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Meta’s CTO has some advice for college students wanting to work in tech: ‘Constantly be building.’

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Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer, has some simple advice for aspiring technologists: Start building — now.

The executive hosted an Ask Me Anything on his Instagram account this week and answered a college freshman’s question about how to enter the industry.

“You just have to immerse yourself in it,” Bosworth said. “You should just constantly be building.”

Bosworth, or Boz as he’s commonly known, graduated from Harvard in 2004 and has been working at Meta since 2022. He suggested students try a mix of modern and old-school approaches, depending on their medium.

For students with a focus in software, he suggested honing their vibe coding skills, where developers use AI tools to generate and refine code using natural language.

For hardware students, he’s sticking with some classic tools.

He suggested students learn to use a Raspberry Pi, a low-cost single-board computer often used for DIY projects, and the Arduino, a platform for controlling electronics such as sensors and motors. For more advanced work, he said young people should play around with printed circuit boards, which serve as the nervous system of most electronic devices.

Bosworth told the student they should focus on “building and getting that experience.”

“That’s what’s going to give you the best chance of having the relevant skill set that is needed to make a difference in technology,” he said.

Bosworth and Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

His comments come as Silicon Valley executives compete for talent wherever they can find it. Several companies, including Meta, have engaged in a so-called “talent war.” Companies are spending hundreds of millions to hire the latest AI prodigies.

Some companies are already trying alternative pipelines to bring young product builders into their offices. Last year, Palantir started a fellowship program that onboarded high-achieving students straight out of high school.

‘I’ll bite’


Marc Andreessen is sitting on a black leather chair onstage. He's wearing a white button-up shirt with a gray window pane pattern.

Marc Andreessen, one of Silicon Valley’s most outspoken executives, said during an interview that he practices ‘zero’ introspection. 

Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch



Another viewer asked the Meta CTO if he had any thoughts about self-reflection.

“Trying to drag me into an internet debate — but I’ll bite,” Bosworth said.

The question comes on the heels of a viral internet debate surrounding venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, who said recently on the “Founders Podcast” that he aims for “zero” introspection.

“I found people who dwell in the past get stuck in the past,” Andreessen said. “It’s a real problem. It’s a problem at work, and it’s a problem at home.”

A clip of the answer went viral on social media. Other tech executives called the answer anything from “absurdly wrong” to edifying: “I feel the same, but have always felt bad about it,” Untangle CEO Ryan Carson wrote on X.

Bosworth said he has gone through “short periods of very deep and profound introspection interspersed throughout my life” that changed him, but said he uses it “sparingly.”

“For years at a time, I am who I am,” he said. “I have a vision, I have a goal, I have an ethos, I have a way of working.”




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Elon Musk’s hiring advice: ‘Don’t look at the resume — just believe your interaction’

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Even Elon Musk sometimes hires the wrong people.

“I’ve fallen prey to the pixie dust thing as well, where it’s like, ‘Oh, we’ll hire someone from Google or Apple, and they’ll be immediately successful,'” Musk told Stripe cofounder John Collison and tech Dwarkesh Patel during a 3-hour-long appearance on a special joint episode of their podcasts.

It’s why Tesla’s CEO doesn’t put his full faith in a candidate’s résumé.

“Generally, what I tell people—I tell myself, I guess, aspirationally—is, don’t look at the résumé. Just believe your interaction. The résumé may seem very impressive, and it’s like, ‘Wow, the résumé looks good.’ But if the conversation after 20 minutes is not “Wow,” you should believe the conversation, not the paper,” he said.

He said he’s made other mistakes, too. “My batting average is still not perfect, but it’s very high,” he said. That includes the times he’s discounted certain personality traits.

“I think it’s a good idea to hire for talent and drive and trustworthiness,” he said. “And I think goodness of heart is important. I underweighted that at one point. So, are they a good person? Trustworthy? Smart and talented and hard working? If so, you can add domain knowledge.”

Musk said that it takes a lot to truly impress him.

“The things I ask for are bullet points for evidence of exceptional ability.”

The examples “can be pretty off the wall,” but he’s looking for evidence of something truly great.

“If somebody can cite even one thing, but let’s say three things, where you go, ‘Wow, wow, wow,’ then that’s a good sign,” he said.

Hiring is just part of the battle.

When companies like Tesla are successful, Musk said, their competitors take notice and do everything they can to poach top talent.

“Tesla had a further challenge where when Tesla had very successful periods, we would be relentlessly recruited from,” he said. “Like, relentlessly.”

