How to land a job at Facebook

(Mashable) -- So you want to work at Facebook, one of the world's hottest companies -- what do you have to get your foot in the door and get noticed?
It's not going to be easy -- you have competition.
Facebook received 250,000 job applications last year and is consistently rated as one of the best places to work. And with Facebook's IPO around the corner, the competition for jobs is only going to heat up.
There are plenty of ways to get noticed and stand above the crowd, though. I chatted with Thomas Arnold, head of recruiting for the social network, on what the company looks for and what it takes to get a job at Facebook.
What jobs are available at Facebook?
Ever since Facebook announced it was moving to a bigger office and raised $2 billion in funding, it has been ramping up its hiring.
While there are many openings in legal, communications, HR, marketing, online operations, business development, IT, design, user experience and internationalization, the company is especially looking for technical talent, especially software engineers and product managers.
The Facebook interview process
I actually went through the entire Facebook interview process in 2008, before I joined Mashable as an associate editor. And while it's definitely changed since I applied for a job on the company's User Operations team, the basic format has remained the same.
The first step is almost always a recruiter phone-screening -- Facebook will begin exploring your resume, asking you about your previous work, especially about what you've built and what leadership roles you've had in the past. Sometimes there's a second screening, depending on the role.
If you pass the screening, the company will fly you out to its Silicon Valley headquarters for a series of on-site interviews with the hiring manager (your potential future boss) and a group of your peers -- in other words, you will be interviewed by the members of the team you're hoping to join.
As Arnold explained to me, these interviews are designed to determine whether you have the skills for the job and whether you're a cultural fit. The group then makes "a collective decision on whether you're a great fit" for the position.
The process itself greatly varies from group to group -- expect more technical skill challenges if you're applying for an engineering job. Oh, and one extra piece of advice from me: Always put the user first in any scenario or interview question.
Standing apart from the crowd
With more than a quarter of a million applicants, how does Facebook whittle down the applicant pool?
"We're primarily looking for builders," Arnold says. He explains that Facebook has an entrepreneurial spirit and is a flat organization, and thus it's looking for people who can thrive in that environment. Employees need to be self-starters who don't need a lot of direction, so autonomy and self-motivation are highly valued.
Builders -- especially engineers who like to build projects on their own and have cool, working products or apps they can show off -- are sought after by the Facebook team. If someone builds a unique application and/or solves a problem in a way that hasn't been done before, he's going to get Facebook's attention.
Strong applicants to Facebook also "just get the social space," Arnold says. They not only understand the product, but can see the company's vision. Even more important is that they're active users of the product.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but Arnold says his team finds a lot of applicants who haven't used their Facebook accounts in weeks or even months. And that is a very clear sign to Facebook that the person won't be a good fit.
Finally, it's very helpful to know someone at Facebook who can vouch for you -- this was true even when I interviewed with the social network three years ago. While I got special consideration due to my unique history with Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, I still had a Facebook reference.
Final thoughts
While I ultimately failed to secure a job at Facebook, you don't have to let that be the case for you. For those of you applying to non-technical roles, be sure you're active users, understand the company culture and have a resume filled with leadership and "builder" activities.
It's more impressive if you launched an organization or product than if you simply took it over.
For technical talent, the best thing you can do is build something. If you build a really impressive iPhone application that gains some traction, you're going to get noticed. If you are a major contributor of open source code to various projects, you're going to get noticed.
In the end though, the big filter is cultural fit. There isn't really much you can do to prepare for that -- the Facebook team simply knows if you're going to mesh well with them or if you're not going to be able to keep up.
And as I said before, be sure to have an employee refer you. Otherwise, you're going to have a really difficult time just getting the phone screening.

Dhoni leads India to World Cup glory

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni guided India to a second Cricket World Cup title on Saturday as his team beat tournament co-hosts Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final in Mumbai.

