Would you accept a job at Facebook?

This is not the first time I have been asked this question; in fact, I have gotten it quite a lot recently. It usually comes in a different form: why did you work for Facebook? The fact of the matter is, I did work for Facebook this last summer, and I wrestled with this fact every morning I swiped in and evening I swiped out.

I went to a very small, very poor high school, where no one ever considered an Ivy League school as a future possibility. My principal constantly humbled me before the class by saying that just because I got good grades didn’t mean I was smart. This, among other comments, left a chip on my shoulders I meant to repair by working even harder and achieving the most difficult goals society had for education. After a circuitous route, I finally found myself at Stanford, and I dove right into engineering, having next to no background in hard sciences. At the time, working for FAANG was presented as the pinnacle of success for an engineer, and I set my sights on it. When one day I received both verbal offers for Facebook and Microsoft by phone, I had this feeling of “I finally made it” rush over me. I wasn’t in fact useless in society’s eyes, I wouldn’t carry my family’s intense fiscal worries into my life, and I could set my sights on doing anything I wanted after these stints. I had finally made it.

My reasons for joining Facebook are my own, and they came from a place of hurt and from a sense of utilitarianism. My family is incredibly against Facebook and all it stands for, and so many times when I would tell people where I would be working, they would chime in, “Yep, he’s working for the enemy.” I did have to use the money and career card to persuade them that what I was doing was justified. It is not a good feeling to have to persuade your parents that what you are doing should make them proud. Was I entering to change the company from the inside like they may have hoped? Not really. I was just an intern with next to no influence outside my Messenger team. I knew what I was doing didn’t sit right with me, my family and my friends, but I still did it.

I guess the final closing question is would I return to Facebook? The answer is no. However, it is a no that is weaker than it was before the recent economic downturn. Facebook remains for me my last option should I secure nothing else, and only a temporary one at that, but I would be lying if I said I would choose unemployment over its milk and honey. Those conditions aside, I will not work at Facebook again, and this is a decision I feel greatly at peace with.