Meta

Facebook is an incredible place to work. You are constantly surrounded by some of the world's most intelligent and capable people, and Facebook's open culture allows you to really learn from your peers and their experiences.

As an intern, I didn't get some random project that would be scrapped the second I left. It was real, meaningful work that has been on my team's roadmap for years. Between employees and even interns, there's an implicit level of trust and mutual respect between co-workers that I think would be difficult to find anywhere else. If you're here, you are probably GOOD at what you do. When a team of people truly trust each other and their ability to deliver, it makes for a strong team.

The internship program itself is absolutely amazing. I really feel that I have a better grasp of what it means to be a great software engineer. I've also learned what qualities and traits define strong managers so I can better recognize them in the future, a skill that is deeply underrated. The compensation and benefits are absolutely incredible – on par with other Silicon Valley tech companies (still incredible). The programs that the intern program managers organized were also amazing – my favorite were the Q&As with members of senior management, including Mark, Sheryl, Brian Acton, Palmer Luckey, and others.

One thing I really noticed about my short time at Facebook is that people are just plain happy. I don't know if it's just a California thing, but I felt like I was surrounded by people that genuinely liked being there. From little things like the security guard wishing me a happy "Thursday eve" to deep one-on-one conversations with my manager, it became evident that people were very comfortable expressing themselves.

Facebook moves fast. Really, really fast. The pace definitely took some getting used to, but I think it's coupled with the implicit trust I mentioned before.

I had to come up to speed with the tech stack (completely foreign to me before) very quickly so I could actually contribute, and there is so much to learn.

There are definitely extremely high expectations. It was sort of a sink-or-swim environment. That being said, people were open in acknowledging this, and my co-workers were always open to assisting me if I was struggling with something. Even with the high bar for performance, it never really felt very stressful because everyone was so supportive.

Don't let the culture change too much as the company grows.