The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg , offered some practical advice to university students facing their exit to the professional market.
The founder of Facebook and current CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg , has provided a series of recommendations for all university students who want to have “a life they can be proud of”.
Zuckerberg spoke with MIT podcaster and computer scientist Lex Fridman. At the end of the nearly two-hour interview, he was asked for his advice on how young people can live a life they can be proud of and how to build something that can make a big positive impact in the world .
“I’m always very people-focused, and I think the biggest decision you’re likely to make if you’re in college is who you surround yourself with,” Zuckerberg said. “Because you become like the people you surround yourself with,” he added.
“When you’re trying to figure out your inner circle or evaluating different job opportunities, ask yourself who are the people, in an alternate universe, you’d want to work for, even if they’re just going to be partners in what you’re doing,” Zuckerberg noted .
This could be because you think you’ll learn a lot from them, their values align with yours, or you think they’ll put pressure on you, he said, adding that it’s a similar response if you choose a partner or friends.
“People are also, in general, focused on goals and maybe not focused enough on connections and people that they’re basically building relationships with,” Zuckerberg said.
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Zuckerberg launched Facebook with fellow Harvard students Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum and Chris Hughes in 2004. Throughout his career, he says he uses the advice in his hiring.
“I will only hire someone to work for me if I could see myself working for them,” Zuckerberg said. “In an alternate universe, if it was their company and I was looking to go work somewhere, would I be happy to work for them?”
Zuckerberg said it has proven to be a “useful heuristic” to help balance the pressure that comes with building a business and the desire to get things done quickly.
“Everyone always says don’t compromise on quality, but there’s the question of ‘How do you know if someone is good enough?’ Zuckerberg said . “My answer is: I would like someone to be on my team if I wanted to work for them,” he said.