Dhoni, the world's highest-paid player, produced his best performance of the six-week-long event when it mattered most as India passed Sri Lanka's total of 274-6 with 10 balls of the allotted 50 overs to spare.

The 29-year-old smashed the winning runs with a huge six over the boundary ropes to finish the innings unbeaten on 91 off only 79 balls faced.

He set up victory with his fourth-wicket partnership of 109 with Gautam Gambhir, who top-scored with an invaluable 97, after coming to the batting crease at 114-3 in the 22nd over.

Sri Lanka, winners of the tournament in 1996 and runners-up in the last staging four years ago, set a potentially testing target for India thanks to an unbeaten 103 from captain Mahela Jayawardene.

With the victory, India -- the top-ranked team in cricket's five-day Test format -- assumed the No. 1 position in the limited-overs game ahead of previous champions Australia.

It was a successful farewell for India's South African coach Gary Kirsten, who is ending his four-year tenure.

The final, the first between two Asian teams in the tournament's 36-year history, was billed as a battle between two of the game's greatest players: India batsman Sachin Tendulkar and his fellow record-setter, bowler Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka.

However, the 37-year-old Tendulkar made only 18 after opening the Indian innings, meaning that the world's highest run-scorer in all formats of the game finished second in this tournament behind Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan -- who added 33 for an overall total of 500 runs from nine innings.

However, he had the satisfaction of earning his first World Cup win in his sixth appearance at the tournament since 1992, playing on his home ground where he made his first-class debut for Bombay with a century at the age of 15.

"I couldn't have asked for more," Tendulkar told the crowd after being carried around the Wankhede Stadium on the shoulders of his teammates.

"Winning the World Cup is the ultimate thing. It is the proudest moment of my life. It shows it is never too late. I thank my teammates, who were fabulous. I could not really hold back my tears. These are happy tears so I don't mind crying."

Muralitharan, playing his final match before retiring, was unable to add to his 15 wickets in the tournament as he was visibly hampered by the injuries that threatened to rule him out of the match.

Murali, who turns 39 next month, ended his career with a record 800 Test and 534 one-day wickets.

India's Zaheer Khan picked up two more wickets to join Shahid Afridi as the tournament's leading bowler on 21, having played one more match after his team beat Pakistan in the semifinals on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka won the pre-match toss of the coin and chose to bat first, but needed late fireworks from Jayawardene -- who scored his runs off only 88 balls -- plus Nuwan Kulasekara (32) and Thisara Perera (22) after a mid-innings dip.

Fast bowler Lasith Malinga gave Sri Lanka hope when he dismissed both Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag (0) but Gambhir added 83 with Virat Kohli (35) to steady the run chase.

Dhoni then upped the scoring rate, and India appeared to be cruising until Gambhir attempted a rash shot in sight of his 10th one-day century and was bowled by Perera.

That left India needing 52 to win off 54 balls, but Dhoni turned the tide again when he hit the first six of India's innings off Perera -- and then survived an appeal for a run out that required several replays before the video umpire made his ruling.

Dhoni was given able assistance by Yuvraj Singh, who ended the game unbeaten on 21 from 24 balls and was later named man of the tournament for his consistent displays with bat and ball.

Bodies found of two nuclear plant workers missing since quake

Tokyo -- The bodies of two Japanese nuclear power plant workers missing since the epic March 11 earthquake and tsunami have been found, an official with the plant's owner said Sunday.

The men's remains were found in the basement of the turbine building at the No. 4 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, an official with the Tokyo Electric Power Company told reporters Sunday.

The pair -- identified as Kazahiko Kokubo, 24, and Yoshiki Terashima, 21, both members of the utility company's operations management department -- were working in that building when the 9.0-magnitude quake and subsequent tsunami struck. The disaster caused damage throughout northeastern Japan, including at the power plant, which is on the Asian nation's eastern coast about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

One of the workers was found floating in a pool of water in the basement, the utilty company official said. Both appeared to have suffered multiple traumatic injuries and severe blood loss.

