ResumeAdapter
Updated 2026-06-05

The 6 values Meta hires against.
And how to prove each one.

Why this matters

Meta does publish its bar. On its careers culture page it names six core values: Move fast; Build awesome things; Be direct and respect your colleagues; Focus on long-term impact; Live in the future; and Meta, Metamates, Me. This page maps each to resume language, with a do-this bullet, the anti-pattern to delete, and a STAR example you can adapt for the interview.

Scan my Meta resumeFree to scan6 core valuesSTAR examples
By the numbers
What Meta publishes
6 values
The cultural hiring bar
Ownable phrase
Metamates
Meta, Metamates, Me
Retired motto
Break things
Now simply Move fast
Source
metacareers.com
Primary, candidate-facing

The quick answer

What are Meta's core values?

Meta publishes six core values on its careers culture page, and they function as the cultural bar a candidate is read against: Move fast, building and learning faster than anyone else by acting with urgency; Build awesome things, shipping work that is not just good but awe-inspiring; Be direct and respect your colleagues, being straightforward and willing to have hard conversations; Focus on long-term impact, extending the timeline for the impact you have; Live in the future, building the future of work you want with an in-person focus; and Meta, Metamates, Me, a stewardship value that puts the company and mission first, your teammates second, and yourself last. On a resume and in interviews, the move is the same for all six: do not name the value as an adjective, prove it with a quantified outcome or a STAR story. Scan your resume to see which of these values a recruiter would actually find. Scan your Meta resume.

Meta's careers culture page lists six core values: Move fast (build and learn faster than anyone else, acting with urgency), Build awesome things (ship work that is not just good but awe-inspiring), Be direct and respect your colleagues (be straightforward and willing to have hard conversations), Focus on long-term impact (extend the timeline for the impact you have), Live in the future (build the future of work you want with an in-person focus), and Meta, Metamates, Me (be stewards of the company and its mission with responsibility for collective success).

Unlike Apple, Meta does publish a named set of values, and unlike Amazon's fourteen-plus leadership principles, the list is short: six values on its careers culture page. They are how Meta describes the way its people are expected to operate, which makes them the honest analog to a hiring rubric.

These are not corporate policy commitments. The six values are about how Meta's people actually work day to day, in service of the company's stated mission to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. That is exactly why a reviewer reads your bullets against them.

The resume reading is the same for all six values: a Meta reviewer indexes on the value being visible in the outcome itself, not asserted as an adjective. A line that reads move-fast mindset with a strong bias for action fails, because it names the value instead of demonstrating it.

A line that reads shipped an instrumented 1 percent canary the same day and confirmed the fix in 48 hours passes, because it shows Move fast through an owned, measured outcome without ever using the word fast. The six entries below give you that pattern for each value, plus the anti-pattern to delete and a STAR example for the interview.

The six core values

Each value with what it signals,
a do-this bullet, and a STAR example.

Value names and the official descriptions in italics are verbatim from Meta's careers culture page (accessed June 2026). Each entry adds what the value signals in hiring, a do-this versus avoid-this row, and a STAR-style example you can adapt.

01
Core value 01

Move fast

We build and learn faster than anyone else. Acting with urgency, we don't wait until next week to do something we could do today.

Meta's official description

Meta reads for bias to action and learning velocity, not just raw speed. A reviewer wants evidence you compress cycle time, ship to learn, and treat shipping as the way you gather information rather than the end of the work.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a compressed timeline with a learning loop: what you shipped fast, what you learned, and how that learning changed the next iteration. Pair urgency with a measurable outcome.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Long, deliberate planning bullets with no shipped artifact, or speed claims with no learning. Drove a six-month planning initiative signals the opposite of Meta's build-and-learn cadence.

STAR example to prove it

Situation: a checkout regression was suspected but unconfirmed. Task: validate the fix risk fast. Action: shipped an instrumented 1 percent canary the same day instead of waiting on a full QA cycle. Result: confirmed the fix in 48 hours and rolled to 100 percent, cutting failed checkouts 22 percent.

02
Core value 02

Build awesome things

We push ourselves to ship things that are not just good, but also awe-inspiring.

