First impressions matter most

Austen McDonald is a former hiring committee member at Meta, where he led mobile hiring and conducted hundreds of interviews. In this episode, we talked about what happens behind the scenes in a hiring committee, unethical candidates, and the role referrals play.

🔸 (Sponsor) Hello Interview's Website - https://www.hellointerview.com/

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/nOapM8i5jr0

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/meta-hiring-lead-on-behind-the-scenes

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:49 - What goes on in hiring committees

00:09:02 - Unethical candidates

00:12:50 - How leveling is determined

00:23:12 - Can you negotiate level mid-process

00:32:30 - How non-tech leads can signal scope

00:39:11 - Referrals and bias

00:45:28 - What the rubric looks like

00:50:00 - OpenAI and Anthropic specific discussion

00:52:22 - Most common mistakes senior candidates make

01:02:31 - How to prep depending on your level

01:08:34 - Subjectivity and bias

01:21:02 - The questions you ask at the end matter

01:23:59 - Storytelling tips

01:30:31 - How he got promoted to Senior Manager (M2) at Meta

01:33:32 - His biggest career regret

01:38:13 - The best advice he ever received

01:39:54 - Advice for younger self

01:41:46 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/austenmc/

• His book - https://thebehavioral.tech/

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:

• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/

• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman