Facebook E6 Interview: Part 1: How I Started The Process
First, I would like to state that I am writing this series in hopes of someone finding them useful. I was, like many, filled with anxiety leading up to the interview. I benefited from information that was volunteered by others here and it calmed my nerves, gave me confidence, and set me in a good path. I want to give back.
Now that the interviews are over and I am waiting for the results, I want to pen all of this down to share my notes. I am certain if I get a rejection, my motivation to write all this will diminished very rapidly. I have a pending offer from a well-funded startup, and I am waiting to see if my interview with Facebook is successful. Past this point, I likely won't return to Blind too much.
READ ME
1. This ain’t a “cracking” the Facebook E6 post or some secret winning formula. In fact, at the time of writing, I’m still awaiting results for my virtual on-site. Assume that I didn’t get the offer and decide if you want to continue reading. If you are looking for only success stories, go read something else.
2. What I do is validate and echo some of the great advice I found here, and add my own perspective. No secrets, no backdoor, no shortcuts.
3. I don’t subscribe to the TC/GTFO practice. Chances are you need to read this more than I need you to read this. You can GTFO if you disagree. In the flip side, neither will this be a FML pity party post.
4. I do have to break this into a series as I have a lot to share and don’t want to overwhelm myself or the reader. I will attempt to scope the topics into relevant ones in each post.
5. You don’t have to ask for permission to DM me. DM away. I may take some time to respond or not at all. I only returned to Blind to do my research and prep, and learn how to prevent my daughter from growing up to ask for an LV bag. There is also chance I may not log in again after I pen all this down.
6. Life is bigger than FAANG, TC, expensive homes... it is within the normal emotion spectrum to want to do well financially and professionally, but if you find yourself feeling desperate in wanting to land a FAANG job with lofty sounding title, step back.
PART 1. HOW I STARTED THE PROCESS?
Had a current employee referred me for a specific TPM role. I had been a CTO for a startup after serving 12+ years with MSFT. Thought TPM would be appropriate, although I have some tech chops. Was promptly rejected after phone screen, but was contacted by another recruiter within a week who wanted to talk about SW role. I confirmed with my friend that this was a result of the referral, not a coincidence. So referral is no guarantee, but it surely helped me.
She described a E5 role and I told her that I am likely going to fail the coding interview. I have a couple of my own startup projects in “production” and I have build products from ground up. What I cannot do well is code alongside and compete with fresh graduates less than half my age. It would be a recipe for a stressful and short lived career.
The recruiter was persistent and mentioned that they are also considering an E6 leadership role. She described the general responsibility and scope and I felt that I could do well in a leadership role that like.
So game on it is.
In the next post, I cover the phone interview.
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Just kidding :)
[PART 2. THE PHONE INTERVIEW] https://www.teamblind.com/post/Facebook-E6-Interview-Part-2-The-Phone-Interview-1jxzQC8d
Facebook E6 Interview: Part 2. The Phone Interview
comments
Thank you for doing this.
I have my interviews coming up in 2 months. This helps a lot.
Anyway, best of luck to you!
I will share what I did...
The moment the interviewer finish stating the question, chances are within seconds, I have a story in mind. I will repeat the question and couch it as a clarification. At that moment, I appear to be jotting something down on my notepad. While one would guess that I am writing down meaningful notes, I am writing down things like “no ratholing. Speak clearly. Shut up when done!”