Musk said when Apple had its own electric car program, recruiters for the tech giant were “carpet bombing” Tesla employees to the point that some engineers just unplugged their phones. (In 2024, Apple reportedly abandoned its secretive car program.)

“Their opening offer without any interview would be like double the compensation at Tesla. So we had a bit of the ‘Tesla pixie dust’ thing where it’s like, ‘Oh, if you hire a Tesla executive, suddenly everything’s going to be successful,'” he said.

Some former employees have complained about Musk’s management style. During the interview, the Tesla CEO joked about his reputation as a micro manager, insisting that it be called “Nano management, please.” Musk said that, in reality, he now doesn’t have enough time to oversee every aspect of his sprawling empire.

Ultimately, though, Musk said he just wants one thing.

“If somebody gets things done, I love them, and if they don’t, I hate them,” he said. “So it’s pretty straightforward. It’s not like some idiosyncratic thing.”




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My grandmother wrote me a letter before my wedding. Her marriage advice insulted me at first, but now I get it.

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I married my husband, Scott, in April 2025 after four years of dating.

Nobody was more excited for the wedding than our families. They rallied around us, sharing tips and calming me down when the planning became stressful.

My sister made a scrapbook for me to open the night before the nuptials. Inside, there were handwritten letters from my bridesmaids, my mom, and my 79-year-old grandmother.


Wedding photo

The author on her wedding day.

Courtesy of the author



The letters were sweet, romantic, and optimistic — well, almost all of them were. My grandmother’s letter had an ominous tone.

“I wish you and Scott all the happiness in the world in your married life. I am sure you two are just right for each other. That’s not to say it will all be plain sailing,” she wrote.

“There may be bumps along the road,” she added, “but love has a way of forgiving a multitude of sins.”

I was alarmed by my grandmother’s note

It was a huge contrast to the other letters in the scrapbook. While my bridesmaids reminisced about the past and shared excitement for my future, my grandma’s words stopped me in my tracks.

I remember laughing and shaking my head in disbelief. I then handed the letter to my mom, who was equally unimpressed.

It’s not that I didn’t appreciate the advice. But really, who wants to hear the words “love” and “sins” mentioned in the same sentence? Especially when it’s in relation to your own husband.


Couple selfie wedding day

The author was taken aback by her grandmother’s letter at first.

Courtesy of the author



For a brief moment, I contemplated what she meant by the word “sins.” Cheating? Lying? Or something else?

My gran has a fantastic relationship with my husband, so I couldn’t imagine what sparked her cautionary words. Similarly, I had never spoken a bad word about Scott to my grandmother.

Of course, like any couple, we’d had fights, but it was never anything relationship-threatening. And I had never spoken about it with my her.

Ultimately, I disregarded the note, just as you would ignore a speck of dirt on a white wedding dress. Even if nobody else notices it, you know it’s there.

Five months later, I learned a major lesson

The wedding day was picture-perfect.

I felt so fortunate that we got to celebrate with our loved ones, especially our grandmothers. Both Scott and I were the first grandchildren in our families to get married, so it felt extra special.

Five months later, I found my grandma’s letter while looking through the scrapbook. It looked different to me with fresh eyes. Now that some time had passed, I could look at it from a new perspective. I could read without taking it personally.

I thought about my grandmother’s life, and I realized that her words were never about my husband and me.

My gran married my late grandfather when they were just teenagers, and it’s fair to say they had many bumps in their own love story. Let’s just say, their relationship wasn’t like the kind I grew up watching in romantic comedies and Disney films.

However, they loved each other deeply. They were loyal, forgiving, and supported each other throughout their more than 50-year marriage.

Staying in love is a choice

Thinking about their relationship reminded me that falling in love is a feeling, but staying in love is a choice. It’s an action. It’s not something that just happens to a person.

The wedding is the beautiful part, but the marriage? That’s where things have the potential to get messy.


Granddaughter posing for photo with grandma

The author now understands where her grandmother was coming from.

Courtesy of the author



I’ve been married for less than a year, so I’m not pretending to know all the answers. But if I’m honest with myself, I can admit that my grandma’s letter shook me because it didn’t fit the aesthetic Instagram version of what I thought marriage was supposed to be.

I know that my husband and I have a great deal of joy ahead of us. But we’re also going to witness one another’s pain, grief, disappointment, and growth. That’s just a part of sharing your life with someone.

If I ever catch myself feeling unprepared, I know I can revisit my grandma’s letter.




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