Facebook Hypocrisy
Facebook Does Not Believe a Person without a Degree could be a Basic Admin even with 7 years of direct experience.
I should start this article off by suggesting my readers read a previous article I have written regarding my experience of surviving in the Silicon Valley without a degree. It sheds a lot of insight into my fight for my right to exist among California's top companies.
Now to the main story…
Three weeks ago I was approached by Facebook for a job in their legal department as an admin. (Extra emphasis on them coming to me). My job would be to route contracts. I do this type of work in my sleep.
I went through rigorous background checks and employment verifications after two rounds of interviews. Passed with flying colors. Not once was education ever discussed. They had my resume that clearly stated I only attended college but never graduated (I also stated in my background check that I have only officially graduated high school) and still they offered me the contract. They clearly wanted me which is why they sought me out, right?
Wrong. At the last second after three weeks of interviews and document signing, they come back with an out-of-the-blue request that they needed a letter of recommendation.
Immediately red flags were waving.
Why?
Oh, we need it to verify that you can do the job since you don’t have the proper education…
I asked what type of education they required and was told it doesn’t matter as long as there is an associate's degree in something.
HUH? The 7 years of direct experience as an admin in the legal field and 3 additional years of experience in admin roles, and owning my own ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE PROVIDER company is not enough proof that I could do the job, you need a piece of paper?
I asked why I was being singled out. They said they did not realize I didn’t meet the criteria for the position. What. The. F***?
Then why contact me directly and give me the offer? Why wait until we are already signed and under contract?
While I would usually do so without hesitation if my last company was recent, but this was over a year ago. Why does it matter? Why not my current clients or maybe one of the law firms I worked for?
I could feel my blood begin to boil.
I have 7 previous years in law, which is the department they contracted me for, but you need a recommendation from a position that had nothing to do with legal contract routing.
My job would be to make sure documents got signed on time. That’s it. I was blown away but would not back down. No one, especially a company like Facebook would convince me that I was not qualified.
After all of the experience, interviews, and background checks were not enough for me to be qualified, I sure as hell don’t need them.
I own my own business. I became a business owner to avoid this level of hypocrisy. You want letters of recommendation? Talk to my current clients who choose to keep coming back to me every month, who recommend me to their business partners and other startup founders, who tell me they could not function without me.
At the end of the day, they reneged on the contract and ghosted me entirely.
I chose to accept a contract with Facebook against my better judgment just to be able to say I landed a deal with Facebook.
Even now I fall prey to my own ego and go against everything I stand for just to prove to the world that I should exist, that I’m a legitimate business owner and person because a place like Facebook said I was.
F*** Facebook.
I built my company from my own money, my own sleepless nights, my own blood, and my own tears. I am damn proud of it too.
And guess what, I did it without a college degree.
And you know what else, I was a Chief of Staff without a degree.
And you know what else else, I make 6+ figures a year without a degree.
And you know what else else else, my goal is to hit seven figures by the end of this year.
Just because you couldn’t do it without a degree, don’t put me down for my ability to do it without one.
We are not the same.
BTW your own CEO doesn’t even have a degree.
More Backstory: I actually have all of the educational requirements met for an associate's degree but I have a very severe learning disability that has led me to fail math 8 times and the only reason I cannot graduate on paper. This literally caused me so much depression I lost the will to try. I had to work to pay bills, went to night school and the disability center where I would have been able to receive the help I needed only offered sessions during the day when I had to work. I really had no shot.
I plan to go back one day when I can afford the dedicated help I need on my time.
Facebook never asked for my transcripts proving it to them even though I had them. They didn’t value my word anymore. Only the word of a professional graduate* vouching for me at a previous job.
*my previous boss dropped out of college too. SMH.
