Is it wise to accept an intern position at Meta?

The average HN front page is not representative of reality when it come to some topics, Facebook/Meta being one of them. Negative opinions of these topics tends to be massively multiplied. There are valid criticisms but for you right now, ignore it.

If you have the potential to start your career at Facebook or any other FAANG type business is a kick start that is invaluable. The networking and exposure you will have will open doors for years. Take it if they offer it to you.

Hackernews is down on Facebook for lots of good reasons. But outside of this bubble, working for a big name like Facebook or Meta will impress basically every future employer and open hundreds of doors for you. Yes, do it. The great thing about internships is that you don't have to stay after it's over, if the company's ethics make you feel gross. You can get firsthand knowledge instead of relying on the peanut gallery around here.

You absolutely should.

People here, including me, are down on Meta/FB because it's a crap creepy company. I wouldn't work there. BUT, I'm older, established, have a family, and make enough money.

If I were given this opportunity at your age, there's no way I'd pass it up. Get your foot in the door, get good money, but most importantly - having Meta/FB on your resume is a golden ticket to most future positions you may pursue.

Even if Meta is "a sinking ship", it would take many years, by which you'll have perfect resume fodder to move on.

Yes, do it. It's an internship - have fun & learn stuff!

Internships usually turn into full-time offers, I'd only turn this down if you're also getting an internship offer somewhere else that you know you want to work at full time.

It's easy to belittle the rebranding, but ultimately I have a fair amount of respect for this kind of "bet the company" shift in focus. There's a good chance it doesn't pay off, with either the metaverse thing going nowhere, or Meta not being the ones at the forefront of it; but I wouldn't read it as "desperation" per se, more as recognition that sentiment towards the current products have shifted in a way that's likely irreversible.

So unless you have ethical reservations, which is a perfectly respectable position to take, i'd accept the offer and learn/earn as much as you can.

Assuming this is your only internship offer at a FAANG: Yes 100% accept it. Even if not passionate about the project you'll:

- Learn a ton

- Have a really good bullet point on your resume (Meta engineers are hired at all other FAANG all the time)

- Have a lot of fun (assuming Summer 2022 internship, and COVID is behind us by then)

During the 2nd part of your internship, apply to other companies you're interested in. Assuming your internship goes well, Meta will extend you a full time offer (or a 2nd internship if you're not a senior in college yet). This will give you a lot of negotiating power with both Meta and the other companies you're interviewing for.

Even if Meta is a sinking ship, it would have basically no effect on you if you are just going to be there for an internship. Assuming you are in a tech-related role, the experience gained by working at Meta far outweighs anything else. Remember the main reason for an internship is for you the intern to gain technical skills. Interns are very insulated from stupid product decisions and stupid/delusional visions.

Source: I gladly interned at a sinking ship myself.

Of course, what kind of question is this.

"Is accepting an internship at one of the most successful companies in the world a good idea?"

Damn. At least consider the ethical implications of working for such a company to add some actual dilemma to the situation, the way you put it just makes it seem so disconnected from reality.

I'd personally frame it around whether you're happy working for a company building unethical software.

It can be a good engine for your career growth, but remember to weigh that against any bad you'll be doing too - no company is perfect, but if you're likely to get an offer there, you can definitely do great things in better places

Some people who have moral or political objections to working for Meta. Those are perfectly valid, although Meta's potential pay is sufficiently huge that taking a stand can be a really rough thing to do. A successful internship can lead to a job that, within a few years, is paying life-changing amounts of money, often multiple times anything their parents collectively made. But presumably that's not your objection. You may be worried about whether OTHER people will judge you, but I wouldn't worry about it. Professionally, nobody's gonna snub your resume because you worked for Facebook.

"Meta is a sinking ship" is not a great reason to ignore this internship opportunity. That's because the skills Meta will train you own are valuable even if Meta fails. If you do this internship, start a career at Meta, and then six months from now it suddenly and surprisingly shutters, you'll personally still be in a great position. Jumping ship to another FAANG company, joining a smaller company with Meta on your resume, or starting your own company with an expanded professional network and a better understanding of what good engineering is are all options.

Also, the likely upcoming failure of Meta's VR ventures will not ruin Meta. These large companies frequently make bets that are fairly unlikely to work. Often they fall on their face, but sometimes they succeed beyond anyone's wildest expectations.

Work experience is work experience. I interview candidates from FB and other companies and I evaluate people based on their individual skills, not what the news say about the company.

Definitely. Facebook still has great reputation on the technical side of things and you'll probably learn a lot; also having a large and quite selective company on your CV is a big plus. Who cares about their long term direction, you'll be an intern there.

Go for it imo. The set of people who are successful hiring managers and the set of people who look at a resume and throw it out because they have a moral problem with a former employer probably isn't literally disjoint, but I'd bet it's pretty close.

From everything I've heard talking to fb'ers it's still a fun place to work, comp is good, and there are interesting problems to solve.

Regardless of what they're calling themselves, they will almost certainly be around for the duration of your internship. And it would be very unlikely it you, as an intern, were the proximate cause of their demise.

