“I joined because I wanted to change people’s lives,” said Juan P., a product manager with AR/VR speaking to hundreds of professionals in Chicago. “I wanted a mission-driven career, and Meta is a mission-driven company.”

Last week, four seemingly unconnected people from different countries, teams, and offices all shared the same stage. They spoke candidly about who they are outside of work, shared their personal experiences of moving to new cities, and reflected on what inspires them to keep building every day.

Before these speakers took the stage, they each gave a 10 minute talk on personal and high-impact projects. We heard about the innovative new Oculus work launched at Oculus Connect 6 (OC6), the unique culture of WhatsApp, making a career transition to work on artificial intelligence (AI), and how we’re building a more thoughtful shopping experience on Instagram. But off the stage, questions around work/life balance, how to navigate personal career transitions, and what inspired the panelists to join Meta shaped the panel conversation.

For Jennifer L., a product manager with WhatsApp, the decision to join Meta was all about feeling a sense of belonging and having the ability to choose her career path. “You’re making a big bet in your career,” she said, “and Facebook is here to help you explore what it means to really be here. You’re going to find a team where you belong, there’s a lot of diversity, and it truly is a place for everyone.”

The culture at Meta quickly became a focal point in the conversation. Juan talked about the unique focus on strengths, and Meta embracing the practice of finding what makes each person happiest. “It’s not just about what you do well, but what energizes you,” he said.

Mai H., a software engineer on Instagram added, “You never stop learning. There’s this strong culture of collaboration and transparency that I’ve never seen before.”

“And the people!” Sasha S. said. Sasha works as a software engineer on AI. “The Meta culture teaches us to be more open and more authentic. I’ve learned how to navigate uncertainty and how to navigate mistakes. I’ve learned that great products require passion.”

The discussion about company culture shifted to team culture and how it feels to not know your future team when you first enter the bootcamp process. Our panelists jumped on this topic as an opportunity to demystify the process.

“I took my time,” said Ikezi K., a product manager with Messenger. “I looked for a team with complementary skill sets, and if they worked the way I work.” Ikezi started with a choice of 50 teams and narrowed down to five and then just one.

Mai said that she looks back on bootcamp as one of her favorite experiences. During bootcamp, she made some of her deepest friendships. “You’re using this time to get to know people. I would definitely do it again.”

Jennifer agrees. “You get to see if you enjoy the people and culture,” she said. “We really care about engineers’ future.”

Ikezi was living in NYC when he accepted the product manager job and agreed to start bootcamp. This meant a cross-country move, and all the logistics that go with it. But as Ikezi tells it, the entire moving process was incredibly smooth, with Meta supporting him every step of the way. And once Ikezi got settled, he felt right at home. “The campus is glorious and the people are nice,” Ikezi said. “And it’s a wonderful place for those of us starting families.”

Mai's move was the opposite of Ikezi's, starting in Menlo Park and moving to New York City. “It feels like a small community in a big city. This might be impossible in Menlo Park, but I can name every Instagram engineer in New York,” she said. And every week her team goes out to lunch and tries something new in the city. The culture and accessibility of the city are a few of her favorite things about living in New York.

“There are people here from all over the world,” Jennifer said. “There are food clubs, cultural clubs, and workshops.” She talked about a colleague who took time each week to build a chair in the Menlo Park woodshop. Sasha highlighted the networking unique to the Bay Area and the close community of incredibly talented people. “Software engineers gather together just to learn about AI,” she said.

Juan shared a similar feeling about the Seattle office, “It feels small and you know everyone,” he said. And much like Ikezi, he loves Seattle for raising his family. “The quality of life is amazing. There’s nature everywhere and so much to do outside of work.”

“I hear that Meta is a great community of people,” an audience member chimed in. “But do you think about your impact on communities and the world?”

For Ikezi, the answer easily shifted to a more global mindset. “We think about this all the time. It’s not something we take lightly. We talk with each other and with our leadership. Often we take a step back. And then what do we do about it? We get to work.”