was no range for the position (uh ok).

Eventually, they started with:

- $120k base
- $55k equity, no cliff, if I understood correctly, the money is able to be accessed without waiting a year
- 15% annual bonus

I countered with:

- $130k base, which they were fine with, and they said it would be a problem if I was asking for a $30k increase. So max might be a $20-25k increase?

I'll try to get to $140k if I get the offer.

- $60 to $70k equity which they were fine with

- just didn't negotiate on bonus (which I'm not sure if that's even negotiable).

Recruiter said interview debriefing happens Tuesday mornings, and since I was in the afternoon, they'll get back to me with an answer by EOD, 2/8.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if it's a rejection. But it would really mean a lot if I got the job.