Hi everyone! I saw u/oklolcool did a guide for Explore Microsoft, so since the FBU for Engineers application is opening in a few days, I thought I'd also make a guide to help those looking to apply. I was an FBU intern this summer (2020). I also want to say that I'm pretty sure all this information can be found if you scour reddit/google, but I'm just gathering it here.

Timeline

• This year, the application period is August 24 to October 7 (taken the from website)

• Last year, I applied mid-september

• Received a HackerRank the same day, which was due at the end of October (last year was the first year they sent out coding challenges)

• They started reviewing applications at the beginning of November

• I received an additional information request shortly after (iirc it was asking about work eligibility)

• Contacted late November for a 30-minute, nontechnical video interview

• Interviewed beginning of December

• Received a call with an offer mid-December with 1 week to accept/decline

My Resume

Nothing spectacular tbh. Interned at a small startup previously, and had an extremely basic hackathon project. I go to a non-flagship state school. I truly believe the only reason I received an interview is because I had Google CSSI (also an amazing program) on my resume. However, that was also on my resume when I applied as a freshman and got rejected (the second year I applied was when I received an offer). It's pretty much just luck.

Coding Challenge + Interview

• I remember the HackerRank being the easiest one I did (and this is coming from someone who barely touches Leetcode and has yet to take an algorithms class). I finished with plenty of time to spare (it was 90 mins, but the website says 70 mins this year). It was the first year they sent HackerRanks so I'm not sure if they're going to adjust the difficulty.

EDIT: it seems like they switched to code signal this year, and that people are having trouble with the shorter time limit/possibly more difficult questions. I'd advise you to take the time you need to prepare, because I'm pretty sure it's NOT on a rolling basis.

• Video Interview: strictly behavioral and pretty casual. Asked about my favorite app and what I would improve about it, my areas of interest, why Facebook, etc.

Other notes

• If you get an offer, you'll be sorted into either Android or iOS development. In past years (and this year), there have been twice as many Android interns as iOS. This is because 2/3 of the FBU Engineering interns are located in Menlo Park (Facebook HQ), and the remaining 1/3 are in Seattle. The Menlo Park interns are split half/half as Android and iOS and the Seattle interns are all Android. I'm not sure if this will change if the program is remote next year. As far as I know, you do not get to choose or request which track you are put into.

• I'm not sure about the ratio of freshman:sophomores, but in my intern pod, it was evenly split.

• I got a call with an offer after normal business hours, Pacific Time (same as Facebook HQ). The call came from a number with a 650 area code (I don't know if this is the same for everyone).

• You do not need experience with mobile development. The first 3 weeks of the internship is literally just learning how to build an app.

• You will need your high school transcript to apply

• We were paid $5300/month this year (was on the website last year, but I don't see it for next year) with corporate housing or a housing stipend

• It's pretty widely known that the 8-week FBU for Engineers is basically just training for the 12-week SWE internship the next year

Feel free to ask me questions! It was honestly such an amazing experience; if you're considering applying, please do! I will say that if you're looking to work on a product that's in-use, this might not be the internship for you. For FBU, you work on a personal app (if the internship was in person, it would've been a group app), but you have a lot of freedom to build whatever app you want to. You're basically getting paid to learn mobile development and make a side project!

Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/careers/FBUEngineering

p.s. you can also ask me about google cssi :)