Aug 23 2018
Three Things that Surprised Me About Working at Facebook by Cheryl D., Director at Facebook
By Meta Careers
Cheryl D., Director for the Ads & Business Platform team, started her career in chemical engineering before transitioning into a new career path working on digital ads. When she had the opportunity to come to Facebook, she decided to take a leap outside her comfort zone to join the team. We asked Cheryl to share her perspective on what surprised her most about Facebook, and how her team’s work is impacting people on Facebook around the world.
Everything I heard about being mission-driven was actually true.
I had long been an admirer of the innovation Facebook brought to the advertising space, such as its measurement and feedback platforms. Some of my former colleagues had joined the company, and they had great things to say about the open, collaborative culture. I’d also heard about how mission-driven the company is; but I thought that no one is as good as their marketing tagline or what their posters say. I quickly learned that everything I’d heard wasn’t just rhetoric - these slogans and statements I’d heard so much about during the interview process were actually true. I’ve never worked at a company so tied to its mission! At Facebook, our mission is central to everything we do, and how we build things. We’re always thinking about the aspirations people have, and how we can connect them.
“A vast majority of the businesses we serve are run by people who are creating a livelihood for themselves..."”
Being on the ads and business side of things, people may think we’re just the ones who generate money to make Facebook’s mission possible. That's one way to look at it, but it misses something critical: a vast majority of the businesses we serve are run by people who are creating a livelihood for themselves, and whose businesses are often driving the economy within their communities. We help create opportunity for broad groups of people — including women and for emerging markets — that can change lives. That's pretty amazing for an ad platform!
Problems feel different at scale.
I've worked for companies with strong product offerings, but it doesn't compare to Facebook’s global scale with more than 2 billion users around the world. It's a privilege but also a responsibility to serve our customers well.
I find myself getting really motivated each time I hear about a successful business story that would not have been possible without Facebook or Instagram. There are hundreds of millions of small businesses that fuel global commerce, and most of them are just one or two people with a talent and an idea. They don't have the resources to run complex ad campaigns. One example that comes to mind is Sudara, a mission-driven clothing retailer that helps provide job creation and skills training for women in India who are at risk or survivors of sex trafficking.
Each time I hear about these businesses creating an online presence through Facebook or Instagram, and how that presence has empowered them to connect with the audience that built their business, I get excited to come to work everyday.
Partnering with our research team, we get a lot of great feedback and ideas from these small business owners and there are some fascinating ways our teams are able to bring these ideas to life, and quickly. We have many tools that can help us understand and create something based on an idea, with the data to back it up. We have the potential and opportunity to use our creativity and curiosity to be able to answer really complex questions.
People who work here really do care.
“The people who work here are not just focused on making Facebook great for our 2 billion users - we're making sure our family and friends have the best experience too."”
The number of people I know who will write to me and give feedback, whether it's positive or not, is incredible. I love hearing that Facebook matters to people. And when we haven’t lived up to expectations, we hear that too. That’s why the work our team is doing is so rewarding. Part of our job is to ensure that people understand the organizations they are interacting with on Facebook, and that ads are not only compliant with laws, but also trustworthy. We are working hard to provide authenticity and transparency.
Also, a number of our products that may have a business focus actually bring people together, such as Facebook Events. The ability to create a time and a place is helping create a community where you're not just sharing information digitally, but you’re organizing physical time together. We're not just focused on what creates money, but on how to bring people closer together.
It has always been important to me that I'm continuing to grow in my career, and finding new opportunities that stretch my skills. I love what I’m doing now, but in no way saw my career going in this direction. My advice to others looking to take their careers to the next level: lean into what you're great at, but step outside your comfort zone. Don't shut a door before you understand the potential on the other side - you just might be surprised by what you find.
Bring your ideas to life! Come join Cheryl and our growing team of industry leaders working to bring the world closer together. Check out our available opportunities:
- Areas of work - click here
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