Meta's official description

Meta reads for ambition and quality bar, not incrementalism. A reviewer wants a project where you raised the ceiling, not just cleared the floor: something users or peers found genuinely impressive, with the craft to back the claim.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Name one thing you built that exceeded the brief, with a quantified quality or adoption signal that proves it was awe-inspiring rather than adequate. Show the bar you set, not just the box you ticked.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Maintenance-only or ticket-closing framing with no ambition, or grandiose adjectives with no proof. Delivered assigned tasks on time reads as floor-clearing, not ceiling-raising.

STAR example to prove it

Situation: the team needed a basic internal dashboard. Task: deliver reporting for one workflow. Action: built a self-serve analytics layer the whole org could query, beyond the original ask. Result: adopted by 9 teams in a month and cut ad-hoc data requests to engineering by 70 percent.

03
Core value 03

Be direct and respect your colleagues

We create a culture where we are straightforward and willing to have hard conversations with each other.

Meta's official description

Meta reads for candor paired with respect, the ability to have the hard conversation without making it personal. A reviewer wants evidence you surfaced an uncomfortable truth, disagreed openly, and kept the relationship and the work intact.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Describe a moment you gave or received direct feedback, named the disagreement plainly, and reached a better outcome. Show both halves: the directness and the respect.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Conflict-avoidant framing where everyone always agreed, or bluntness with no respect that reads as abrasive. Never had any team disagreements signals you avoid the hard conversation Meta values.

STAR example to prove it

Situation: a senior engineer's design had a scaling flaw no one had raised. Task: protect the launch without undermining them. Action: shared the load-test data directly in review and proposed a specific alternative. Result: the design was revised, the launch held, and we co-authored the postmortem together.

04
Core value 04

Focus on long-term impact

We emphasize long-term thinking that encourages us to extend the timeline for the impact we have.

Meta's official description

Meta reads for durable, compounding impact, not vanity wins. A reviewer wants a decision you made for the long horizon, sometimes at the cost of a short-term metric, and evidence the bet paid off over time.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a choice optimized for the long term: a foundation, migration, or standard you built that kept paying off. Quantify the compounding effect, not just the launch-day number.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Short-horizon, one-off wins with no durability, or quick hacks that created debt. Hit the quarterly target reads as short-term if nothing compounded from it.

STAR example to prove it

Situation: the service was hitting scaling limits monthly. Task: relieve pressure for the next quarter. Action: chose to re-architect the data layer instead of patching, accepting a slower current sprint. Result: removed the recurring incident class entirely and supported 4x traffic over the next year with no further rework.

05
Core value 05

Live in the future

We build the future of work that we want, with an in-person focus designed to support a strong, valuable experience.

Meta's official description

Meta reads for people who build the working environment and tools they wish existed, with an in-person, high-bandwidth collaboration focus. A reviewer wants evidence you improved how the team works, not only what it shipped.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show a way you shaped the future of work for your team: a tool, ritual, or in-person collaboration model you introduced that made the team measurably better. Build the environment you want.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Passive framing where you only worked within the process given, with no sign you improved how the team operates. Followed the existing workflow shows no future-building.

STAR example to prove it

Situation: code reviews stalled across time zones and async threads. Task: speed up review throughput. Action: introduced a twice-weekly in-person design jam plus a shared review SLA. Result: median review time dropped from 2 days to 4 hours and onboarding ramp for new hires halved.

06
Core value 06

Meta, Metamates, me

We are stewards of our company and our mission. We have a sense of responsibility for our collective success.

Meta's official description

Meta reads for stewardship and ownership in priority order: the company and mission first, your teammates (Metamates) second, yourself last. A reviewer wants evidence you took responsibility beyond your role for collective success.

What it signals in hiring
Show this on the resume

Show ownership of an outcome that was not strictly yours, where you put the mission and the team ahead of personal credit. Name the collective win, not the individual spotlight.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Self-promotional, credit-claiming bullets that center you over the team, or scope-policing where not my job ended the story. I personally got the promotion-worthy win misses the stewardship signal.

