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Meta’s engineering culture is open, collaborative and enables creative autonomy—all values that are key to driving real-world impact. We spoke with Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer, or “Schrep” as he’s known to everyone, about how cultivating a transparent culture helps software engineers unlock their creativity and empower them to do their best work. We also sat down with two former interns to hear why Meta’s open culture and focus on mentorship inspired them to join the engineering team full-time.
Bringing the world closer together
Meta’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together, and it’s what drives the engineering team’s focus on building groundbreaking solutions that shape the way the world connects. “The most important thing in my life is people, and at Meta, people are at the center of everything we do,” said Schrep. “I try to help my teams see the potential for technology to bring communities together in new ways and enable them to build deeper connections. I’m very optimistic that technology can pave a path for a better future. And I share this optimism with my teams as a way to motivate them to come to work every day and make a real difference in peoples’ lives.”
Cultivating a culture where information flows freely throughout the organization is key to motivating teams to work towards Meta’s mission. Schrep shared that, “We aim to provide team members with as much information, context and clarity that they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. We have a robust training program to help managers learn how to remove roadblocks, give feedback and help teams operate effectively and collaboratively at scale.”
Cultivating creativity
When it comes to tapping team members’ creative potential, Schrep believes leaders can help remove the day-to-day roadblocks and processes that can hinder creative thinking. “Creativity happens when people don’t feel restricted, and can think, imagine and build without restraint. For creativity to work in a business context, it’s important for team members to clearly see a company’s vision and strategy.”
Some of the creative projects that have spun out of this environment include the work Meta is doing in artificial intelligence (AI). “We’re advancing a field of computer science that has the potential to dramatically improve peoples’ way of life and well-being. For example, the fastMRI project, which is a collaboration between the Facebook AI Research team and NYU Langone, represents how AI can be used to speed up the MRI process, improving patient experiences and outcomes.”
When it comes to advice he’d share for engineers who are early in their careers, Schrep recommends staying curious. “Ask questions even if you think you should know the answer. Building anything interesting requires teamwork, so any time you can help someone else do their best work is time well spent.”
Driving impact as an intern
Emily T., a former intern turned software engineer based in London, shares more about making an impact and our mission of helping people build community.
For Emily T., a former intern and now a software engineer in London, Meta’s mission of helping people build community and stronger connections is what initially drew her to the company. Once she landed the internship, it was the people that made her want to join full time. “Every day of my internship was spent with people I enjoyed being around and learning from. My mentor ended up becoming a friend I still chat with today. She helped me grow as an engineer by teaching me invaluable skills, like how to manage on a large scale, how to progress your work, how to execute your ideas and how to mediate disagreements with other engineers.”
Emily was also able to drive measurable impact during her internship. “People don’t look at your seniority or experience at Meta—we are all valued the same. As an intern, I would be in meetings with very senior engineers unknowingly, where I shared ideas that ended up being implemented.”
“During my internship, I worked on the rebrand of Workplace,” she says. “It made a big impact and changed the product vision entirely. As an intern it was incredible to have the opportunity to influence such a novel product.”
Growing through mentorship
Ricky R., now a software engineer, shares her view on Meta’s culture of giving feedback, mentorship and transparency.
Ricky R., a previous Meta Quest intern who is now a full-time software engineer, was initially impressed by leadership's transparency. “When I joined the team as an intern for Oculus, I appreciated how open Meta executives were about company goals. Instead of remaining in a bubble, I had a strong understanding of what the entire company was working on.”
Meta’s culture of giving feedback helped Ricky grow as a graphics engineer. “During the first half of my internship, the technology and tech stack were all new to me, and I struggled. I was lucky enough to be put on a team of senior graphics engineers who were all willing to help me. My manager was also supportive and open about how to improve. He made my personal growth a priority.”
Because of this mentorship, Ricky was able to expand her skills as an engineer. During the remainder of her internship, she says she worked on impactful projects and was able to ship a lot of code for new features. Once she joined full-time, she participated in multiple hackathons. “I was in a hackathon for Oculus Quest Jam right when it was launching, which was an incredible opportunity. It was so cool to be in the trenches with project managers and senior leaders in the organization who also participated. Even in the company of senior teammates, my opinions on design and product were encouraged. I always have a voice at the table at Meta.”
Throughout the entire engineering org at Meta, engineers and engineering leaders agree that transparency spurs creativity, and strong mentorship leads to lasting growth. No matter how long you’ve been with Meta, you have the ability to not only ask questions to senior teammates, but also drive an impact from day one. It’s an exciting opportunity for engineers and we’d love for you to join us!
This post, originally published on October 5, 2020, was updated on October 11, 2022, to reflect our shift to Meta and new details about team members, roles and responsibilities.
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