Meta Hiring Lead On Behind The Scenes of Senior+ Eng Hiring ย
Podcast: The Peterman PodPublished On: Mon Mar 16 2026
Description: 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.๐ธ (Sponsor) Hello Interview's Website - https://www.hellointerview.com/๐ฃ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ธ๐:โข YouTube: https://youtu.be/nOapM8i5jr0โข Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835โข Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/meta-hiring-lead-on-behind-the-scenes๐ง๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:49 - What goes on in hiring committees00:09:02 - Unethical candidates00:12:50 - How leveling is determined00:23:12 - Can you negotiate level mid-process00:32:30 - How non-tech leads can signal scope00:39:11 - Referrals and bias00:45:28 - What the rubric looks like00:50:00 - OpenAI and Anthropic specific discussion00:52:22 - Most common mistakes senior candidates make01:02:31 - How to prep depending on your level01:08:34 - Subjectivity and bias01:21:02 - The questions you ask at the end matter01:23:59 - Storytelling tips01:30:31 - How he got promoted to Senior Manager (M2) at Meta01:33:32 - His biggest career regret01:38:13 - The best advice he ever received01:39:54 - Advice for younger self01:41:46 - Outro๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ป:โข LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/austenmc/โข His book - https://thebehavioral.tech/๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ป:โข Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/โข X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpetermanโข LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/โข Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpetermanโข Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpetermanโข TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman
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