STAR example to prove it

Situation: a partner team's launch was slipping and would block the company goal. Task: it was outside my remit. Action: pulled two of us in to unblock their integration and stayed late to pair through it. Result: the shared launch shipped on time and I credited the partner team in the retro.

Value names and official descriptions from Meta's careers culture page, metacareers.com/culture, accessed June 2026. STAR examples are illustrative templates, not Meta-supplied.

The ownable phrase
Meta, Metamates, MeAnnounced Feb 16, 2022

Company and mission first. Metamates second. Me last.

Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta, Metamates, Me on February 16, 2022, alongside the company's value refresh. He described it as a riff on the U.S. Navy's maxim Ship, Shipmates, Self: a phrase about stewardship, where you take responsibility for the collective vessel and the people on it before yourself.

Metamates is what Meta employees call each other. The value asks for a sense of responsibility for collective success: the company and its mission first, your fellow Metamates second, and you last. It is the one Meta phrase a candidate can actually name in an interview, because using the word Metamates correctly signals you understand the culture.

The resume implication: show an outcome you owned that was not strictly yours, where you put the mission and your teammates ahead of personal credit. Stewardship beats self-promotion on every line.

Origin attributed to Mark Zuckerberg's February 16, 2022 announcement, a stated riff on the U.S. Navy's Ship, Shipmates, Self.

The behavioral round, community-reported

Eight focus areas,
mapped back to the six values.

Community-reported, not an official Meta rubric

The eight focus areas below are widely reported by an ex-Meta engineer and engineering manager via interviewing.io as the themes Meta's behavioral interview tends to probe. Meta does not publish these as an official scoring rubric, so treat them as a strong preparation guide rather than a guarantee. We map each to the closest official value so you know which STAR story to bring.

01 / Reported focus area

Motivation

Maps to

Move fast / Build awesome things

02 / Reported focus area

Proactivity

Maps to

Meta, Metamates, Me

03 / Reported focus area

Working in an unstructured environment

Maps to

Live in the future

04 / Reported focus area

Perseverance

Maps to

Focus on long-term impact

05 / Reported focus area

Conflict resolution

Maps to

Be direct and respect your colleagues

06 / Reported focus area

Empathy

Maps to

Be direct and respect your colleagues

07 / Reported focus area

Growth

Maps to

Move fast

08 / Reported focus area

Communication

Maps to

Be direct and respect your colleagues

Focus areas community-reported via interviewing.io, attributed to an ex-Meta engineer and engineering manager. Not an official Meta rubric; value mappings are ResumeAdapter Editorial.

How to show the six values

Five moves from
generic resume to Meta-true.

01
Step 01

Show Move fast with a learning loop

Meta reads for build-and-learn velocity, not raw speed. Show a compressed timeline where you shipped to learn and the learning changed the next iteration, paired with a measurable outcome, not a long planning narrative.

02
Step 02

Prove Build awesome things with a raised ceiling

Name one thing you built that exceeded the brief, with a quantified quality or adoption signal that proves it was awe-inspiring rather than adequate. Show the bar you set, not just the box you ticked.

03
Step 03

Show directness with respect

Describe a moment you gave or received direct feedback, named the disagreement plainly, and reached a better outcome with the relationship intact. Show both halves: candor and respect.

04
Step 04

Document one long-term bet

Show a choice optimized for the long horizon, a foundation, migration, or standard, sometimes at the cost of a short-term metric, and quantify the compounding effect rather than the launch-day number.

05
Step 05

Show stewardship for Meta, Metamates, Me

Document ownership of an outcome beyond your role, where you put the mission and the team ahead of personal credit. Then scan your resume against a specific Meta posting on ResumeAdapter to see which values a reviewer would actually find, and iterate until each value is visible in the work.

For most candidates the move is simple: build one quantified bullet or STAR story per value. A fast ship with a learning loop for Move fast, an ambitious build for Build awesome things, a direct-feedback moment for Be direct and respect your colleagues, a durable long-horizon bet for Focus on long-term impact, a future-of-work improvement for Live in the future, and an act of stewardship beyond your role for Meta, Metamates, Me. Six proofs, six values, none of them naming the value as an adjective.