I worked at WhatsApp, including while it was part of Facebook. Whatever your opinions of the company, they have a pretty well setup internship program. And you're not comitting to working for them for life, just 3 months. If nothing else, you'll get a good dose of big company during those 3 months, and that can help you decide if that's something to seek out in the future or something to avoid.

No. Two influential tech thinkers that I admire and their views on Facebook / Meta:

1: Cory Doctorow https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/22/kropotkin-graeber/#zucker...

2: Jamie Zawinski (jwz) https://www.jwz.org/blog/2015/10/if-you-work-for-facebook-qu...

Do the internship, find a different job next summer with FB on your resume.

I also used an internship with a FAANG company to get my foot in the door and then went to work at a (better overall) company that absolutely would not have looked at my resume if it weren’t for my internship.

Internships are about learning and deciding if that’s the place you want to work long-term. They’re not an endorsement of the long term prospects of the company by any stretch. You’ll be there for 3 months and you’ll probably learn a lot, and leave with a fancy name on your resume.

I wouldn't ask this question to other people. Not about a specific company. I would look for core values and culture that align with mine, and the kind of impact I can have or the position sets me up for. Large renowned companies look better on your CV; startups often assign you more significant tasks, so don't dismiss them lightly. Also when I say core values I do not mean the HR corporate propaganda that every company puts out. Listen to the interviewers, check out the actual product(s) or service(s) they put out: it's about what they do and how they do it, not what they say; if the interview is transparent enough, you'll get to know at least part of the team you are going to work with: use that opportunity to find out what they are really about. A company is a community: it is not politics, religion, gender, age, race, friendship or family; but the collective planning and execution of ideas and goals through means every person in the organization should support or at least feel comfortable with.

It's not going to fall apart during your internship.

Your experience will be valuable and recognized, the only thing it could be less useful for is getting a job at meta afterwards, but you might decide that you do want that job anyways.

You can do more than one internship, and engineering at Facebook will still be respected by other companies, even if Facebook goes under

Yes? Even if it's a sinking ship that will not matter in the least as an intern. For a company of Facebook's size, that will be a problem on a 10 year time horizon.

Meta has solid engineering reputation. You'll learn a lot and have a good mark on your resume from there on, even if you don’t take a return offer.

Yes. It's an internship. You're not tied to Meta in the long term. It'll be fantastic on your resume (yes, really. No one is going to look down on anyone for an internship at Meta). It'll open doors to interviews at other companies. It'll likely give you a strong competing offer to take to other companies and a "sinking" Meta is still going to be better than a lot of other places.

I think there are valid concerns about ethics, long term prospects, etc. But in an internship you aren't going to suffer any of those.

Ignore the HN armchair hate, Meta is an all-in project by a founder-led FAANG company. You'll be able to see first-hand its early successes/failures. Not bad for your first internship. Glhf!

You should absolutely take this. It will be very easy to get interviews at companies that you care about once this is on your resume. The Facebook hate you see online doesn’t exist in the real world.

In short, probably. Internships at name-brand tech companies can do a ton to open doors for your first job elsewhere, especially if you're coming from a non-traditional background. Like most big companies, your actual experience will depend on your team and direct manager.

If you take the internship and love working there, then great. If you end up hating it (or just wanting to try something else) it'll help you on that road.

Unless you have a more compelling offer elsewhere, it's a win-win for you, plus it pays well (for engineering).

Meta stock got hobbled by the Apple policies, but I don’t think it’s something they can’t fundamentally overcome. Facebook might be sinking but Meta also owns Instagram.

You are asking a question that has no answer. What do you want to see, confirmation? Do you have doubts? If yes, why? Do you think your doubts are not right? Or you are just looking for a joke as an answer? Here is one:

"My grandpa died in the Gulag. He drank so much vodka, he fell from the guard tower and broke his neck" (this is the Eastern Europe version). Is there any parallel between the joke and getting a job with Meta? Is it?

>> The news I keep seeing around Meta lead me to think the whole thing is a sinking ship

Keep this in perspective; it's an intern position. I think going to Meta in this scenario is win-win. Either you love it and get the opportunity to stay or return permanently, or you don't and can go somewhere else with solid engineering experience and the assumption that you wanted something "more fulfilling or valuable".

No, yes, and yes.

There are very bright people working there. This is your chance to get to network with brilliant folks and learn valuable work and life lessons.

If you accept the position, you'll likely be in a better position than 99% of commenters to know whether Meta is a sinking ship or not.

What's the alternative?

In isolation, it's not even close, you should take it.Meta has several big products, solid engineering practices, and most importantly - a lot of smart folks in every part of the company. They'll go on to other companies and have big jobs and you'll know them.

It's an internship, not an investment, not a life long commitment.

Take it. Learn some stuff. Take the work seriously. Don't drink the kool-aid. And for your next real job you'll probably have the luxury to look for something that you're more excited about contributing to.

Meta engineer, who worked at google before.

The question you need to ask is if you want to work at a big corp or not.

If the answer is yes, meta is probably better than other big corps. If it's no, Meta can be a good place for you to get a solid offer first and negotiate with a start up later.

