Simon Liu

What types of roles did you recruit for at TikTok and Meta?

Throughout my career, I’ve recruited across different industries. When I started in staffing, I covered everything from mechanical, quality, and manufacturing engineers to software engineering. Then, I got my first real taste of tech recruiting at Meta.

At Meta, I worked on a variety of software engineering roles, including full-stack, backend, and infrastructure. I also focused on AI/ML, hiring applied scientists, research scientists, NLP engineers, CV engineers, and data scientists. In addition, I worked on specialized roles related to compilers, embedded firmware, hardware security, and privacy. When Facebook shifted to the Metaverse, I was also involved in recruiting for Oculus.

Most recently, at TikTok, I focused on product managers in the AI/ML space - building chatbots, user growth, and user experience. A completely new area for me was hiring strategists, essentially MBB consultants, to help build TikTok Shop from the ground up.

As a recruiter, something that has really helped me is learning how to be adaptable. Before I start meeting with candidates, I take the time to do deep research - watching YouTube videos, understanding the roles in-depth - so when I speak with candidates, it’s less transactional and instead feels like a real conversation.

What makes a candidate stand out?

It depends on the context - whether we’re talking about interviews, standing out in the job market, or making a strong impression with a resume. I’ll touch on all three.

For interviews, preparation is key. You can immediately tell how prepared someone is when they answer questions like, “What do you know about the company and role?” If they say, “I didn’t really look it up, I just responded to your message,” that sets the tone. First impressions matter.

Being prepared means researching the company, relating your experience to the role, and having specific examples ready instead of trying to recall things on the spot. This applies to both recruiter screens and full interviews - being detailed and concise is crucial.

For standing out in today’s job market, networking is everything. Personally, every role I’ve ever landed was through a referral. If you’re applying to a role where you have no warm referrals or connections, I’d suggest connecting with hiring managers and recruiters by sending a relevant and well thought out message.

Avoid generic messages like, “I’m looking for a job. Do you have any openings?” Instead, say, “I saw this role and believe I’m a strong fit. Here’s my resume and how my experience aligns. If you’re not the hiring manager, could you direct me to the right person?” Adding details about relevant projects makes a huge difference.

Finally, for resumes - avoid fluff and vagueness. I’d recommend using the XYZ format:

• X: What you did

• Y: How you did it

• Z: What the result was

For example, instead of “Optimized site speed,” say, “Improved website performance by 30% by implementing X and Y strategies.” Recruiters and hiring managers need to see clear, quantifiable impact.

What’s your number one piece of advice for jobseekers?

First, treat job hunting like a full-time job and be intentional. What I mean by being intentional is that you can’t just mass apply and call it a day. Instead, tailor your resume, reach out with thoughtful messages, and treat every application like it’s your one shot. A poorly written resume or generic outreach message could be your only impression so make it count.

Second, stop comparing yourself to others on LinkedIn because comparison is the thief of joy. It’s so important to remember everyone’s career path and progression is different. If you see someone get a job you wanted, don’t feel discouraged - reach out, congratulate them, and even consider messaging them to get some advice and learn from their approach.

For example, I recently put in my notice at TikTok. People might see my LinkedIn update and assume I landed my new role easily. In reality, I spent six months applying, got ghosted by recruiters, and failed multiple interviews. It takes time. You just have to keep pushing forward.

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Exciting Announcement! 🙌

My number one goal is to make this newsletter as helpful as possible. As a result, I have two important updates I’d like to share:

1) Starting next week, Coffee Chats Newsletter will now be going out on Thursdays instead of Tuesdays.

2) In each newsletter, I will now be including links to remote roles within Big Tech. For those of you who follow me on LinkedIn, you may be familiar with my Wednesday posts. While I love sharing roles on LinkedIn (and will continue to do so), I’m subject to a certain character limit so can only share a limited amount of roles in each post. By expanding to my newsletter, this will give me the opportunity to share even more roles with you all straight to your inbox!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read today’s newsletter! If you have any feedback, please let me know down below. Have a great rest of the week and see you in the next one! Cheers, Brenna

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Other ways I can help you

Download my personal resume template: It has helped me land interviews at companies like Meta, Google, TikTok, Salesforce, and Uber.

Book a 1:1 coaching call with me: I’ve helped jobseekers land interviews and offers at companies like Meta, Amazon, Salesforce, and Pinterest.