Ask HN: Is it wise to accept an intern position at Meta?
I'm in the late rounds of interviewing at Meta/FB for an intern position. I was extremely lucky to get this opportunity, and the interviews so far have gone really well. I think I will get the position.
Because this would be my first position in industry, it's already difficult to get my foot in the door.
However, The news I keep seeing around Meta lead me to think the whole thing is a sinking ship. Should I actually accept the offer? I have no confidence in the Metaverse, and the "Metamates" stuff just comes off as delusional.
From my perspective, the Meta/Metaverse rebranding isn't a sign of growth but rather a sign of desperation. It seems a bit silly to work at a company you have no confidence in, and one that the average person seems to hate, but getting my foot in the door is hard enough as it is.
Is Meta a sinking ship? Should I actually continue with the offer and hope to pivot to something else in the future?
66 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 129 ms ] threadAsk yourself: "If you're asking yourself this question, can you excel two years working for an employer you appear to despise?"
Me, no. My wife, definitely.
There are very bright people working there. This is your chance to get to network with brilliant folks and learn valuable work and life lessons.
Meta has solid engineering reputation. You'll learn a lot and have a good mark on your resume from there on, even if you don’t take a return offer.
They now employ the creator of BtrFS, among many others who contribute greatly to open source projects.
The connections that you might make could prove invaluable, even if Meta is not for you when you graduate.
From everything I've heard talking to fb'ers it's still a fun place to work, comp is good, and there are interesting problems to solve.
Internships usually turn into full-time offers, I'd only turn this down if you're also getting an internship offer somewhere else that you know you want to work at full time.
If you have the potential to start your career at Facebook or any other FAANG type business is a kick start that is invaluable. The networking and exposure you will have will open doors for years. Take it if they offer it to you.
But it also depends on what you want to work with in the future, and what kind of companies those are. Experience with FAANG, depending on the company, can actually make employers wary of you instead of amazed. I've seen companies expressing this myself, when I've helped companies with improving their hiring process and they talk about previous bad experiences hiring people who only had FAANG experience, people who try to shoehorn their "everything needs to scale 1000x" solutions into everything instead of being pragmatic, and also a disregard for slurping up data from users left or right and sending to 3rd parties, or even considering various solutions that are borderline unethical.
In general though, any experience in the beginning of your career will be good for your future prospects, so I wouldn't worry too much unless you have a specific idea of companies you want to work with in the future.
While this is usually the case I feel that the when it comes to perception of Facebook the community of hackernews woefully underestimates the discontent towards Facebook in broader society.
Whether it's feigned obliviousness due to financial incentives or just an outright bizarrely delusional worldview the bay area SWE archetype of hackernews just can't quite see the forest for the trees when it comes to Facebook.
Akin to the opiate epidemic across America many people have personally seen their family members consumed by Facebook and so they have come to view Facebook with the same scorn as one would have towards a drug dealer.
Others who haven't lost friends or family personally from the actions of Facebook have instead seen the corrosive impact that Facebook has had on their communities, pitting neighbours against neighbours and friends against friends.
History will not be kind to Facebook and the impact that it has had on our society. 2022 is probably not the year of the Facebook intern and it's only going to get worse from here on out.
I think there are valid concerns about ethics, long term prospects, etc. But in an internship you aren't going to suffer any of those.
So unless you have ethical reservations, which is a perfectly respectable position to take, i'd accept the offer and learn/earn as much as you can.
It can be a good engine for your career growth, but remember to weigh that against any bad you'll be doing too - no company is perfect, but if you're likely to get an offer there, you can definitely do great things in better places
If you take the internship and love working there, then great. If you end up hating it (or just wanting to try something else) it'll help you on that road.
Unless you have a more compelling offer elsewhere, it's a win-win for you, plus it pays well (for engineering).
- Learn a ton
- Have a really good bullet point on your resume (Meta engineers are hired at all other FAANG all the time)
- Have a lot of fun (assuming Summer 2022 internship, and COVID is behind us by then)
During the 2nd part of your internship, apply to other companies you're interested in. Assuming your internship goes well, Meta will extend you a full time offer (or a 2nd internship if you're not a senior in college yet). This will give you a lot of negotiating power with both Meta and the other companies you're interviewing for.
"Is accepting an internship at one of the most successful companies in the world a good idea?"
Damn. At least consider the ethical implications of working for such a company to add some actual dilemma to the situation, the way you put it just makes it seem so disconnected from reality.
I spent three years at FB following an acquisition. I probably wouldn’t go back, but it was very interesting to see how they manage such an enormous software monolith. The experience will look great on your résumé.
For perspective, consider that somebody in 1994 was asking the same thing about Apple, and somebody in 2004 felt this way about Microsoft.