Once again, Facebook’s being recognized as an incredible place to work. Glassdoor’s annual list ranks it as the number one tech company to work for, based on the last year in employee reviews.
Lori Goler, who’s worked at Facebook since 2008 and serves as their “Head of People,” is, of course, one of the people the company can thank for that. She’s overseen Facebook’s growth from 500 employees to more than 14,500 across 50 offices in 30 countries.
The annual list isn’t the only ranking she takes into account for personal job satisfaction, though Facebook conducts its own internal reviews and surveys. And according to those, there’s a lot to like about working at Facebook.
But a few common themes resonate, she said.
“People who work here tell us that having an impact is really important to them, so being in a role that has great impact is important to them,” Goler told Mashable. “I think they would tell you that having the opportunity to do work they enjoy and play to their strengths is important to them and that people really like to learn and grow.”
For those interested in a job at Facebook, Mashable asked Goler how to hack the interview process and what she loves about working at the tech company. The interview has been edited for clarity.
I want to work at Facebook. What do I do first?
The first thing for people who are considering working at Facebook is really understanding what it’s like to work at Facebook. I find that a lot of people, almost all the people who come to work at Facebook, really feel connected to the mission of the company to make the world more open and connected. They’ve either had an experience themselves with Facebook or a family member or the way they keep in touch with friends far away, or they’ve been exposed to the impact of Facebook in the world and that is meaningful to them in some way.
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For the college crowd, we have a great internship program that’s an important part of getting to know Facebook. We’re always particularly excited when we have a chance to meet women or other underrepresented minorities who are studying computer science in school. It’s an important part of what we believe we need to continue on this mission.
We’re excited to have this program that we call Facebook University that is for students who are on the early side of their college experience. We find a lot of them eventually come here full-time. It’s building long-term relationships with students.
What’s a perk that might not be obvious to someone looking from the outside?
A reason a lot of people love being at Facebook is the other people at Facebook. I think they find that they’re constantly challenged. They’re in a position where they’re really almost never the smartest person in the room, where they’re really learning and growing from the people around them.
Another thing that’s hard for people to know until they get here is the warmth and sense of family that we have at Facebook. One of the things that went viral a couple years ago is hashtag FB Family. In particular, we use the Workplace product and one of the hashtags you’ll often see is hashtag FB Family.
Is there anything I should keep on my resume and anything I should keep off?
We really believe that people should bring their authentic selves to Facebook.
Be honest and clear about the things you do best and enjoy. We really want to be sure that when people get here they are in jobs that play to their strengths. Understanding what that is for yourself is an important part of considering the different roles that are available.
Does Facebook operate as a team environment?
We take good care of our people. It comes through in benefits that are very focused on families, making it one of the best places for people with a family. I think that one thing that you feel is that teamwork. It’s definitely a place where people collaborate, where they put Facebook first, where they jump right in to do things across the organization that they’re needed.
One of the posters on the wall says, “Nothing at Facebook is someone else’s problem,” and I think that’s definitely a representation of the way we work together.
Image: Kim Kulish/Corbis via Getty Images
Is there any concern about losing your voice?
The great thing about Workplace is just like Facebook the product it gives everyone a voice. It’s a great way to democratize communication from Mark down to the summer interns and back again. We have more Groups than people who work at Facebook. Of course, we have traditional team Groups, but for us, we have groups that represent, it’s not based on hierarchy but based on cross-sectional projects, and there are all kinds of affinity groups: parents of kids with particular interests, Game of Thrones interest. Anything you can think of. And, of course, we also have employee resource groups.
What work-life improvements have you added over the last few years?
We’ve listened to our people in terms of what’s important to that. One of the big things we launched last year was four months of parental leave for men and women, and across the whole world, no matter what office you’re in, you can take four months of parental leave. We’re really interested in making it the best place for families, however you define your family.
How has the interview process changed?
We’ve always looked for builders.
If anything, our interview process is more efficient, but it hasn’t changed dramatically. We’ve always looked for builders. We’re still looking for builders. We’re looking for people who will look at something and think, “Huh, that works pretty well. I think it could be even a little bit better.”
We’re looking for people who can show examples of having done that whether it’s in school or in a work environment or in a volunteer scenario. We’re looking for people who really want to have an impact, not just want to have the opportunity to want to have an impact.
What do you enjoy most about working at the company?
I love the people at Facebook. It’s a family to me. Facebook has ruined me for every other company. I can’t imagine working anywhere else. It’s such a collection of amazing, smart, challenging, fun, warm, caring people, and, for me, that’s the most important thing.
What at Facebook would you like to see added in the future?
I’m really happy with the collection of conveniences and benefits that we have at Facebook. I’d mostly just be sure that we’re representing all the different people as we move forward and continue to grow. People of all different life-stages: people who are caring for elderly parents, people who are caring for young kids and families, people who are just out of college.