The bodies were found Wednesday, but the power company did not disclose the news until late Sunday morning.

Tokyo Electric officials explained the information was delayed in getting out because it took time to notify victims' families and discuss how to announce the news.

Company Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata offered condolences for "the loss of two valuable lives."

"It is deeply regrettable that we lose two employees who were trying to protect the safety of the power plant from the earthquake and tsunami," he said in a statement.

Later, Katsumata reiterated Tokyo Electric's vow that every effort is being made to address the crisis at the nuclear plant and this such a situation will never happen again.

"We swear never to repeat this tragedy," he said, "and we making a full effort to resolve the situation as soon as possible."

Nokia: Most Apple products violate our patents

HELSINKI: Nokia says it has filed another complaint in the United States alleging that Apple infringes Nokia patents in almost all of its mobile phones, portable music players, tablets and computers.

Nokia says the seven patents in the new complaint relate to Nokia's "pioneering innovations" that Apple is using "to create key features in its products, including in multitasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories."

Nokia said that the complaint follows last week's decision by the United States International Trade Commission that found no violation in an earlier complaint. Nokia said it "is waiting to see the full details of the ruling before deciding on the next steps in that case."

"Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone," Paul Melin, Nokia's vice president, intellectual property, said in a statement.

Legal disputes between the two technology groups are also being heard in courts in the United States, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands.

For netizens, semifinal is no less than WW III

MUMBAI: It is no surprise that on the eve of the World Cup semifinal between India and Pakistan, the internet is filled with fans on both sides taking potshots at each other in the form of tweets, status messages and jokes.

Already on Twitter and Facebook, the Mohali match has been renamed World War III. And while the first ball has not yet been bowled, over 1,700 members of Cricket Fans on Facebook have begun agonizing over what would happen if the game ended in a tie. Those seemingly more educated about the rules and regulations have taken it upon themselves to explain concepts such as OOPSE (One Over Per Side Eliminator).

There is little denying that cricket is a religion and Sachin a god in this country. One joke doing the rounds on the social networks goes: Afridi (joining his hands in prayer): God, please help us win the semi final.

God: Sorry, I open the batting for India. Also, there is no denying that in India cricket and politics can be found in the same arena. Certain sections of a social network have begun calling the Mohali match The Great Cricket Diplomacy Meet, alluding to PM Manmohan Singh's invitation to Pakistan's PM Yousaf Raza Gilani to watch the game together.

A discussion that ran into over 330 comments on the Prime Minister's Facebook page debated whether his move was in the interest of the nation. ''How many times will you get stabbed in the back?'' one poster asked. Others praised the move while alluding to an Indian victory in the same vein. ''Great diplomatic idea. Good sportsman spirit means acknowledging victories without humiliating opponents.''

And then there are those that believe India's fate in this World Cup depends on whether Captain M S Dhoni's wife continues with her high-profile fasts for her husbands success. Indian netizens have been spending time on Sakshi Dhoni's social-networking fan pages, pleading with the 24-year-old to continue fasting and to "plz remain wid dhoni bhaiya during d match".

On the whole, the match has ensured that India-Pakistan and Mohali turned into top trending topics on Twitter.

Relatedly, a comScore report said that World Cup 2011 has created the highest volume of traffic over 13 million users for cricket sites in India. ''Across the globe, fans are turning to the internet for real-time updates, results and live-streaming of matches,'' said Joe Nguyen, comScore vice president for Southeast Asia. Reports by Google Trends show that the maximum cricket-related searches around 13% — came from Mumbai, with Bangalore and New Delhi notching 8% each. Interestingly, the most popular search phrase is India-Pakistan semifinal fixed.

Then there are cricket-themed websites, like a newly-launched virtual community that allows social networkers to don the hats of Sidhu and Harsha Bhogle and post ball-by-ball gyaan on the forum.