
I'm 18 and I want to work for Facebook - without high-school. - evex
This is my last year in school(high-school, grade 12) and I didn&#x27;t register yet(schools already started 3-4 months ago).<p>I&#x27;m 18 and I code since 4 years, Currently I&#x27;m working remotely with at a software agency based in Dubai.<p>I get paid as a decent coder gets paid in my country.<p>My goal is to work at Facebook. Does that depend on my school graduation or getting a CS degree?<p>I&#x27;m asking this because everybody is telling me to finish this last year to be &quot;free&quot;, and for companies to hire me they need at least a high-school degree.<p>A CS degree is not required to work at google as a software engineer, but is a high-school degree required?<p>&gt; Do I need a computer science degree to be a Google software engineer?[1]<p>&gt; No, a CS degree isn’t required for our software engineering or product manager roles.<p>Here is how my work looks like:<p>I use mostly javascript in my work, I&#x27;ve worked with php and python as well, I use frameworks and new technologies<p>Python =&gt; Django, 
Javascript(typescript) =&gt; AngularJS, 
CSS =&gt; sass, 
HTML =&gt; jade.<p>I&#x27;m currently learning ReactJS and I&#x27;m a big fan of it since 1 week.<p>Do you think Facebook will accept me if I applied after I get into ReactJS(and functional programming, and all it takes to start contributing to ReactJS) really well?<p>I want to be on that team. Its my goal.<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.google.com&#x2F;about&#x2F;careers&#x2F;how-we-hire&#x2F;
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inimino
Stay in school, kid. Finish high school and go to college, unless you are
financially or otherwise prevented from doing so.

It may or may not make you more employable[1], but that isn't what a
university education is for.

If you have the chance to study literature or mathematics or whatever you like
for four years without going into debt, you would be stupid not to take it.

Big companies are no place to waste your youth and burn out making a buck for
yourself and two for someone else. There'll be plenty of time for that later.

[1] It will.

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konart
Most companies won't hire you without you finishing a school first. Hell, even
most jobs like a plumper need school certificate (or whatever it is called in
your country).

>A CS degree is not required to work at google as a software engineer

Maybe so. But don't be mistaken - this is an exception. Yes, you can be hired
without CS or any other degree or without higher education at all, but you'll
have to prove you are exceptional enough. The very fact that you started
programming at the age of 12 or whatever - doesn't say anything.

> use frameworks and new technologies

This is one thing that also does not matter much. New frameworks\technologies
and languages appear and die all the time. What matters is you knowledge (OOP,
design, algorithms, patterns etc) and your experience.

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evex
Thanks for your reply.

> you'll have to prove you are exceptional enough

what is exactly "exceptional enough", can you tell me how do _you_ see
exceptional enough?

> What matters is you knowledge (OOP, design, algorithms, patterns etc) and
> your experience

what's etc(just in-case there is something in etc I don't know about)?

~~~
konart
Sorry for the late reply.

>what is exactly "exceptional enough", can you tell me how do you see
exceptional enough?

This will be purely subjective. For me - one thing, for guys in
Facebook\Google\whatever - something else. Maybe they'd want to see that you
are exceptionaly good with algorithms, maybe you can come up with desigh ideas
quicker than most of them or at least other candidates. I can't tell. The
point is - you will have to prove that you are so skilled that you relly
didn't need that one yera at school, certificate, degree or something else.

>what's etc

Depends on reqirements for the position. For programmers this is usually
algorithms and patterns, but this will inculde something else. Maybe protocols
understanding, maybe deep learning, maybe working with graphic imformation.
Just look for what they have in their jobs descriptions: www.facebook.jobs

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brudgers
Ok.

What are the reasons Facebook should hire you?

What is your plan to communicate those reasons to Facebook?

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evex
> What are the reasons Facebook should hire you?

currently nothing.

> What is your plan to communicate those reasons to Facebook?

Contribute to React with the best I have, do you have a better way?

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brudgers
Ok.

There might be a shortcut. But the most straightforward path to getting hired
by Facebook is obtaining the knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience that
Facebook is likely to hire.

Keep in mind that companies like Facebook are not just looking at the
knowledge, skill, and ability that someone has when they are hired. Those
companies are also making an educated guess about how much better the
candidate will be in a few years. A lot of that guess comes down to a track
record of hard work.

What are you going to do to make the best you have be among the best in the
world?

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evex
1\. Search for "knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience that Facebook is
likely to hire"

2\. Learn ALL(?) of it

3\. Do my own projects with what I learnt

4\. Start contributing

Can you help defining "knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience that
Facebook is likely to hire"? please be specific

Do you think my steps are valid? If no what can I improve? Can you suggest a
better path to take?

~~~
brudgers
Unfortunately, I don't see any shortcuts.

An alternative is to gain work experience other places. That will probably
accelerate and broaden your experience more than working in isolation.

Other workplaces are often stepping stones to top companies.

Good luck.

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atroll
how good are you at floors cleaning?

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krome_zep
Have you made anything impressive? I know "x" doesnt really mean much

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evex
Side Project? No. But in progress.

Is that a perquisite? Why?

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CmdrSprinkles
Because you need to get to the interview stage AND seem good during it

Here is how the hiring process works from the end of the people on the
committee:

1\. Get all the CVs. Let's say this is either an entry level position or a
particularly good one and say we have 100 CVs

2\. We break it up into groups with each CV looked at by at least two people

3\. If there is not an applicable degree, it is almost instantly binned. The
only exception is if they have a fair amount of experience (at least 1 year of
contiguous work on a related project for an entry level position) or are
otherwise exceptional.

4\. We continue to filter and iterate until we have it down to about 10
applicants. We have yet to really talk to anyone as part of the hiring process
and are solely reading papers and looking at them based on their CV.

5\. Then we do phone interviews where it is about seeing if they sound
remotely competent and would potentially be a decent fit. And if there was any
question about you making it through the filters, expect it to be brought up

6\. For the last few (let's say 5) we'll do an actual in-person interview with
whiteboard coding exercises and lots of discussion.

You don't have a degree. Bachelor's is bare minimum, but we prefer at least a
Master's. You are in the bin. You didn't invent sliced bread, you are really
in the bin.

Maybe you are the smartest person in the world, maybe you are a really earnest
kid, and maybe you are someone we could never have worked with in the first
place. We'll never know because you won't get past the initial filtering.

\------

In short: Finish HS and at least get a community college Bachelor's degree.
And if you are truly hellbent on not getting an education (a red flag, by the
way, since it suggests you'll clash with people), start making the greatest
project ever.

~~~
evex
Thanks for the reply, this made me make my mind to going back to school :)

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AznHisoka
why do you want to work for facebook so badly? its just another big company.

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evex
Facebook's culture is amazing and they work on amazing stuff(or I like
ReactJS).

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arrmn
Maybe start to contribute to React since it's open source

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majortennis
Booo

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evex
I find this motivating :)

