Engineer, Infra team Menlo Park, CA
Pros
I've worked in half a dozen companies in my career and this is definitely one of the top two. I suspect I will rate FB #1 by next year. The work is intellectually challenging, the environment is fast-paced, and the people I work with are excellent. FB has its eye on the ball at all times for its core platform yet is always looking at other opportunities for growth, though they may take several years to bear fruit. Management is open and accessible, particularly the weekly Q&A's with MZ and the leadership team - I've never experienced senior executives sharing that much information with an entire company before. Colleagues are easy to work with - not a lot of ego or politics that I've seen. In fact, we are reminded to check our ego as we enter the building - there is a lot of cooperation here. The benefits & perks are really amazing - I don't think college hires or interns truly appreciate what is offered here unless they have worked for other employers. (You can never take these things for granted, so I really appreciate these perks.) And the total compensation structure seems very competitive - they have many dials and buttons to play with, and I feel I am well-compensated for my contributions. The commute benefits are excellent, and make it really easy to use transit, shuttles or vanpools. Driving to work is just so stressful, both ways. I'd really rather not.
Cons
Long hours away from home, due to my own commute situation and long working hours. But since I've only been here less than a year, it's important to show results early. The learning curve is steep and the bar is set very high, so it will be easy to separate the productive from the not-very-productive in a short timeline.
