
Ask HN: Diversity in Action at FB Hiring – Yay or Nay? - DiversityinSV
Silicon Valley Hiring Diversity In Action:<p>Me: Latino dude, 35-40, Over 10 years bouncing in SV, last company I was at was acquired<p>Facebook recruiter calls after I apply for PM post<p>Recruiter Says:<p>Looking for PM - Monetization with at least 6 years experience
Needs Mobile experience
Needs to understand banners&#x2F;interstitials&#x2F;other mobile ads formats
International Marketing preferred
Must know metrics for monetization and adoption
Participation in developer events (e.g. hackathons) is a plus!<p>Me: Yay- I got all of this!<p>Recruiter says: OK, come by for interview<p>Me: Prepare like hell for interview for days<p>Meets FB team for interview: 3 Google lifers just transferred to FB, 4 FB lifers, none with direct experience in the market or on the monetization product they are now working.<p>Recruiter &amp; Team: Thanks, we pass.<p>Facebook hires - White dude Stanford MBA, 2015 grad with no experience besides 2 years at a VC firm and an few months internship from UBER<p>Me: ?????<p>Yeah man, we are rocking this diversity push for sure around here and nobody is lowering standards, no siree....<p>‪#‎stanfordlifesmattermorethanothersaroundsiliconvalley‬
======
raincom
Hola,

Sorry to hear about the rejection. If fb/google/goldman sachs/blackstone/kkr
hires a stanford mba, instead of you, it has nothing to do with you being a
latino. It has everything to do with the fact that you are not a
harvard/stanford MBA. If you were a harvard/stanford latino mba, they would
have hired you.

Tech/VC/HB/PE/IB elite companies look for elite credentials. That's how the
American system works: lack of 'culture fit'.

What is 'culture fit'? You can answer it negatively.

1\. You don't have an elite mba (harvard/stanford) 2\. You don't have an elite
undergard (hyp, s, etc) 3\. You don't have an elite job pedigree (you haven't
worked for McKinsey, BCG, GS, etc) 4\. You don't have elite genes (you are not
a kid of a billionaire/senator/president/dictator of Pakistan/etc) 5\. you are
not a wealthy white (you are not a Rockefeller)

You can add many more to the list.

There was a time Stanford MBAs wanted to work for PE firms like Blackstone,
KKR, etc. Now Facebook product mgmt roles attracting/recruting Stanford MBA's
tells a story about how the valley has changed over the time: more routes are
closed for ordinary mortals, esp if you don't want to be a programmer.

~~~
DiversityinSV
Noted. Yeah, my MBA is over a decade old and not an Ivy one.

Guess the Diversity applies as long as you come from a few key schools &
employers. It is as it always has been.

------
staunch
Do you think wealthy Latino men with Stanford MBAs are struggling at all?

This problem is much more about class than race.

White people from poor backgrounds have the same kind of experience all the
time. This is the way many companies founded by upper class people operate.

The good news is that there are plenty of meritocratic companies, or at least
teams inside companies, that aren't fooled much by elite credentials. You just
have to work harder than those other people to prove yourself.

Silicon Valley won't be truly diverse until more companies are founded by
people from poor backgrounds. Almost all of the current ones were founded by
the most elite.

~~~
DiversityinSV
so sad that for anyone else wishing for an alternative, has to just 'work
harder' somewhere else 'where you will be appreciated' by 'others like you'
whether the distinction is race or class. But do 100% agree there are such
places like that out there where one is valued on experience + credentials,
not only background. I guess the much discussed diversity topic around SV was
just like a Summer hit song, cool for a few months, forgotten later.

Alrighty then. Gotta go & work harder :-)

------
NetStrikeForce
Unconscious bias. They think they'll feel more comfortable with people that
fit their own stereotype.

It's difficult to add diversity when you're unaware of your own bias, but you
shouldn't be mad at the situation (in case you were). Think about it, do you
really want to work in that team? You might want to also choose if you want to
work in a company/team/project after interviewing - don't just blindly jump
because it's Facebook. Their lack of diversity would be a big NO for me.

That's my attitude at life and it works. I live in a different country from
where I was born, moved at an adult age so it's easy to tell I'm not native
and, well, I look different than the local stereotype.

------
argonaut
Yeah. Having done a few PM interviews, to an engineer like myself they do seem
very very subjective and personal. Because there is no right answer, it seems
to me you have to say things that the interviewer thinks is thoughtful
(subjective), or reason about things in a framework that the interviewer
likes, or otherwise share their opinions. Which is a huge enabler of hiring
people the interviewer likes.

At least in engineering there is a right answer. I've never been rejected from
an engineering position where I aced all the questions with clean code, and
designed all the systems robustly (of course, this is rare, it's when you
don't get everything correct that the subjective judgment in engineering
interviews comes into play).

------
pavornyoh
Nay.

I am sorry to hear you didn't get the job. Did FB give you any concrete
feedback as to why they passed? There may be several factors at play here. Was
it your salary requirements? How was your interactions with the group during
your onsite? etc..

I am sure Facebook is looking to diversify their workforce so be more
objective and look pass race (I know it is hard but try) for concrete answers
as to why you didn't get the job.

~~~
DiversityinSV
So Culture fit > Skillset and Requirements? That's why we are where we are
diversity speaking. 'Culture' means whatever to whoever.

Salary req'd were not discussed on interview. Recruiter said salary
expectation was within the position.

I don't know how to be more objective than listing actual requirements for the
position and see if they got what they say they wanted. In this case, they
sure didn't and I don't know why.

I didn't screw up the interview for sure. I prepared quite a bit.

I am sure FB is trying to diversify too... but I hope someone replies here
saying how is this happening.

