15 Years Of Software Engineer Knowledge In 1 Hour 30 Minutes

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Rahul PandeyTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
 15 Years Of Software Engineer Knowledge In 1 Hour 30 Minutes poster
1 hour, 30 minutes
Course Overview

Upon first glance, Rahul's career appears like the classic 'up and to the right' story:

  • Studied Computer Science at Stanford
  • Became a founding engineer at a startup that got acquired by Pinterest
  • Became a Staff Engineer and Manager at Meta (video explainer)
  • Quit to start a YC-backed startup

These are the highlights, but hidden in these bullet points are many episodes of failure and anxiety. From botched interviews to coworker blow-ups, Rahul endured plenty of failure alongside success.

These experiences, along with the experiences from 100s of engineers he's interviewed, have shaped Rahul's thinking around software engineering careers.

This course covers the battle-tested best practices of career growth:

  • Learning: Building the fundamental skills of engineering
  • Networking: Leveraging your people for feedback and growth
  • Interviewing: aka Landing a job
  • Promotion: Succeeding on the job
  • Self-advocacy: How to advocate for yourself and your career

This course lays the foundation for a career as a high-performing software engineer at top companies.

Meet Rahul Pandey

Rahul was born in Michigan and introduced to the world of tech when he joined Stanford in 2009. He has a broad experience that makes his advice applicable to almost all engineers:

  • Multiple internships at various-sized companies (VC-backed and bootstrapped) 📱
  • Several full-time jobs, from Big Tech, to hyper-growth scale-ups, to his own startup 🆕
  • Performance rated from below expectations to "Greatly Exceeds Expectations" 📈
  • Onboarding into multiple environments with different tech stacks and business requirements 👨🏽‍💻
  • Hundreds of interviews across dozens of companies, both successful and unsuccessful.

Rahul is now the cofounder of Taro, designed to accelerate career growth for engineers. He's spoken directly to 100s of engineers and adjusted his advice when necessary. This course condenses many years of experience into a watchable course.

Connect with Rahul:


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Entry-Level Software EngineerNew Grad

Thanks for the advice. I'm currently trying to get my foot in the door as a software engineer and I found this really helpfu.

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Nathan BMid-Level Software Engineer

Rahul, you are still an incredibly inspiring role model for all of us. Your attitude, persistence, perspective, and intelligence are a great example, and I wish you all the best at Taro.

Your and Alex's videos, posts, wisdom, and forum have all helped me countless times

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Ilya Reznik (MLEPath)ex-Meta Staff SWE, ex-Adobe

Amazing advice! I add my 14 years to your 15, absolutely bang on!

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Lead ScientistStartups
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Senior Software Engineer [E5]Meta
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Senior Software EngineerStandard Chartered Bank
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Entry-Level Software EngineerCareignition