Meta manager Cindy Tan says earning a college degree is just the bare minimum for landing a tech job.
Instead, Tan says it’s the micro-credentials you earn from bite-sized courses that will impress employers.
“I’m not saying that we should all not do our degrees anymore. But I think there’s more to it, whether that’s your social experiences or being more entrepreneurial,” Tan said in an interview with Business Insider last month.
Tan, 47, joined Meta in 2021 and is a managing director overseeing the social media giant’s clients in Asia Pacific.
Before Meta, Tan was a regional director overseeing advertising sales at BBC News and a global vice president for retail at TripAdvisor. She is also the author of a careers book, “Own Your MAGIC.”
“The traditional setup of education, where you get a degree, is table stakes,” she said. “The real opportunity is in micro-programs.”
Tan cited her experience taking a short course on generative AI through a Singapore government initiative to supplement her learning.
“I work for Meta, which is at the forefront of AI. But there is still so much that I could learn,” Tan said.
Tan compared learning how to use AI to her experience of picking up baking during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I can look at YouTube videos, read the recipes, but you are not going to learn as fast unless you actually practice it,” Tan said.
“When it comes to AI, there are so many different tools, so many different applications. The only way to learn is to try to practice and experience that for yourself,” she added.
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Tan said people looking to level up can take classes — some of them free — on massive open online course providers like Coursera.
Such courses will help candidates distinguish themselves and “set them up for success,” Tan said. She added that continuing to pick up new skills even after graduating from college demonstrates one’s curiosity, inquisitiveness, and passion for learning.
Tan said she has been applying AI in the workplace and at home. Tan said even her daughters use AI, whether as a private tutor or to create comics.
“At work, it’s more like a partner,” Tan said, adding that she uses AI to summarize long videos or to conduct research.
“On the personal front, I use it for travel. Last year, I was on a two-week trip to the US, and I just asked the agent, ‘Hey, give me a two-week itinerary plan from the east coast to the west coast,'” she continued.
Tan isn’t the only business leader who values job seekers who love to learn new things.
Accenture CEO Julie Sweet says she always asks interviewees what they have learned recently. Sweet said this question gives her a quick and practical way of gauging a candidate’s interest in learning new things.
“We say, ‘What have you learned in the last six months?'” Sweet told the “In Good Company” podcast, in an episode that aired in January.
“If someone can’t answer that question, and by the way, we don’t care if it’s ‘I learned to bake a cake,’ if they can’t answer that question, then we know that they’re not a learner,” she added.
Do you have a story to share about working in Big Tech? Contact this reporter at ktan@businessinsider.com.
