If you aspire to secure a job under Mark Zuckerberg, there is one crucial aspect you need to persuade him on.
While TikTok videos may show people celebrating performance-based bonuses with dance moves, you’ll be relieved to know that mastering the samba isn’t necessary to impress Zuckerberg.
Currently, Zuckerberg’s company, Meta—which oversees popular apps like Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp—employs around 70,000 people. Facebook has recently marked its 20th anniversary.
Though it’s improbable that Zuckerberg has conducted interviews with all his employees, when candidates reach the stage of personally interacting with the tech leader, he focuses on one main criterion.
During a business town hall in 2015, Zuckerberg shared his hiring approach, as quoted by The Independent: “I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person.”
He elaborated, “It’s a pretty good test.”
In a 2018 episode of the Recode Decode podcast, Zuckerberg reiterated this idea.
“If the tables were turned and you were looking for a job, would you be comfortable working for this person,” Zuckerberg stated, “then you’re doing something expedient, but you’re not doing as well as you can.”
Additionally, Zuckerberg described this hiring approach as the ‘single most important thing’ in assessing a candidate’s potential for success.
Critical thinking is another key attribute for Zuckerberg.
In a recent discussion with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, the billionaire emphasized the importance of ‘learning how to think critically and learning values when you’re young’.
This philosophy guides his approach to hiring.
Zuckerberg explained: “If people have shown that they can go deep and do one thing really well, then they’ve probably gained experience in, like, the art of learning something.”
While Zuckerberg has disclosed his key interview question, fellow tech leader Bill Gates has shared the ‘perfect’ response to salary expectation inquiries.
Gates advises saying: “I hope the option package is good. I’m able to take risk and I think the company has a great future, so I prefer to get stock options even more than cash compensation.”
Imagine providing this answer as an early Apple employee… you would be quite prosperous today.