Julie Zhuo is the VP of product design at Facebook. After graduating from Stanford University in 2006, she joined the social media giant as an intern and quickly worked her way up to becoming a manager at 25.
In her 13 years at Facebook, she has interviewed many recent graduates eager to score an internship or entry-level position and says no matter how qualified an applicant is, there is still one interview mistake she'll always see as a warning sign.
"I would say one red flag when you're interviewing is to be too focused on status or prestige," the author of "The Making of a Manager" tells CNBC Make It.
Facebook is still considered one of the most attractive employers today, and Zhuo says she's seen her fair share of candidates who only want to land a job at the company because "it seems like the right thing to do, or it's the next step up for [their] career."
Rather than hiring someone who only wants to add a prestigious name to their resume, Zhuo says she focuses her attention on the applicants who are interested in making a difference at the company. She says she looks for candidates who are ready to "come in and just do a really, really great job."
She wants employees who'll "continue to learn and grow," she says, "and do what you know is going to help the team the most."
Zhuo emphasizes that although experience and unique skill sets may help you land an interview at Facebook, they aren't a top priority for her because "a lot of times people are still in the learning phase and that's great. That's OK."
"What I really look for are people who love to learn and who approach the job with a sense of curiosity and productivity, and who are just really eager to do great work," she says. "I think that enthusiasm really comes across in an interview, especially in the questions that someone asks and in their tone and body language when interacting with me."
Zhuo, who is a firm believer that interviews should be a two-way street, adds, "I love it when [candidates] ask me a lot of questions about my team, the environment and the culture that we work in."
Ultimately, she says, "that shows me that a candidate is really interested in learning the nitty gritty and the details and the color of what it's like to work on this team and in this environment."
Video by Beatriz Bajuelos Castillo
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