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Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

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Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#1

Post by Sam_Odio »

When looking for talented engineers I know of no other community with a higher signal/noise ratio than HN (well maybe Stackoverflow?).

I also know of no project to work on that is like Facebook Photos. The team is about the size of an angel funded startup, yet the scale of the fbPhotos is larger than any other app (Facebook or not) that I know of. By almost any metric it's an order of magnitude larger than any other photo sharing website.

=====Why?===== You'll work on hard problems at a huge scale. Expect to be responsible for mission critical features that will touch hundreds of millions of people. You'll be deploying code your first week here. I'm not kidding. This isn't HR-speak.

Client-side image editing algorithms, third-party API integration, data processing & warehousing, facial recognition, hi-res uploads, image matching[1], ... there are plenty of hard problems to solve.

I can promise you that it won't be easy, but it will be rewarding.

=====Interested?===== Don't email recruiting, I'll refer you internally [2]. Find my Facebook email in my profile. Use it to email me 3 sentences. One should be why you're excited about photos (or hard problems). Another should describe a cool project you've worked on. Links/examples of deployed code is best. The last sentence should be why you're going to pass Facebook's engineering interviews [3].

Hesitating? Go ahead and send that email. It might just be the best decision you make today.

---

1. http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=robust+image+hashing - does that excite you?

2. Internal referrals are given priority. Also, there is a referral bonus. Once you complete Bootcamp and join the photos team I will give 50% to you and 50% to the photos team (for trips, cool toys, etc).

3. I don't have the authority to bypass the standard interview process. There will be lots of algorithm questions (sorting / tree traversals, etc.) http://www.glassdoor.com/Interview/Facebook-Engineering-Interview-Questions

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#3

Post by dotBen »

There is something fishy about this, or just not cool about it.

He's going to give 50% of the referral fee back to the candidate? Links to the answers of FB's engineering questions over on a 3rd party site (presumably to help you pass the interview process)?

I'm sure its a legitimate call for applicants by a member of staff - it just seems fishy, or at the very least not the right way to go about things.

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#4

Post by Sam_Odio »

dotBen wrote: post #3

There is something fishy about this, or just not cool about it. He's going to give 50% of the referral fee back to the candidate? Links to the answers of FB's engineering questions over on a 3rd party site (presumably to help you pass the interview process)? I'm sure its a legitimate call for applicants by a member of staff - it just seems fishy, or at the very least not the right way to go about things.

I understard that it's unusual for a large corp to make a personal appeal on hn. However fb is more like a startup than a big corp.

It's pretty standard practice for fb employees to give part of their referral bonuses back to their friends. Are you suggesting that I keep it for myself?

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#5

Post by dotBen »

Sam_Odio wrote: post #4
dotBen wrote: post #3

There is something fishy about this, or just not cool about it. He's going to give 50% of the referral fee back to the candidate? Links to the answers of FB's engineering questions over on a 3rd party site (presumably to help you pass the interview process)? I'm sure its a legitimate call for applicants by a member of staff - it just seems fishy, or at the very least not the right way to go about things.

I understard that it's unusual for a large corp to make a personal appeal on hn. However fb is more like a startup than a big corp. It's pretty standard practice for fb employees to give part of their referral bonuses back to their friends. Are you suggesting that I keep it for myself?

Um, yeah if you don't feel the need to take a referral bonus for yourself then why take it in the first place?

I've been a hiring manager in the past. A company uses referral bonuses to incentivize staff to bring in the top talent into the company.

If you are really not motivated by the referral bonus (eg your startup was aquired and you're not short of cash these days) then you shouldn't take it - the start up could use the valuable cash elsewhere. I guess burn isn't a big problem for Facebook, but then to your point in your comment, Facebook is still a big startup isn't it? (is it?)

I also think its poor to offer image on the interview questions/answers (yes, even if they are on a public site somewhere). If I was the hiring manager I would be upset by that as it skews my ability to interview all candidates equally (ie the ones who did see the interview questions and the ones that did not).

I don't think you are coming from a bad place or doing anything under-hand but I think it isn't the right and professional way of obtaining talent.

