I quit my $240,000 job at Meta. Here's how I got hired and grew my salary — and why I left.

• Alexandru Voica transitioned from engineering to marketing communications and joined Meta in 2018.
• Voica's role at Meta involved cross-functional collaboration, and he was promoted once.
• He left Meta in 2022 to work at an AI startup but says he would return for the right opportunity.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Alexandru Voica, a 39-year-old communication professional based in London. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm from Romania and studied computer science at a university in my home country. After graduating, I accepted a position with ARM in Cambridge. I've lived and worked in the UK for the last 15 years.