Overview of Sourcer role at Facebook
There's a lot that makes you feel valued as a sourcer at Facebook, we have a dedicated team of engineers that build world class recruiting tools to make our life easier. Sourcers at Facebook are experts in their own area, for example I strive to be an expert in finding and engaging niche developers and understanding these markets (mobile, graphics etc). I'd like to also think that I'm getting good at leading recruiting projects and working on products at scale by now, but let's not be too hasty :). People rely on me to have the expertise when it comes to techniques, strategies, knowledge of different markets, ability to drive discussions with different stakeholders and ideally have the data to prove my point. Hiring managers and teams we work with see us as equal, collaborative partners in the recruitment process. Because there's a great deal of trust in what we do, we have a lot of independence and opportunity to develop in a direction we're interested in, whether it is partnering up with recruiting tools team, data, branding, diversity, events or innovating our processes.
What's the most challenging project you have worked on?
I'm quite passionate about bots in recruitment and the added value they can have for both the business and candidates. Along with a number of sourcers and engineers, I am now co-leading a large project focused on bots in recruitment at Facebook.
One of the challenges is to sync all the stakeholders, from engineers working on the infrastructure and user interface (UI) to a number of recruitment teams, branding etc. It's a great example of how people can pursue what they're passionate about and collaborate with other teams to produce something awesome. I'm humbled every day working with brilliant people that partner with me on this.
What has surprised you most about Facebook after you joined?
How the culture is quite different to other more corporate environments. Facebook London almost feels like one big group of startups and non-profit organizations. At Facebook you have autonomy, you're trusted to understand what to do and know the right direction to take to make things happen. I've never seen cross functional and cross location collaboration teams work as well as they do in Facebook.
What does your day-to-day work look like?
Most days differ from each other. First of all, sourcing at Facebook is quite social, we often have sessions either with the entire team or just a few sourcers to brainstorm and help each other finding candidates. These knowledge-sharing sessions help a lot in terms of learning and efficiency and it is always interesting to see other colleagues data and approaches. People are also involved in different projects, from improving recruiting tools to events and more. Some meet engineers that they work with on projects, while some meet hiring managers or colleagues from different teams/locations, depending on the size and intent of the project.
So for me, it's a mix of sourcing, doing some admin work (usually on a bean bag), having one to one meetings over coffee, talking with candidates and taking time out to play table tennis.
Three favorite things you love about working at Facebook!
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You're in charge of yourself. When you come in and when you leave, which projects/initiatives you work on, which approaches to sourcing you choose and how you track it, everything is up to you. Overall, you're the expert that other people rely on.
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Recruiting tools. We have a dedicated team of engineers who work on tools to make our life easier. I feel that every feature we dream up, our team of engineers listen and make it happen and we have frequent feedback sessions. The feedback I provide actually has direct impact on the products I use. There is genuine collaboration and partnership between the teams as we are all working towards the same goals and achieving success.
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Impact. At first you think it's just a buzzword, but quickly you realize that it's the compass that drives everyone's priorities. It really aligns everyone together and on top of that it frees you from what is quite common in sourcing industry which is focusing on activity instead of actual outcomes.
Who inspires you at Facebook?
Oh this one's tricky. There's a number of people that fit the bill, be it colleagues, engineers or our managers and leadership. Mark and Sheryl in particular are excellent role models, I really appreciate how they provide an authentic reflection of themselves on a daily basis. We have weekly Q&A's with Mark which are quite unique, employees vote on questions they would like to be raised and Mark answers everything in the most straightforward way possible. It feels like it really ties the company together.