Tales from the Trenches of Meta.
What is this about?
Ignore the clickbait title, this post is a follow-up to a piece I wrote two years ago about joining Meta. As always, I strive to write clearly and straightforwardly in a way that is easy to understand, without making reading feel like a chore. Understatement is overrated, you know.
Two Years at Meta
I’ve had some incredible experiences and learned valuable lessons about navigating this corporate life I found myself. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the value of both opportunity and preparation.
Early in my time at Meta, I had the opportunity to step up and take on more responsibility when my onboarding buddy went on paternity leave, and my manager left the organization. Suddenly, I was in charge of my colleague’s projects and products, and I became the subject matter expert in my team within just six months of joining the company. While this was a great opportunity (many will believe otherwise), my preparation allowed me to succeed. I listened intently in meetings, assimilated as much information as possible, studied our tools’ ecosystem, and asked many “stupid” questions. I even gave the leadership team some food for thought. This helped to come up with product solutions for existing process.
Achievements
A colleague once told me, “It’s not bragging if it’s true,” and I’ve realized the importance of highlighting my achievements. In fact, that’s what performance reviews are all based on. I’ve learned that it’s okay to celebrate your successes and accomplishments.
Growth
Seeking Opportunities to Expand Your Skillset: Apart from change, growth should be a constant in our lives. Without room or opportunity for growth, we won’t feel fulfilled. I’ve discovered that a job doesn’t automatically give me the growth I need, so I have to look for it. Taking on multiple roles has been a significant contributor to my growth. I’ve had to play the role of a TPM and a product manager, and on a few occasions, I even had to push code to production. My documentation still needs some work, but my solutioning, prioritization, negotiation, and, most importantly, people management skills have improved significantly in the last two years.
Mistakes
The last thing I want to mention quickly is about making mistakes at work. I can count on one hand the number of times I have dropped the ball on a project. However, when this one mistake happened, it took me by surprise, and I was in shock for about five5 days. Now, this was when imposter syndrome came. I felt like a fraud. I felt like I wasn’t as good at my job as much as I thought.
“I should have tested more than I did” “Did I even test?” “Should I resign” “XFN won’t trust my decision makings anymore” “I feel terrible.”
While all these thoughts were going through my head, I sought a solution — a way to mitigate the impact of my carelessness. After about four (4) hours of calls to different Enterprise Engineers, we found a way. Mistakes happen, but it’s essential to learn from them and move forward.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I’ve learned that it’s essential to always look for ways to add value and build trust in the workplace. Growth is a constant in our lives, and we should seek opportunities to expand our skillset.
As they say, “fake it till you make it” is the culture in the corporate world, and I learned that not everyone knows what they’re doing. But do your absolute best!
You can see the evidence of God in my two years here. It will be absolutely impossible for me to go through everyday without him. Talk to him.
I, unfortunately, will keep doing this corporate life thing until I find my breadwinnig wife.
