Pros
Instead of completing a formal review, I’ll share a post I made to celebrate my 1 year anniversary since joining Facebook.
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Today marks my first year at Facebook. We call it a Faceversary. And, while celebrating your work
anniversary might seem a bit frivolous (or at least I thought so early on), I quickly learned to appreciate the FB tradition that’s built around these Faceversaries. It’s valuable to reflect on all that happens in a year at work, considering how much energy, time, and effort we put into it.
When you make it to your 10-year milestone (my count down starts now), you get the opportunity to join Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and others on the management team to tell a 10-year Faceversary story to the entire company. Those are always funny or emotional, or both.
So, what can I share after my first year here?
TL;DR: Work with and learn from the very best people. Drinking from the firehose and learning a ton. Autonomy, authority and support. World-class benefits. Open culture to the bones. An inside look at how serious everyone is about minimizing the bad and building more of the good. Five core values in action. Pretty darn happy.
I get the pleasure to work with incredible, impressive, and talented people daily. Both within the walls of Facebook, but also with clients and partners who are working on some unbelievable things. My pod and my core team are just legendary. This isn’t lip service. I really get to work with and learn from the very best.
I’ve learnt SO MUCH. About digital advertising and marketing. About financial services. About media. About other industry verticals I previously knew nothing about. About navigating complex circumstances. About working for a company that’s constantly in the spotlight. About digging deeper to really understand. About cross-functional collaboration. About partnerships. About technology. And much more. Internally, they say every day at Facebook is equivalent to a week. I now know why.
I have the autonomy, authority, and support I need to be successful and run my marketing consulting business the way I see fit. Further, I get to shape and influence how businesses engage, nurture, and build new relationships with people.
I have access to incredible benefits that I’m astonished by daily and so grateful for. In fact, I’m writing this post while on paid paternity leave to spend time with my family and our new addition, Logan.
Facebook fosters an open culture that is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Mark hosts a weekly company-wide Q&A where he addresses thoughtful and difficult questions about a wide-range of issues and opportunities. Everyone, from Interns to tenured employees, are welcome to ask anything and they don’t face judgement or criticism for raising difficult topics. On our internal Workplace (Facebook for Work), I can join and learn about a whole host of interesting projects, regardless of whether I’m involved in them.
I’ve learnt a lot about both the harmful ways and the incredibly positive ways Facebook can be used. I get a firsthand look at how serious everyone is about minimizing the bad and building more of the good.
There are 5 core values that guide how we work at Facebook. And I see them in practice regularly. Build social value. Move fast. Be bold. Be open. Focus on impact.
I’ve always been fortunate in my career. I’ve worked on amazing teams, on fascinating projects, with inspiring mentors and leaders. Facebook has been a continuation of that for me. But, I must say, I’ve never been this happy.
So, here’s to one amazing year and the many more to follow!
Cons
The bar has been set so high for any future employer to be within my consideration set. I’m truly spoiled.
