Facebook Austin opens Monday

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Facebook will launch its Austin office on Monday, with six employees and intentions to hire up to 200.

The new Facebook Austin office at 300 W. Sixth St. is the social media giant's first major U.S. expansion outside of California - upping Austin's reputation as a "big dog" in the technology sector.

The University of Texas has been a big recruiting station for the company, as it looks for young, tech-savvy workers.

This all came after the City Council approved a $200,000 incentive for the company last month, along with $1.4 million in state spending.

With 200 positions opening up at Facebook's Downtown Austin location throughout the next several months, the company's Facebook page already has postings for the types of jobs it needs to fill - listing very specific qualifications.

A UT student who met with Facebook for an internship said the interview lasted three hours with plenty of tests.

"An assessment there, just basically connecting dots," said UT student Diana Jiminez. "They want to see how you think, how you rationalize things. So it's very much more conceptual than just qualifications."