Seriously consider it. Big corporate experience can be invaluable, even if it’s not your ultimate end goal. Your whole career lies ahead, and it’s much MUCH easier to move from a big company to a small one than the other way around.

Worst case you learn what it's like to work at a dysfunctional company. That is actually a great thing to understand and will help you figure out what you really value. Just make sure you try something pretty different next.

If this is your last internship before some form of graduation, then maybe consider working somewhere you'd be more willing to work full time (if not Meta). Otherwise, seems fine, for reasons others have mentioned below.

Whether you choose to or choose not to, make sure you are not making the decision just because what other people are telling you to do!

It's an amazing idea, there are extremely smart people working for facebook/meta. You'll learn a lot, and every ex-facebook engineer I've worked with has been great.

Good luck and good job :)

If you have nothing better, take it. Meta wont disappear overnight.

So you expect meta to go out of business in the next six months?

If no, take the position. It will only be good for you. FB isn't going anywhere soon. And this is an internship.

You will learn more and have more opportunities from that internship than anything else I can image. The program is very good and is well regarded.

Flip a coin. Heads yes, tails no. As soon as the coin's up in the air you'll have a feeling as to what you actually want to do. Go with that.

Get the offer and some others in writing and come back, no use in thinking about it. I hate meta but it’s a good opportunity if you get it.

Funny I had a similar feeling about IBM in 1974. Think of it as the first move in a game of chess - there are no wrong moves (yet).

Do it. No job is forever, and it's not going to sink overnight. Having this on your resume will work very well in your favor.

you are interning. the last thing you should be worried about are the long term growth prospects of company.

Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram. Some of the most successful brands and platforms in modern history. You are either learning or earning in any job...as a intern it's all about the former. I'd wager you can learn something at Meta.

Get ready for downvotes from metamate haters, but if the project is cool and compensation is not on your mind - it is a win!

I would only accept if I see my career as a mercenary, doing evil things as long as they pay well.

Yes. Do it. People won't look down on your for the stupid mistakes you make in college.

You sound rather mature for you age, and I think you're overthinking it a bit. You sound more like a 30 year old trying to decide if FB/Meta will last more than 5 years when in reality you just need it for a few months.

You def should. It will be your gate opener to other places.

Of course yes. You are an intern, not the CFO with a 200M€ incentive.

I am trying to imagine what you can loose by joining. The only thing they comes to mind is that you may be interesting in a completely different environ environment (academia, health services, ong, ...) or size (startup).

If not there are seriously zero cons.

If Meta was to crash during your internship would that be a problem? No.

If Meta was to crash a day, week, month, year after your internship would that be a problem? No.

If after your internship you are offered a job, then of course you must think about this a bit. And then say yes, because there are still no downsides for a first job.

If in a few years you come back here about that CFO job then other high profile managers will help you.

First off, congratulations! Chiming in as someone that interned at fb summer of 2016 (menlo park) and worked there from 2017 to 2020 (seattle)

Obviously your mileage will vary. The company was in a very different state in 2016 than it is now, but I'll list out the pros and cons I had going through the internship:

Pros

- Pay is good

- Free food is nice (if you're in person)

- Most if not all the people I worked w were great

- Nice to have some brand name on your resume

- This number may have changed but the signing bonus they gave to return interns starting fulltime was $75k so if you get an offer, this can put a real dent into your student loans if you have any

- It's maybe valuable to experience what the vibe is at a big tech company at least once (this was my reasoning for accepting the offer since prior to this I had only interned at smaller start-ups)

Cons

- The intern classes were v big and as a result, I didn't feel the same intern camaraderie I felt at internships elsewhere (also did not help that I was living in SF and commuting to Menlo Park, but also the intern events had like hundreds of people and always felt impersonal to me)

- I didn't feel like I was well matched to the intern project I ended up working on. While it was a part of the stack I wanted to work on, I was p disinterested in the actual substance of the work. Unfortunately interns don't get too much say on what they work on

- Similarly, who your manager ends up being and what the culture of the team you're working with will really impact your experience. I found I couldn't relate to a lot of the folks on my team as an intern (they were mostly parents that lived in the south bay which nothing against it but idk, me at 21 found this p jarring)

- A lot of Meta's tooling is internally built/maintained. While you're gonna be able to take what you learn and apply it to other places, they'll likely require some translation. A simple example is Meta uses mercurial whereas most places use git. (FWIW I actually prefer mercurial now having worked there full-time for 3+ years)

- Everything else having to do w Meta in the news etc.

I'd say if you do end up accepting, try to renegotiate it to a smaller engineering office, since the vibe at those places will end up being a lot different from the main campus (and IMO more "homey"). Personally, I found my internship experience pretty meh, but hey I accepted a full-time offer there (mostly to pay off student loans lmao) - but ended up staying way longer bc I ended up working on a team and product space I really vibed with.

Accept the offer but don't stop looking

Yes, take it.

Yes

It's a good career move. But it's also contributing to an evil company.

If you have to ask, you already know the answer.