Facebook Reviews

Pros

Amazing people - hard to overstate this.

You get to choose what you want to work on (Bing "Facebook bootcamp") for more info.

Everyone is really passionate about the product. People care about the folks that use Facebook, and really want to make it a better experience. There are so many cool things we want to do, it'd be hard to get bored.

Things move really fast - there usually has to be a good reason not to do some new cool thing, instead of a reason to do it.

Cons

Since so many people at Facebook are amazing, recognition/awards aren't as frequent as I'd personally like.

I've done stuff that would've earned me instant promotions at a previous company, and only got a "cool, nice job" at Facebook.

It's hard to hear people spread misinformation about Facebook while you're working there - I've gotten so passionate about the company that when people say misguided things like "Facebook sells your information to advertisers", it's hard not to get angry.

Pros

- Still in growth phase, so everything's dynamic and fast-paced
- You own your career: it's up to you to find the work you're good at or like, and maximize your impact

Cons

- Fast-paced and demanding: not for the faint of heart or people looking for a regular 9-5 (which isn't a always a bad thing). You have to constantly focus on impact to succeed.

Advice to Senior Management

Fight hard to keep the "small company" culture of independence and innovation through the inevitable growth, even at the cost of some wasted or redundant resources.

Pros

The openness, inclusion and excitement that we all feel every day. This is truly a company where the people are without a doubt organized more around the mission than their own personal interests or potential gain. We are here because we want to change the way the world works, and the fact that we get paid to do it is amazing.

Cons

It's not a "job" - in many ways it is a life. Long hours are the norm. Hard to completely consider this a con, though, as many of those long hours are spent working on stuff you love with people you admire and befriend.

Pros

- Highly collaborative
- Creating, managing, implementing the "new"
- Create your own function and work
- Amenities!!

Cons

- Reinventing the wheel, while trying to hard to do things the Facebook way
- Inefficient and not wholly integrated efforts due to lack of internal processes
- Not-Invented-Here bias is a prominent attitude

Advice to Senior Management

Management should be willing to consider things that could be adapted instead of reinventing "everything"

Pros

- Super smart people to work with
- again, super smart people
- people are young and dynamic, always willing to help. No question is too dumb to ask, people aways help you.
- everybody working toward the same goal: making the company move forward.
- lots of resource, easy to get machines allocated
- freedom to work on projects that you like
- food is awesome

Cons

- very challenging.
- lots of work
- long hours
- not always clear communication from managemenent.
- lots of koolaid and internal propaganda.
- little recognition. Not too surprising, everybody's doing awesome stuff.

Pros

Huge corporate upside potential (but might not apply to new hires as of 2012).

Fun work environment (free quality food, game rooms, frivolity encouraged, etc.).

High impact in terms of people using your code and recognition.

Good opportunities to try new ideas and move teams.

Cons

Brutally long hours for many, frequent pressure to delay or cancel vacation plans (even outside of release deadlines).

Harsh, unjust, and badly cross-team calibrated reviews coupled with frequent firings so that the stick is very close to the carrot.

It has now grown large enough that internal corporate politics have seeped in.

Management, at all levels, fixated on lots of shiny new features, no matter how broken, and lack of respect for necessary work getting done.

Pros

Great product and challenging programming work.

Cons

Not so good privacy options.

Advice to Senior Management

Care more about privacy of users

Pros

The direction of the company is innovative. The people are smart. The projects are challenging. The benefits and compensation are great.

Cons

I don't believe there are any major cons to working at this company. I plan to work at this company for a long time.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep moving the company in the direction that you are moving it. In 50 years we will be able to look back on the work now and be proud.

Pros

My coworkers are the smartest people I have ever worked with. They love their jobs and they work hard. But they keep a balance in their lives.

Also, the management team is a group of good human beings. They really want to harness the power of what they've created to accomplish something they believe in. They know that if people across the globe can connect - good things will happen. And they have.

Cons

It can feel very chaotic, fly by the seat of your pants, always on the go. It's growing so quickly it's hard to tell who owns what project etc.

Pros

What I love most about working at Facebook:

- The people. I get to work with some of the most talented and passionate people in the world.
- The culture. I love the fact that we get to take big risks and 'move fast and break things'. It's very empowering.
- Impact. All my friends and family use Facebook (+800M people around the world), so it's great to know that people I care about love to use the product that I'm a part of.
- The culinary team. best. food. ever.

Cons

- growing so fast makes it so you don't know everyone at the company anymore, but that's just a product of rapid growth and hiring enough people to sustain and grow the business.

Advice to Senior Management

- thank you for sticking with the mission and keeping the company open and transparent. Please keep this up as we continue to grow.