Coffee Chat with University Alumni
Hi Taro Community,
I was very fortunate to have received a Meta internship offer for this summer. In order to better prepare for this wonderful opportunity, I am thinking of reaching out to my university alumni who work at Meta to learn from their experiences and insights.
I have drafted the following template for my outreach, and would kindly appreciate any feedback or suggestions you might have regarding how it could be improved.
I hope you're doing well! My name is [insert name], and I’m an incoming Summer 2025 SWE intern at Meta. I’m incredibly excited about this opportunity and want to make the most of it by preparing as thoroughly as possible.
I noticed that we both graduated from [university name], which is awesome! I deeply admire your work in [mention a specific area they’re involved in] and would be grateful for any guidance you could share on navigating the tech landscape at Meta.
I was wondering if you might have 15 minutes of free time for a quick chat. I would really appreciate the opportunity to learn from your experiences and insights.
Thank you so much for your time and generosity!
![Senior Software Engineer [E5] at Meta company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fmeta.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3Da7a5bcc0-e178-4b5b-b71e-09bf6c6aefae&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
![Entry-Level Software Engineer [L3] at Google company logo](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fcompany_logos%252Fgoogle.jpeg%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D780356ef-3efc-4728-9eb4-d909b75bb4a6&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
Discussion
(4 comments)- 1
17 days agoAI/ML Eng @ Series C startupSounds like an awesome idea. Even better, if you find any alumni from your school's student clubs that you are involved in, that can make the connection even better
- 017 days agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
I think the outreach can be improved by asking a specific question or getting input on a specific decision.
Right now, it sounds like "I'm going to be Meta intern, can you help me?" which would lead a bunch of people to simply ignore the message.
Instead, could you frame it as, "I'm trying to figure out between teams X and Y, or technologies A or B." You could also ask a specific question about their journey.
With my recommended approach, the person you're reaching out to will feel like they can actually help you, so the response rate will be higher.
See these great related discussions:
- 017 days agoSoftware Engineer Intern [OP]Taro Community
Hi Rahul,
Thank you for sharing your advice! I like your idea of asking a specific question in the reachout message.
As of now, I am not given option to select the team I'll be working with, so I am thinking of asking a specific question about their journey.
Would it be a good idea to include the following question, "As I prepare for my internship, I’m curious—what’s one thing you found especially helpful for ramping up quickly at Meta?" - 016 days agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
I would try to make your question something that relates to their background. You want the recipient to feel like there's a reason you reached out to them, aside from just being at Meta.
