Currently a project manager looking to get into non-tech FAANG (or comparable) roles, mostly HR/Operations/non-tech PjM. I’ve gone through a handful of interviews with TikTok, Meta, Twitch, LinkedIn, etc varying from getting to hiring managers or team matching to just only getting screened by recruiters. Many apps just get passed over before even speaking with recruiters. I’ve applied directly through career sites, from random referrals and even old colleague referrals as well.
Haven’t been able to get any offers from anywhere though. Getting a little demoralized with the consistent negative results, interviewing is already tough as is.
Been job hunting for 11 months now. Are there ever any early career roles at these companies that are true entry-level? The ones I’m able to find are only open to new grads which I’m not. But I feel like that may be my best bet at being competitive enough, not sure if that’s been the problem.
YOE: 6
TC: 50k
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FAANG doesn’t hire project managers because there’s no space for this as a singular role.
This early in your career you should be prioritizing learning, development, and exploration, not beelining for FAANG simply because. Engineers do it because these companies are solving hard problems that aren’t being solved elsewhere (or so they believe). For your role it doesn’t make sense and you need to shift priorities before the industry leaves you behind.
Want to feel rewarded? Go volunteer at an animal shelter. I'm here to get paid.
So let's not shame people for seeking out class leading pay and benefits.
I’ll admit that I am looking at FAANG TC, who doesn’t? Nowhere else really competes.
But additionally, I am genuinely interested with the intersections of tech/social product and people/consumers. Leading me to FAANG as opposed to fintech, biotech, finance, entertainment/media, sales, etc.
I’ve seen PgM/Operations roles that I’d love to do with these companies as I want to be part of their mission but I’m not looking to be a SWE or PM. I’m wondering how to break into those types of roles, HR, People Ops (but not recruiting). The roles I tend to find are all more senior and I never see any true entry level/junior roles.
“FAANG doesn’t hire project managers because there’s no space for this as a singular role.” I have no idea what this person is on about, In my company it’s one of the biggest jobs by volume under SWE/Hardware. They are called “programme managers”
there are loads of “how to get a PGM job” videos on YouTube and prep questions. Ideally they are looking for someone that can run a program/project, keep it on track, progress through blockers, influence, work in ambiguity and get the job done. Your comms have to be top notch.
Projects can make up a programme and smaller programmes can make up larger programmes.
Product managers (who I would say is the CEO of a area) will then engage a PGM to get the programme working. A programme can be seen as the critical pieces of several projects needed for MVP. After MVP there may still be project completions required (documentation, testing, reporting needed) but the main thing is done.
Typically the parts of a programme (the projects)are executed by direct reports or ICs. But they are still PGMs
The programmes I work on have SWE involved but are not the bulk of the work. An example would be bringing on a vendor, lot of legal and contracts. Walking the vendor through onboarding process, engineers working on APIs etc and then vendor managers working on payments etc.
Competition for non-tech roles is very high, mostly because of the two things you mentioned (Competitive pay and annual performance reviews leading to a good career trajectory for high performers, opportunities to work on high complexity projects).
It sounds like you’re doing all that you can. Tailoring your resume to the specific role you’re applying for, asking for referrals from people at the company. Keep grinding and best of luck!
Hopefully one of these days it pans out :)
You might want to look for IC2/3 roles. Meta has a lot of those in Global Operations org.
HR and recruiting is entirely different. If you mix those in then i think the hiring team wont be thrilled to hear that you are also considering those. Non tech is very broad. You still need to narrow down whats your interest and strength, eg is it vendor management? Ops excellence? Policy? Business development? Partnerships? Communications? Etc
I’ve seen some where the tasks sound aligned with what I’m currently doing but the leveling is much higher than what is actually posted (after reaching out to people internally).
Vendor management, ops excellence or comms would be my ideal trajectory