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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
Figma was selected as a 2024 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of diverse talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Multi-Faceted and Thoughtful 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 (including mixers, dinners, tech talks, even bowling!), in addition to virtual events that are not university-specific and open to all. The team also works closely with the student communities of its partnerships including Rewriting The Code and ColorStack, participating in their career fairs and technical summits. Candidate experience is always a priority, and Figma believes in extending as much information to candidates 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 and how they build an inclusive work environment, but also includes videos of the Early Career team on how to best prepare for interviews. 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 two URG-focused partnerships, which includes 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 bias. Figma also conducts “Fignite”, a week-long series of technical and non-technical workshops to prepare students for the fall hiring season. Attendees of Fignite include those from their partnership communities, ColorStack and Rewriting The Code, as well as students from HBCUs and HSIs. For retention, it’s critical that hires have access to their leadership team and opportunities to get involved in various communities like ERGs. It’s critical to Figma to continuously pulse all involved for feedback to continue offering the best and most needed support.
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. Interns are not given siloed projects, but are fully ingrained in a team and are given tasks that make direct impact to the team roadmap. Interns are encouraged to own a “big slice of the pie” and work collaboratively with their team and cross-functional teams to push their work into production. In terms of community building, 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 brings the entire intern class together in San Francisco for “Figtern Week,” which consistent of meeting our execs in-person and social events to bond with their peers. 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.