A few weeks ago, I celebrated my very first Metaversary! That’s what we call a work anniversary at Meta. Time flew by, it feels like just yesterday I was nervous about interviewing. In only 1 year, I’ve learned and grown so much as an engineer, team member and contributor. I put together a list of What I Learned After 1 Year at Meta + Things I Wish I Knew when I started this job post-grad.
Let’s jump right into it!
1. Take time to ramp up
Ramping up is the time you dedicate to understanding what your team does, what the team goals are and where you fit in (interests, etc.). This is the time to ask for all the team documentation, take the time to read it and understand it. Attend all team meetings and ask questions to fill in any blanks you have. Throughout my internships, I learned to never skip any question or doubt I had. The worst thing you can do for yourself and your growth in a new team is hold back while ramping up. The first few months are the worst time to shy away from speaking up for your own clarity.
One of the many things I love about Meta is that new hires are given more than enough time to onboard onto a new team. They provide a full experience for a smooth onboarding. I know it must be exciting to jump into work and start contributing but remember not to rush your ramp up. This time is important for your overall success on the team.
2. A good manager is everything
Once you join Meta (software engineering perspective), you start as a bootcamper. During your time in bootcamp, you learn about your benefits/perks/company culture and all that fun stuff but you also get to meet with team managers and decide if you want to join their team. After my experience at multiple companies and being pre-allocated on a team, this is my favorite thing about Meta. Being given the choice to pick the team you want to be a part of and the manager you want to work with as a new engineer is unmatched!
Engineering managers have one job, to be there for you. Think of them as your own personal career lawyer, they are there to defend you and fight for you. Through my older brother (who has been in the industry for 5+ years) and engineers I worked closely with during all of my internships, I’ve heard all kinds of stories about managers. You can be a great engineer but if you have a manager that doesn’t represent you well whether it’s because they don’t prioritize your growth, know what you’ve been contributing to, dedicate the time to discuss your goals with you, etc, you will only be held back in your career.
That is why it is extremely important to have a good manager. When I was meeting with managers, I knew exactly what I was looking for. I most importantly looked for a manager who had experience managing new grads. I wanted to know I would have the full support to move to the next level within a year. After 1 year at Meta, I couldn’t be happier with the relationship I have with my manager, what I’ve learned from him and his support during my first promotion process. I am comfortable enough to speak up and share anything that’s going on at work and in my personal life as well. Now that I think about it, a good manager might not just be a lawyer for you but a therapist as well 😜.
3. Set a 1 year plan
Some of the best advice I’ve received was given to me by my manager. We were having a conversation about my career growth and he emphasized the importance of setting a goal, no matter how big or small (click here to see the full post about this conversation).
Where do you see yourself in 1 year? What skills would you like to be better at, or learn? Who do you want to be?
Write it down and don’t lose sight of it. Work towards it with small daily actions. Before you know it, a year has flown by and you’re exactly where you wanted to be (maybe even better 😉).
4. Learn all your perks/benefits early on
I’ve been at the company for a little over a year now and I still learn about benefits I didn’t know I had that I could’ve been using! This is a pro tip but learn all of your benefits and perks early on so that you don’t miss out on any of them like I did. Especially at a big tech company like Meta, there’s so much they offer.
5. Don’t be scared to offer improvements
This is a big one that I wish I knew once I started. I joined a team that was fairly new but not new enough for me to feel confident to offer improvements (things that could be designed/implemented better). I caught myself a few times thinking “this can be improved” or “if we did it this way, it would be save us time” but I never brought it up to anyone because I felt that I wasn’t “qualified” to offer such things since I was a new grad.
Next thing I know, we have a new engineer join the team who offers the improvements I thought of just a week into joining the team! This was such an eye-opener for me and big learning lesson. It doesn’t matter how long you’re on the team or where you come from, as an engineer it is your job to speak up and make the team stronger. Ever since then, I’ve spoken everything that’s on my mind… some of it works and some of it doesn’t but that’s just part of the job 😊
6. Team documentation
Okay here’s the thing, I’ve been a new member to many teams the past 1-2 years (this sounds like I’ve moved around a lot but I simply had many internships throughout college) and I’ve learned the importance of good team documentation for new members! At first, when I joined teams that didn’t have good documentation, I would let it go and ask the questions that I had along the way. After it happening so often, I learned the importance of offering to improve this.
You’re an asset to the team, don’t be afraid to make it better for yourself, your team members and future members. This is just a pro tip that if your team currently doesn’t have any documentation, offer to create it.
7. Set up 1:1s
Setting up 1:1s with other engineers on your team (maybe even some outside your team!) is something I always recommend and can’t express enough how beneficial it is. As a new grad, it’s important to take in everything around you. You want to learn from those more experienced than you. Make sure to take advantage of all the resources around you… your team, your manager, your manager’s manager, company resource groups!
When I joined the company, not only did I make sure to join a team with experienced senior engineers that I would learn from but I also set up weekly 1:1s with them. A year later, I couldn’t be more thankful that I did. I’ve read book recommendations, I’ve been introduced to some amazing engineers through these connections, I’ve been invited to events… all because I set up a 30 minute meeting with someone new.
8. Schedule focus days
This is something that I started doing not too long ago… time blocking! As a software engineer, you’re invited to many meetings but you’re also expected to get coding/designing/reviews/etc done. Therefore, I blocked off my Friday’s every week to focus on my work without the interruption of meetings. My productivity increased tremendously! My team members have learned that I don’t meet on Friday’s and they’re very respectful of that. Meta has a great Calendar tool that helps you time block as you wish, this includes silencing your notifications when you’re focusing on work.
9. Take your PTO
Funny story: When I first entered my PTO, I sent a message to my manager asking if I need to submit any additional information for him to approve it. I can tell he found my message amusing 😅 He basically, in a very nice way, told me “we don’t do that here” as in, managers don’t need to approve your PTO and you don’t need to submit anything… just enter it on your calendar.
Learning this taught me how amazing Meta is about employees taking time off. Also, during my first year at Meta, I moved halfway across the country, got married, have taken much needed time off and not once have I felt guilty about missing work.
At Meta, you’re reminded that work comes second.
Which takes me to my next point and final (popular topic) tip…
10. You will determine your own work life balance
Whenever someone asks me where I work and I say Meta.. I either get a comment or a question about my work/life balance. So, let’s talk about it.
After 1 year at a big tech company I have learned that only you will determine your own work/life balance. What does this mean?
At Meta, there is no micromanagement. Your team and manager trust you to get your work done without the need to micromanage you.
The work you are given is determined per half meaning that every 6 months your team comes together and you determine what the team goals are for that half and what you will be working on. During this time, you are encouraged to consider exactly how available you will be during the half and pick up the appropriate amount of work/set feasible goals for yourself.
For example, my team did planning for this half (H2 2022) in June and while we were doing this, I kept in mind that I was going to get married and move states in H2. We also consider that H2 is always vacation heavy due to holidays and write our team goals around that.
If you hear about someone working long hours and not having a healthy work/life balance, here is what comes to mind after working at Meta for 1 year:
- they overestimated their availability/goals for the half (which if it is the case this should be easily resolved with a manager conversation)
- it’s their choice
It really is that simple. At Meta, we are given all the resources to have a healthy work life balance including planning by the half, more than enough PTO, vacation time and mental health days.
And with that being said, your work/life balance is what you make of it.
Sometimes I still feel like a shy college student intimidated by these big tech companies. I couldn’t be happier to have completed my first year as a Software Engineer at Meta (AKA Facebook). Thank you for reading and make sure to join the LE community if you haven’t already 💕