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#6

Post by Sam_Odio »

dotBen wrote: post #5
Sam_Odio wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understard that it's unusual for a large corp to make a personal appeal on hn. However fb is more like a startup than a big corp. It's pretty standard practice for fb employees to give part of their referral bonuses back to their friends. Are you suggesting that I keep it for myself?

Um, yeah if you don't feel the need to take a referral bonus for yourself then why take it in the first place? I've been a hiring manager in the past. A company uses referral bonuses to incentivize staff to bring in the top talent into the company. If you are really not motivated by the referral bonus (eg your startup was aquired and you're not short of cash these days) then you shouldn't take it - the start up could…

No offense but I'll let the hiring manager at facebook (not some guy on the 'net) decide whether I should get a referral bonus.

All I'm saying here is that anything I get will go back to the team/applicant.

I'm not sure how that's shady.

I'd take down the glass door link if I could to appease you. Personally, I think it's better that all photo team applicants see it rather than the few that find it through some cursory pre-interview research.

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#7

Post by [deleted] »

dotBen wrote: post #5
Sam_Odio wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understard that it's unusual for a large corp to make a personal appeal on hn. However fb is more like a startup than a big corp. It's pretty standard practice for fb employees to give part of their referral bonuses back to their friends. Are you suggesting that I keep it for myself?

Um, yeah if you don't feel the need to take a referral bonus for yourself then why take it in the first place? I've been a hiring manager in the past. A company uses referral bonuses to incentivize staff to bring in the top talent into the company. If you are really not motivated by the referral bonus (eg your startup was aquired and you're not short of cash these days) then you shouldn't take it - the start up could…

[deleted]

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#8

Post by dotBen »

Sam_Odio wrote: post #6
dotBen wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, yeah if you don't feel the need to take a referral bonus for yourself then why take it in the first place? I've been a hiring manager in the past. A company uses referral bonuses to incentivize staff to bring in the top talent into the company. If you are really not motivated by the referral bonus (eg your startup was aquired and you're not short of cash these days) then you shouldn't take it - the start up could…

No offense but I'll let the hiring manager at facebook (not some guy on the 'net) decide whether I should get a referral bonus. All I'm saying here is that anything I get will go back to the team/applicant. I'm not sure how that's shady. I'd take down the glass door link if I could to appease you. Personally, I think it's better that all photo team applicants see it rather than the few that find it through some curso…

No offense, but if you are going to mention splitting referral bonuses and the like on a public forum, people might make a comment about it - it's the nature of these public forum thingies.

Ditto seeing as we're here to discuss the practices of running startups, among other things

Anyway, I'm sure the realities of working for a BigCo will continue to sink in as time goes on (if you think Facebook is still a startup, keep drinking the koolaid). Congrats on the sale to Facebook, I hope the next few years on the earn out are good for you.

EDIT: I notice you added the comment about the glassdoor link... it's not about appeasing me, it's your team and your employer, do what you like. But I would comment that while the interview Q's are out there, if someone was going to walk into my interview office with them already in their head, I'd like to think it is because they were savvy enough to go find them on their own and not because my staff member pointed the candidate directly to them. Just saying.

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#9

Post by fleitz »

Sam_Odio wrote: post #6
dotBen wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, yeah if you don't feel the need to take a referral bonus for yourself then why take it in the first place? I've been a hiring manager in the past. A company uses referral bonuses to incentivize staff to bring in the top talent into the company. If you are really not motivated by the referral bonus (eg your startup was aquired and you're not short of cash these days) then you shouldn't take it - the start up could…

No offense but I'll let the hiring manager at facebook (not some guy on the 'net) decide whether I should get a referral bonus. All I'm saying here is that anything I get will go back to the team/applicant. I'm not sure how that's shady. I'd take down the glass door link if I could to appease you. Personally, I think it's better that all photo team applicants see it rather than the few that find it through some curso…

Is it ok to go past 3 sentences?

Admittedly I went way over, but I thought it may be helpful to the other applicants to know.

The topic is very exciting and I needed to write more :(

Re: Largest photo site in the world looking for HNers (Facebook job post)

#10

Post by OoTheNigerian »

Sam, I think you have done no wrong here. From my experience, if you appear 'too helpful' people become suspicious. Strange, but that is the reality. Human beings are not expected to be that nice, period. Cheers dude! I hope you get the best people.
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