Facebook's HR chief reveals how to get a job at the social media giant
Facebook's HR chief reveals how to get a job at the social media giant · CNBC

With over thousands of job applicants a year, it comes as no surprise that competition is stiff for open positions at Facebook.

In fact, one former employee went through 17 rounds of interviews before finally securing the role.

How can job seekers stand out when applying to the illustrious social media network?

Lori Goler, Facebook's vice president of people, discusses the company's hiring process with job site Glassdoor.

First, she suggests people learn about Facebook's company culture. "Most people have done a lot of research before they come" in for an interview, she tells Glassdoor.

She also recommends taking the time to thoroughly read call transcripts and earnings articles for up-to-date insight on what's most important to Facebook. That way, you can speak eloquently about CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision for the company during job interviews.

Facebook has had the same mission statement since its inception: Make the world more connected. Zuckerberg even wrote a manifesto in February, in which he expressed his vision for a global and connected world.

"Facebook stands for bringing us closer together and building a global community," he writes in the statement. "The most important thing we at Facebook can do is develop the social infrastructure to give people the power to build a global community that works for all of us."

Zuckerberg emphasizes hiring people who support this shared vision for the company, he tells Fast Company. He adds that doing so has allowed Facebook "to take on more and more products and things that we can try to solve for the world."

Adhering to this overarching vision has given the company the license to tackle new products like virtual reality headsets and less tangible issues like dealing with hate speech.

Second, Goler says that applicants should be "builders" and "learners," or people who are constantly educating themselves at the office and also contributing to the company's growth through innovation.

Goler tells Glassdoor: "We're always looking at something and thinking, 'That works pretty well, but it can be even better." A recent example: the addition of fun filters to Facebook-owned Instagram.

"What that means is that we are never done," she says. "That's true of every person on every job in every location across the globe for us."

In an interview with Facebook, express that you "would like the opportunity to contribute to doing good," she recommends.

Zuckerberg says as much on a recent episode of LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman's podcast, "Masters of Scale": Facebook's company culture promotes risk-taking by allowing engineers to experiment with new software, he says.