Mark Zuckerberg once offered a rare look into how he decides who gets hired at Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) — and it all hinges on a personal test that flips the traditional hiring process on its head.
A Hiring Rule Built Around One Unusual Question
During a 2022 conversation on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Zuckerberg said that when evaluating candidates, he turns to a simple but unexpected question: Would I work for this person in an alternate universe?
Zuckerberg explained that he uses this as a gut-check on whether a candidate has the judgment, values and capability he wants on his team.
"I will only hire someone to work for me if I could see myself working for them," he said, clarifying that it isn't about handing over the company but about whether the person is someone he could genuinely learn from.
"There’s this question of, okay, how do you know that someone is good enough? And I think my answer is I would want someone to be on my team if I would work for them," he explained.
You Become Like the People You Surround Yourself With: Zuckerberg
The Meta CEO said young people — especially those graduating from college — underestimate how much their inner circle shapes their future. He believes this rule applies just as much to choosing friends, mentors and colleagues as it does to hiring.
People are too "objective-focused," he said, urging young adults to prioritize relationships over rigid goals. According to Zuckerberg, the right people challenge you, expand your thinking and push you toward who you want to become.
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Bezos, Buffett, Musk And Jobs Say Hiring Talent Is Key To Long-Term Success
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has also long stressed hiring exceptional talent. In a 1998 interview, Bezos revealed that he devoted a third of job interviews to assessing whether candidates could themselves attract top performers — a skill he saw as crucial to Amazon's growth and execution.
In a 1998 talk with MBA students at the University of Florida, Warren Buffett said he looks for integrity, intelligence and energy when hiring. He later noted during a 2021 shareholder meeting that ineffective management poses the greatest threat to a company, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has expressed views similar to Steve Jobs', stressing that success depends on hiring exceptional talent and choosing strong managers.
Jobs, too, often highlighted the value of selecting the right people, noting that the best managers are usually standout individual contributors who step up because they know the job must be done well.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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