How to Answer: Change is par for the course with Facebook. When have you had to adapt to change?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Facebook job interview.
2. Change is par for the course with Facebook. When have you had to adapt to change?
How to Answer
Facebook products are constantly changing, being added, removed, and tweaked. Being able to adapt to an ever-changing environment and digital product cycle is a crucial skill to possess. Talk to the interviewer about a time when you have had to adjust to changes on the job. Discuss how you handled the shift in a positive manner.
Written by Rachelle Enns on September 1st, 2021
1st Answer Example
"In my previous role at a high-growth tech startup, the sales organization was restructured many times, from a new boss to new teams and territories. Some of the accounts I had been nurturing but had not yet converted were handed off to another sales rep who received the fruits of my labor. Of course, this can be very frustrating; however, by sitting down with management to understand the 'why' of the change, I was able to see the more significant objective. Ultimately, I pushed myself harder and increased my sales performance."
Written by Rachelle Enns on September 1st, 2021
2nd Answer Example
"In my current role, there is a lot of turnover when it comes to our management team. I have had to adapt to 3 new managers in the past four years. It is not the ideal situation, but I can adjust for the good of the team. One of the biggest factors that draw me to Facebook is that your employee tenure stats are strong. This tenure tells me that you can put more focus on changing products and tweaking your offering versus being bogged down by turnover and HR-related issues."
Written by Rachelle Enns on September 1st, 2021
User-Submitted Answer
"I've had to adapt to the needs of new clients that were more digitally oriented. Our first clients required more traditional advertising, whereas our newer clients were more focused on digital advertising. I worked on digital campaigns and learned new things along the way. This sparked my interest in social advertising at Facebook."
Written by an Anonymous User
Our Professional Interview Coach
Kevin Downey Reviewed the Above Answer
Great response; you provide a specific example of how you've adapted to change. You may wish to focus on the adaptability/flexibility aspect a bit more to strengthen your response. If you are naturally a highly adaptable person, this would be an excellent time to say so!
"Long ago I made a habit of challenging myself by expanding the sphere of my comfort zone. Eventually, I realized my comfort zone had evolved to where I was uncomfortable unless I was constantly stepping outside of my comfort zone. For example, I initially addressed our clients’ needs through traditional forms of advertising. Later, while bringing on new clients, I adapted to their needs for more digitally focussed advertising. So I learned everything I could about developing their campaigns. This has further sparked my interest in social advertising on Facebook, which is why I am here."
User-Submitted Answer
"I have had to adapt to change for every single role that I undertook which had a pretty different set of responsibilities. I also have the experience of changing sectors, starting work in a country that I didn't grow up in, and in each team that I was in, it was a different cultural composition of people. In essence, my whole career (as well as education) has been a story of change and I am confident to be able to successfully adapt to the next new role and environment as well."
Written by an Anonymous User
Our Professional Interview Coach
Stephanie Cafaro Reviewed the Above Answer
Wow! It's evident that you've experienced a lot of change during your life, in a variety of aspects. Good for you for being so adaptable--this is a highly marketable skill!
User-Submitted Answer
"At my last employment, we had one of our managers leave and a new one was hired. When the new manager joined he reviewed our tickets and he explained how to be more thorough in the analysis of impact after finishing a case. For example, asking questions like are we protected from this threat on our endpoints? what can we do to detect this in advance going forward? Ultimately it forced me to dig a little deeper in each case and started reaching out to other teams to find answers to those kinds of questions."
Written by an Anonymous User
Our Professional Interview Coach
Stephanie Cafaro Reviewed the Above Answer
This is a great example, but you should further highlight how you showed flexibility and adaptability. You could do this by adding a concluding sentence that highlights these skills. Example; "Having expectations set by a new manager brought me out of my comfort zone, made me better at the work, and caused me to realize just how adaptable I am."