In the interview, lead the Meta, Metamates, Me story with the collective win and credit your teammates by name. Using the word Metamates correctly, and putting the mission ahead of your own spotlight, is the clearest signal you understand the culture rather than just the keywords.

You do not need to name a single value on the page. You need bullets where urgency, ambition, candor, durability, future-building, and stewardship are visible in the outcomes themselves. See the Meta levels spoke for how the bar shifts by band, and the Meta interview process spoke for how these values surface across the loop, including the dedicated behavioral round.

FAQ

Meta's core values, FAQ

The questions candidates surface about what Meta actually screens for, after they have read the pillar. Answers are byte-identical to the FAQPage JSON-LD, because AI engines that extract HTML and AI engines that extract JSON-LD should not see different text.

What are Meta's core values?

Meta lists six core values on its careers culture page: Move fast; Build awesome things; Be direct and respect your colleagues; Focus on long-term impact; Live in the future; and Meta, Metamates, Me. They function as the cultural bar candidates are read against, similar to how Amazon uses its leadership principles. On a resume and in interviews, demonstrate each with a quantified outcome rather than naming the value as an adjective.

What is "Meta, Metamates, Me"?

Meta, Metamates, Me is Meta's sixth value and means stewardship of the company and its mission, with responsibility for collective success placed before individual credit. Mark Zuckerberg announced it on February 16, 2022, describing it as a riff on the U.S. Navy's maxim Ship, Shipmates, Self. The priority order is the company and mission first, your teammates (Metamates) second, and yourself last, so show ownership of outcomes beyond your own role.

Is "Move fast and break things" still a Meta value?

No. "Move fast and break things" is retired. Meta used it as a motto in its early years, softened it around 2014 to "Move fast with stable infrastructure," and the live careers culture page now states the value simply as "Move fast": building and learning faster than anyone else and acting with urgency. Treat the original phrase as historical lineage, not the current value.

What values questions does Meta ask in interviews?

Meta's behavioral round is widely reported to probe drive and motivation, ownership and proactivity, working in unstructured environments, perseverance, conflict resolution, empathy, growth, and communication, which map onto the six values. These eight focus areas are community-reported by an ex-Meta interviewer via interviewing.io, not an official published Meta rubric, so treat them as a strong guide rather than a guarantee. Prepare STAR stories that each prove one value with a measurable result.

What is Meta's mission?

Meta's stated mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Its six core values (Move fast; Build awesome things; Be direct and respect your colleagues; Focus on long-term impact; Live in the future; and Meta, Metamates, Me) describe how employees are expected to pursue that mission day to day, which is why the Meta, Metamates, Me value frames stewardship of the mission itself.

How do I show Meta's values on my resume and in interviews?

Do not name a value as an adjective. Instead, prepare one quantified bullet or STAR story per value: a fast ship with a learning loop for Move fast, an ambitious build for Build awesome things, a direct-feedback moment for Be direct, a durable bet for Focus on long-term impact, a future-of-work improvement for Live in the future, and an act of stewardship beyond your role for Meta, Metamates, Me. Scan your resume against a specific Meta posting to see which values a reviewer would actually find.

Continue

The rest of the Meta
resume cluster.

01 / Pillar

How to get a job at Meta

The pillar covering Meta's hiring process, the six core values in summary, the IC levels, and the interview loop.

Read
02 / Spoke

Meta IC levels

The E3 to E9 ladder, levels.fyi pay, and how the bar shifts from execution to scope and ambiguity by band.

Read
03 / Spoke

The Meta interview process

The loop, the dedicated behavioral round, and how the six values surface across coding, system design, and behavioral.

Read
04 / Resume example

Software engineer resume

A worked software-engineer resume with the quantified, value-aligned outcomes a Meta reviewer reads for.

Read
Related

ATS Statistics

The dataset behind the editorial findings on this page, including the median pre-edit resume score.

Read
Related

All company guides

The full index of company resume hubs, each with its hiring bar mapped to resume language.

Read
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