How to answer the "Why Meta?" interview question

Tips to prepare your answer for “why do you want to work at Meta?”

• Network: Make an effort to meet with or call one or more current Meta employees, ideally from the team you’re applying to. Ask them what it’s like working there, why they chose Meta and what is unique about it. This will give you good, specific talking points for your answer, and mentioning their names shows the interviewer that you’ve put in effort to get to know the company.
• Make it personal: If you have any examples from your personal experience that tie in with Meta, now is a good time to bring them up: a Meta product that shaped how you see the world, a Meta initiative that has made a difference in your life, etc. Talk about what you value most about Meta or one of its products.
• Bring your own perspective. In the online application, Meta asks: 'How will your lived experiences (educational, professional, military, or otherwise) help you offer our product teams a new perspective as we continue to iterate our products?" Think about this and see if you can include it in your answer to "Why Meta?".
• Make it specific: Your answer for “why Meta?” should not apply to any other company. Try swapping out “Meta” with other big tech names like Google and Amazon. If the answer also works for the other companies, that’s a sign that you need to keep working.
• Give more than one reason: Aim for two to three concise reasons as to why you want to work for Meta, as well as in your team and position specifically. Adding any more reasons risks making your answer too long, and only having one reason likely won’t be a strong enough answer.
• Talk about your team: Metas an enormous company, which means that some of the reasons why you might want to work for Meta as a whole may not be specific enough. So talk about the team and role that you’re applying for, and why that is a perfect fit for you as well.
• Keep it balanced: While you want to answer this question enthusiastically, overly praising Meta or yourself will come off as disingenuous. Give real reasons as to why you want to work there, without offering empty compliments.

Common pitfalls in answering “why Meta?”

• Answer is too broad: Simple answers such as “it would be a great opportunity to learn more,” “the people here are very smart and work hard,” or “the culture here is awesome” won’t make the cut on their own (even if they’re true!). Interviewers have heard these responses many times before, so you’ll need to make it more personal and targeted.
• Answer is too long: This question is frequently asked at the beginning of a longer interview round or during the initial screening process. In both cases, it’s important to answer quickly and concisely, so that the interviewer can understand your answer and have time for other questions. Aim for a roughly 1-minute response.
• Answer lacks structure: Think of two or three reasons you’d like to work there, and describe each of them, one at a time. Otherwise, the interviewer will have difficulty following your train of thought, and you are more likely to ramble.

What sets Meta apart

• There is an uncommon amount of autonomy and flexibility given to Meta employees. As Don Faul, a former Facebook executive, puts it, “you get zero credit for your title. It’s all about the quality of work, the power of your conviction, and the ability to influence people.” If having the freedom to choose what you do and how you do it is appealing to you, tell the interviewer, along with an example of how you’ve used that freedom to do great things in the past.
• There has been a lot of buzz around the company’s creation of the Metaverse, an online experience “sometimes expanded into three dimensions or projected into the physical world.“ If you’re excited about new opportunities in virtual and augmented reality, and especially if you’re applying to join a team working directly on developing the Metaverse, this is an exciting new development to talk about in the interview.
• Meta is also a very impact-oriented and bottom-up company. There is a “move fast and break things” mentality that means things get done quickly, with minimal red tape. If you’re the type of person who likes to get things done at a fast pace, this would be a key trait to talk about.
• The company is very proud of its products, from the legacy Facebook app itself, to the newer additions like Meta Quest and Meta Portal. If any of Meta’s products have made a significant impact in your life or have inspired you in your current work, put the spotlight on that product and discuss the specific details that make it great.

Need help in your tech career?

Our career coaches can show you how to get to where you want to be, whether that's at Meta or elsewhere. Book a product management career coaching session or a software engineering career coaching session and get clarity on your next steps.

Sample answer: Why do you want to work at Meta?

I want to work at Meta for three reasons.

First, I've worked on messaging products for the past few years, and I’ve been inspired by the Facebook Messenger app in much of my work, particularly with how AR effects have been built into the system. It’s why I applied to join the Messenger team, whose work impacts more than 1 billion people. 

Second, I went to school with Marina Bayard, an engineering manager for Messenger, who recommended I apply. I really enjoyed my discussion with her as she seemed to be truly passionate about Meta’s company culture and flat organizational structure. She praised how much it allowed her to be autonomous and get things done.

Finally, I'm attracted to Meta’s culture of moving fast and being bold. These are some of the values I’ve tried to implement myself, removing unnecessary steps from my company’s previous lengthy approval process, so my reports could get things done faster. I'm excited to join a team that thinks along similar lines.