I think I know the exact connection between stress and emotional responses here. I am assuming you had a stressful experience and decided to react emotionally. Happens to me every day, so welcome to my world.

I have a three-step tactic to deal with it.

1. Stressor - I identify the stressor. I make it very clear to myself that the 'stressor' is the only reason I am stressed and there's not a whole host of reasons I am stressed/dissatisfied at this moment in time.
2. Stress-chains - Stress begets stress. Many times, if you have a stressful team/manager, you tend to get stressed yourself. Your stakeholders, similarly, experience your stress 'aura' too. I am very conscious of this, and in the first situation, I make it clear to the other party that I am stressed without mincing words. Something along the lines of, "this stresses me out", or "I am a bit confused/misdirected here, and that's driving my stress levels up". This gives the other person the impression that you are an emotional person. So be it! I'd rather be in a workplace that acknowledges how I feel. Open acknowledgement of stress/overwork/lack of traction has been very helpful for me. Most people in my immediate team are aware I call this out, and if anything, my performance has only gotten better. The moment you do this, the overall stress being propagated in any scenario reduces, and therefore, people in general become less stressed. And more pleasant to work with :)
3. Acknowledgement - Emotional reactions are normal and should be expected within reasonable bounds. I understand the whole Stoicism movement, but I see no point in hiding my emotions, esp when it affects my productivity. Acknowledging my emotional reaction has helped me achieve A) better catharsis from the emotional freedom I get when I express what I feel, and B) helped me develop SUPERHERO levels of mindfulness, focus and empathy. I don't feel most stressors now because I have consciously identified them in the past and addressed them.

Hope that helps

Senior Software Engineer at Walmart

Karthik Gurunathan

I have a slightly contrarian view here. I think work is not prioritised by an individual engineer in most big organisations. Priority is set by tech leads, product/program managers etc. So if a certain task is waiting on someone else to action on it, you might need to make sure you chase them enough to get it done. I know it sounds a bit pushy, maybe even a bit stern and irritating to the other party. But let's be honest, these 'tasks' are not assigned to you by you. Or they are not added to your book of work, because you proposed it. Even if you did (for example, you're the tech lead for an engineering team) - let's be honest, there's a gigantic flywheel of discussions that happens behind you in big tech firms. So if it is a priority, I would pursue blockers hammer and tongs. If it is not a priority, I would reduce the time required to context switch and convince myself to work on things that I may not necessarily like/want/have enough context about.

I faced this problem quite a bit while ramping up. For one, I think all of tech needs to have better documentation and less dependency on other engineers. In a well-oiled machine, chances are that the documentation/training manuals need to be as well-equipped as an engineer. Having said that, if you really need someone to respond to you, there are a couple of ways

1. Make sure there is something in it for them. It can be you taking time out to review their code or maybe helping them solve a critical bug. Make sure to be sincere in your request and be acknowledge that the other person took time out to help you.
2. Make sure people around you are aware you are asking for 'specific' help for a 'specific' problem. This serves two purposes - it adds accountability when the other person responds, and, it lends to their reputation (aka, being a helpful engineer). Also, be super specific about your question. You can create a document just to make sure they understand your question and have seen your effort in solving it independently.

Yes yes yes! This goes back to Rahul's suggestion of being a feedback vacuum! You've gotta be able to tease out feedback. As an engineer, more often than not, you must also be self aware as to what you might be not doing the best at, so feedback from outside serves as pile on to that.

I love the idea of a technical plan, and honestly, having a technical plan screams mid-level engineer to me, so as an intern, I am sure this will give you a full-time offer. 

I like to make a pseudo-decision tree when I sit down to code. I typically have a notion page that autopopulates with the What, Why, Where, Who and How of the project. I dig deep into all of my notes here, ask questions and pass it for peer review to a fellow engineer.

I know we peer review each other's code, but in a 'tab, tab, tab' world, I think it also makes sense to peer review the plan as well. Almost make it so verbose and so basic that an agent can pick it up and write code!

My staff engineer actually agreed to this and gave me a bunch of plan review comments, just like a code review :P

totally!

I use 

1. Rezi/Jobscan for resumes
2. Simplify for job application filling
3. Taro for advice
4. Notion AI for cataloguing and productivity
5. Check this out - <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnEXSOBHAhY&ab_channel=EricTech>

Funny story - I do not see any difference in interviews pre and post 2022. I would still focus on the fundamentals. There is one perceptible change, tho - I do see a small subset of companies giving out coding assignments for a day and see how you write production-level code. I love these assignments because they give you a sneak peek into what the company values by way of code quality

1. Context switching is a huge distraction. I'd break down any big task into smaller tasks (say a leetcode problem into several smaller problems) and do a serious DFS on every aspect of it - till that point where I understand everything. And celebrating small wins, allows your brain to accept the dopamine and that helps you deter context switching too much. I also personally hate multi tasking, so I just stick to what I have to do and deliver.
2. Get an accountability buddy. Have them reinforce that you need to finish your basic minimum goal (from point 1 above) and keep doing this every single day
3. Consistency is key. Have sessions with your accountability buddy everyday
4. Here's how I did it (2 months for resume tuning, 2 months for personal projects, applied to at least one job everyday for 9 months, LC 2 months, SD 1 month - got my offer at the end of the 9th month after 8 failures)

Mid-Level Software Engineer at Walmart

I'd just refer them to Taro - and then have them take the coding course

@Alex's answer makes total sense. 

