We recently sat down with Jennifer, a Seattle-based iOS engineer, to find out what it is about her job that makes her show up to work every day with a smile on her face. Her answer was simple: she takes advantage of Facebook’s work culture, which empowers people to tailor their roles specifically to their personal interests and work style.

The other thing that makes her happiest? Working on products and features that people around the world love to use every day.

“The first time I saw someone using a feature I had worked on was at Disney World in Florida. It made me so incredibly happy to see people outside of Facebook using something that I had built. It wasn’t just data on a screen telling me that people used it, I could see it with my own eyes - and that’s what really makes work worth it for me.”

Jennifer was kind enough to share her top tips for other engineers to create a job that makes them excited to get to the office every morning.

Facebook has an incredible Bootcamp program that all new hires go through in order to get acquainted with the different teams and the projects they’re working on. The best part is that at the end of the six-week program, you get to choose which team you want to be part of. When I started at Facebook Seattle, I really wanted to join the Ratings and Reviews team, but they were only based in Menlo Park at the time. Instead of just giving up and choosing another team, I decided to take a chance and ask the Ratings and Reviews engineering manager if they would let me and another bootcamp friend extend the team to the Seattle site. Long story short, they said yes! I had only been at the company for a short period of time, so it felt really incredible that they trusted me enough to start a new team. I don’t think many other companies would have given me so much freedom, and it really showed me right off the bat how much the team here values each individual and their happiness.

The 70/30 Rule was introduced to me when I started by other senior engineers as a suggested guide to follow in order to balance my time between our everyday work that needs to get done, and forward-looking projects that also pique our interest. It’s not a requirement that we follow this rule, but I love it! It’s really allowed me to diversify my work and make sure I’m always thinking ahead to my next big project.

With the 70/30 Rule, I spend around 70% of my time on projects that will have an immediate impact on users and that show tangible metrics. The other 30% is spent on exploratory projects that I would like to see come to fruition in the future, and that I think might ultimately become my next 70% project.

The 70/30 Rule helps anyone who wants to participate in it manage their time and mix up what they’re working on. The beauty is that can make the rule 80/20, 90/10 — whatever fits your work style best!

The one thing that delighted me the most when I started working at Facebook was how willing and invested everyone is in helping each other. It might sound cliche, but the atmosphere at Facebook is completely different from any of my past jobs where engineers are constantly competing with each other. A huge reason that I’ve worked at Facebook longer than any other company is the collaborative culture. One of my biggest tips is to take the time to ask questions. If you want to learn something, there are plenty of people willing to help you out. At Facebook, we’re a team that constantly pushes each other to improve.

I tend to get a little antsy around the year-and-a-half mark of working on the same thing, but here at Facebook, that isn’t a problem! I can work on just about any team that interests me. In fact, throughout my four years at Facebook, I’ve worked on a variety of projects — from group video calling, to inbox software architecture, to platform sharing, to rating and reviews. Facebook has fueled my curiosity. I never get bored because I know there are so many projects that I can explore and work on if I choose to.

My last piece of advice for aspiring engineers? Follow your passion. If you’re curious about how something works or how it’s built, you should just follow through and try to understand it! If you’re working on something you’re passionate about, then it’s not really work anymore.