.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=logo}
The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Figma was selected as a 2023 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent, their emphasis on diversity & inclusion, and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Demonstrated Investment in Early Career Hiring
Early career talent has always been a priority at Figma since its first dedicated program in 2020. Figma sees these hires as the future leaders of the company, and believes in the opportunity to be a part of their journey with dedicated mentorship, considerable ownership, and creating the most optimal environment to learn. Early career hires at Figma work on meaningful projects that directly impact team goals and their roadmaps, bring a new perspective to organizational fixes and offer fresh ideas to existing processes, and up-level Figma’s collaborative working environment.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
The early career team at Figma has adopted a hybrid approach to this hiring season by traveling to dedicated universities with members of its hiring teams to meet students in-person at curated events (mixers, dinners, info sessions, etc.), in addition to virtual events that are not university-specific. The team also works closely with the student communities of its partnerships, including Rewriting The Code, ColorStack, and Talentboard. Candidate experience is always a priority, and Figma believes in extending as much information to students at the first interaction to demystify the interview process and to give them as much preparation details to succeed. The company shares interview packets that not only outline the interview process, but also share resources of internal teams and how they build an inclusive work environment. Each recruiter works with their candidate at every step in the process to ensure they are receiving feedback and stepping into the next step in the process with confidence.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
Figma is extremely passionate about representation efforts and views early career hires as the future leaders of the company. Figma invests in three URG-focused partnerships, which all include a month over month strategy to build trust and excitement amongst their student communities. It’s important that these efforts are met with ensuring the interview process is inclusive, fair, and supportive for all, which is one important reason why Figma implements Byteboard as the first step in the process to help mitigate any bias. Figma also invests in L&D events, which include dedicating time with the Executive team, involving ERGs and ways for recent hires to get involved, and gathering feedback from student hires on programs, their support teams, and overall areas of improvement — which is critical for retention.
Impactful Internship Program
Figma interns are assigned a dedicated manager, mentor, and buddy to provide maximum support for the duration of their internship to ensure their overall success. The intern program consists of L&D sessions including Figma’s CEO, CTO, and the executive team across tech and non-tech departments.The program also consists of community-building events like cooking classes and ferry rides under the Golden Gate bridge with intern peers, support teams, and the early career team! Figma also brings its entire intern class together in San Francisco for a week of L&D and social events. The intern class presents their projects to a company-wide audience during the last two weeks of their internship so the entire company can see their incredible impact! Last but not least, each intern receives the company's modern-health benefit, understanding how important mental health is for all employees.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Figma is dedicated to the long-term success of all full-time early career hires, well before their first day. Hires are involved in the team placement process by having 1:1 conversations with various managers to ensure they align on technical interests and the type of management support they’re looking for. Each hire is also assigned a technical onboarding buddy through the mentorship program, who dedicates time to early career hires to successfully ramp them up and get them familiar with the codebase. Once they begin, their manager reviews their role expectations and org ladder for professional development. Year over year, the new grad community at Figma continues to grow, which results in an active Slack channel, group lunches, and many events outside of work. Last but not least, each hire is also granted a $1,000 learning stipend per year for professional growth and development related to their role at Figma.