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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

#111

Post by mithr »

gambler wrote: post #44

>Facebook candidates are asking much tougher questions about the company’s approach to privacy, according to multiple former recruiters. This narrative is highly suspicious. Zukerberg openly and repeatedly said that he doesn't care about anyone's privacy for well over a decade [1]. The whole company is built around collecting and selling private information. Why would people who care about privacy interview with Face…

I think that over the past couple of years in particular, the real-world consequences of all of this have really come into the spotlight.

It's one thing to hear a tech CEO talk about something you may not agree with -- many people just categorize it as "a Facebook thing" (as in, huh, maybe I'll try to use their products less) and move on with their day. It's quite another to come to the realization that non-trivial parts of (what many see as) seriously negative political consequences have come from these products and, being fully aware of these, the CEO/company still hasn't meaningfully acted.

And with all the recent publicity (there's a difference between being mentioned in the technology section of a paper, and giving a congressional testimony), pretty much no one can say anymore that they aren't aware of it, or haven't thought about it.

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

#112

Post by throwaway55554 »

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.

Ok, but Blind is filled with the type of people who would fit right in at FB.

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

#114

Post by malvosenior »

dylan604 wrote: post #99
bhtru wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have time, can you elaborate why you believe Google is a larger threat to personal liberty and privacy?

I too was curious of this balance weighting. FB slurps in all of the data that users voluntarily post. Google just learns things through inference about users whereas FB is getting data posted directly by the user. Seems to me that FB is able to be way more invasive.

Do you not consider Gmail data posted voluntarily by the user? How about search queries or calendar entries?

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

#115

Post by humanrebar »

rongenre wrote: post #60
clairity wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "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.

Or maybe prospects don't use Facebook either and it seems odd to contribute to a website you don't even visit.

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

#116

Post by [deleted] »

allthecybers wrote: post #9

This is not a surprising headline. If you have values about privacy, decency, civil discourse, honesty or integrity you wouldn’t want to work there. Also, if you feel the company was collusive or willingly complicit in the dissemination of fake news and Russian propaganda efforts during our elections, it’d be a big fat “no” to working there. And it’s not just our democracy that is undermined by FB. There’s a litany o…

[deleted]

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

#117

Post by throwaway55554 »

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.'

> The difference being, the very best,...

... at doing LeetCode all day.

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

#118

Post by hahamrfunnyguy »

esoterica wrote: post #19
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> their compensation packages may no longer be competitive They're competitive cash-wise. But the career hit is unmistakable. (My friends who had other options eventually got tired of carrying around reputation that comes with that place. If you have no other options, that's one thing. But not everyone loves broadcasting that fact.)

There is no career hit associated with Facebook. That’s just ludicrous wishful thinking. People love to complain about Goldman Sachs too, but that still looks good on a resume.

Personally, I wouldn't overlook someone who worked at Facebook. I don't really like them as a company, but it doesn't mean everyone who works there is a bad actor.

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

#119

Post by pawelk »

gambler wrote: post #44

>Facebook candidates are asking much tougher questions about the company’s approach to privacy, according to multiple former recruiters. This narrative is highly suspicious. Zukerberg openly and repeatedly said that he doesn't care about anyone's privacy for well over a decade [1]. The whole company is built around collecting and selling private information. Why would people who care about privacy interview with Face…

> Why would people who care about privacy interview with Facebook in the first place?

I believe this may come from the responses to cold e-mails. A recruiter working for FB presents an offer. They want to tell them to GTFO and they highlight the privacy concerns in the response to say thanks, but no thanks.

At least that's what I do when a recruiter working for a company I find morally incompatible approaches me. I reply with something like "The tech stack looks great and my professional experience aligns with what the job description requires. However I don't think I'd feel comfortable working for a company, but I'm open to hear about similar positions in other areas if you had any in the future."

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

#120

Post by just_myles »

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.

That is a fair point. But, that's not what the topic is about. Just because they contributed to front-end development doesn't make them any less questionable. Not saying I wouldn't want to work there myself. They do some good work there i'm sure.
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