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# The One Question Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Asks About Potential Hires

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## Video: The One Question Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Asks About Potential Hires

[Watch (HLS stream): The One Question Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Asks About Potential Hires](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/k4SzIDOw.m3u8) (1:27)

![The One Question Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Asks About Potential Hires](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/k4SzIDOw/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2015-03-05. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the one question he always asks himself before he'll hire someone. Essentially, what if he were not the boss?_


---

Jul 27, 2023 6:00 PM UTC

---

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---


## Transcript

He's built arguably the most influential social media giant in the world and is richer than most of us could ever dream of. Yet the one question Mark Zuckerberg asks himself when hiring someone? Basically what if he were not the boss. The Facebook cofounder and CEO spoke at the mobile world congress, in Barcelona, this week. The mega conference is one of the tech and telecom industries largest exhibitions of the year. Zuckerberg told the crowd, I will only hire someone to work directly for me if I would work for that person. It's a pretty good test. And I think this rule has served me well. There you have it.

If you want to work in the higher levels of Facebook, you have to be fairly impressive. We're guessing there's also an element somewhere in there of you can't be an outright jerk. Much of Zuckerberg's. Speech was about Facebook's internet. org, an effort to bring emerging markets in places like Africa free access to some online apps. That effort has been somewhat controversial, as telecom providers say internet giants like. Facebook and Google, essentially piggyback and then profit off the telecom's networks without having to build their own infrastructure. But, back to the hiring question, one Facebook exec roundly cited as passing Zuckerberg's test is Sheryl Sandberg, the former Google exec and industry leader who was considered a coup when Facebook hired her as chief operating officer in 2008.

But we'll just go ahead and say if you can even get in the room where Zuckerberg is making your hiring decision you've done well for yourself.

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