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Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

cnbc.com

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Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#51

Post by clairity »

jfasi wrote: post #38

I just spent three months hiring in NYC, and now that I think about it, I haven't seen a single person mention they were considering counteroffers from Facebook. For context, Facebook and Google are the two largest tech companies with a significant NYC presence. It's telling that a substantial portion of our candidates admitted to considering competing offers from Google, but literally no one was considering Facebook…

> "It's telling that a substantial portion of our candidates admitted to considering competing offers from Google, but literally no one was considering Facebook."

intersting anecdote. google is a bigger concern for privacy and personal liberty, yet jobseekers are shunning facebook because of the more wide-ranging negative press.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#53

Post by malandrew »

JohnFen wrote: post #4

Wow! Every so often, I see something that makes me feel hopeful about the future. This is one of those times.

I wouldn't get too optimistic. If the types of candidates that can make a positive social impact on the direction of the company don't join the company, that leaves Facebook with only those candidates joining that will continue to make it commercially successful without the positive social impact.

Basically, if you're unhappy with a Facebook with talented do-gooder employees, just wait until we've got a Facebook with only talented employees that don't care about do-gooding.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#54

Post by malandrew »

5trokerac3 wrote: post #27

Facebook's brand is tainted enough now that smart engineers don't want any of the bleedover into their personal brand that would come from working there. How many engineers, in hiring positions, do you know that have a positive opinion of FB?

I know lots of engineers, in hiring positions, that have a positive opinion of FB.

They still do great engineering and someone working there will learn a lot and take those skills to their next job.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#56

Post by sushisushisushi »

camjohnson26 wrote: post #33
5trokerac3 wrote: post #27

Facebook's brand is tainted enough now that smart engineers don't want any of the bleedover into their personal brand that would come from working there. How many engineers, in hiring positions, do you know that have a positive opinion of FB?

Ok but how many engineers use React, yarn, or graphql? Facebook is still leading the way in front end development and it’s still a net positive to have that name on your resume. Their brand isn’t any more tainted than Google, Microsoft, or Amazon.

I've got good news for you. You can contribute to these projects (and put your contributions on your résumé) without having the Facebook taint. e.g.:

* https://github.com/facebook/react/pulls

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#58

Post by nicoburns »

mrtksn wrote: post #35
nostrademons wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think there is any company in the FAANG that is an altruistic enterprise I feel like Google started that way, and then lost its way sometime between 2009-2012. Projects like Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Summer of Code, Google Reader, Google Open Source, Google.org, and pulling out of China didn't really have much of a business justification, but were simply something good that they could do. Unfortu…

I don't think that it has anything to do with altruism. Back then, it was not the right time to optimise for profit as new and exciting things were happening daily, it was time to explore not to exploit. These days the exciting things are happening in other areas, so for the Internet giants, it's time to optimize for profit.

> it was time to explore not to exploit.

Is that not a pretty good definition of not being evil. IMO it is still the time to explore not exploit, even if that's not what they're doing.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#59

Post by malandrew »

mrkstu wrote: post #45
decebalus1 wrote: post #31

Hmm... the headline is in direct contradiction with what I read on Blind. People are still flocking at Facebook's gate for an offer.

The difference being, the very best, with multiple offers, are choosing another path. Its like the very best high school students with offers from Harvard, Princeton and Yale- but suddenly Facebook is being treated as if it's Dartmouth or Cornell instead of Princeton and being left with the leavings of the very best instead of having its pick. Still very talented people to be sure, but not the 'best.'

how do we know that the ones no longer seeking employment are the very best and not just the ones that are most woke?

> Among top schools, such as Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and Ivy League universities, Facebook’s acceptance rate for full-time positions offered to new graduates has fallen from an average of 85% for the 2017-2018 school year to between 35% and 55% as of December, according to former Facebook recruiters. The biggest decline came from Carnegie Mellon University, where the acceptance rate for new recruits dropped to 35%.

It's entirely possible that the 35-55% of those that are still accepting offers at FB are the most talented of the people that have interviewed at FB and gotten offers.

I know a lot of great engineers, woke and politically indifferent. The most effective ones that I've worked with are the least politically engaged because they are more heavily engaged with building things than politics.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#60

Post by rongenre »

clairity wrote: post #51
jfasi wrote: post #38

I just spent three months hiring in NYC, and now that I think about it, I haven't seen a single person mention they were considering counteroffers from Facebook. For context, Facebook and Google are the two largest tech companies with a significant NYC presence. It's telling that a substantial portion of our candidates admitted to considering competing offers from Google, but literally no one was considering Facebook…

> "It's telling that a substantial portion of our candidates admitted to considering competing offers from Google, but literally no one was considering Facebook." intersting anecdote. google is a bigger concern for privacy and personal liberty, yet jobseekers are shunning facebook because of the more wide-ranging negative press.

I wonder how much of it is that Facebook isn't all that much fun anymore, and working there would provoke all sorts of "I don't use it anymore" comments from one's peers.
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