One slight tangent

1. I think you should ask for specific project info. I have a feeling the worst that could happen is your manager telling you they can't tell you anything yet. At the very least, they'd be happy you're enthusiastic.
2. LGTM 
3. I like the 'building cool stuff' part!

I have first-hand experience explaining this bug in a FAANGMULA interview. TLDR, I got ripped apart. The trick is this 

1. Make sure performance improvements are highlighted
2. Use a convincing Situation - Task - Action - Result story to describe the whole thing
3. Coat it in a context the interviewer (in their unique company + team) can understand. For instance, put yourself in your interviewer's shoes and almost make them drive the story. Ask them super rhetorical questions like - 'At the outset this seems trivial, right? - But guess what, just tip of the iceberg'

Bugs are stories, almost battles. Plugging my favorite storyteller, here- but check this out - <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2BnqYArwaw&ab_channel=DavidPerell>

Short answer - yes! I hate to say this, but not getting an RO is still better (from a closure perspective) than having an offer and getting it rescinded. Harsh reality of the times we live in :(

I agree most with his internal move point :)

As someone who went thru this journey, here's my take - Hell yeah!

American big tech ecosystem is much more mature than India and so is the work culture. I think a lot of Indian students who come to the States have this underlying fear that they might not get jobs. One of my mentors told me this and I think its very valuable advice - I think Masters should be spent mastering systems/AI/whatever else you want to pursue as opposed to being looked at as a feeder for US jobs. The job offers do come when you don't target them specifically. Predicting the macroeconomic clime or tech job layoffs is no mean feat. I'd just try to experience the beauty of American education, learn a ton, take up a few cool hobbies, and use very little time to apply for jobs. Here's the tradeoff, not just can you go back to India with a 3\*TC, you also have the opportunity to join a tech company in SF/NY/Boston, all while experiencing life at American schools. I'd choose that in a jiffy.

Two approaches - 

1. Go with the offer you like the best purely in terms of work. If Meta's team is what you want and you think you can achieve a better learning delta at, go for that. If you see too many red flags say on your 1&lt;&gt;1 with your EM, probably go the other way. 
2. The calculated approach. Check this out - <https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/300289-33> and see what your projections on Snorkel's future earnings are and make sure the $15 is in the range of acceptable share price. As Scott Galloway says, you might as well be in the last row of a spaceship taking off than to miss it and regret it.

Also, you might want to wait till they formalize offer terms

I feel for you and I totally think your feelings are valid. Taro is the perfect place to brainstorm solutions for this. \
\
I have a few suggestions that helped me when I was on a similar boat.

1. This overarching feeling that you are better than and bigger than any job you will ever have or any company you work with.
2. Having a friend at work! If there's at least one other person in your position at exactly your company, it makes total sense to confide in them.
3. Sometimes being entirely high integrity with a pool of manipulative people does not help. You seem like someone who likes to put in the hard work and help people. Here's an article I have read a few times in situations like this - <https://bayareacbtcenter.com/top-10-manipulation-tactics-and-how-to-counter-them/>
4. The fact that you got 9 calls is AMAZING! In this economy, in your circumstances. I would be singularly happy just based off of that. What say, we apply for jobs after getting a few more LCs + system design prompts + behavioral mocks in? I am sure you'd get 2 digit call backs and probably a few offers too.
5. One last appeal/suggestion - Imagine a time in the future when you build teams/a company. Now that you've been thru this experience, you know exactly how company culture should NOT look! You know who you should NOT hire and you know where and how toxicity seeps in. These learnings are vital! Leaders like you are indispensable in weeding out toxic cultures, so onwards and upwards!

Absolutely! It usually tends to be asked in later stages of interviews, unless it comes up to boost your lack of performance in an earlier medium question. I do not think it is common unless Leetcode recommends it as such.

To my earlier point, some interviewers tend to ask Hard questions just to offset \*fails expectations\* performance in a previous Medium question. 

As @Alex says in the Behavioral Interviews course, company culture reigns supreme. 

Two quick points

1. Company culture &gt;&gt; Manager Culture. Good companies have compelling ways to weed out bad managers and promot good ones.
2. Growth Mentality &gt;&gt; Static Ability. Good managers prioritise long term returns and serve as great partners in your career.

I think the company you work for may have some cultural adjustments to do. And while every IC -&gt; manager transition has a honeymoon period, your manager seems to be pretty established. I'd bring everything to his attention over 1&lt;&gt;1 and make it clear that his behavior did not bode well with you.\
\
If he reacts defensively, then another red flag. I would get out of the team/company. If not, then we know we have found common ground.

Totally just my personal opinion but I feel South Bay is isolated and boring. Much more ideal for folks with active family lives.\
\
OTOH, if San Francisco is your vibe (it sure is mine), I would check out onlyinsf, sfbucketlist, [plunge.party](http://plunge.party), sfbaydiairies on Instagram!

Also, I love Taro in person meetups too. Check this out - <https://www.meetup.com/find/?location=us--ca--San%20Francisco&source=EVENTS&keywords=startup>

I find SF to be a very welcoming city, so any coffee shop connection should get you into most non niche-tech circles 

Feel free to reach out if you're looking for meetups!

Given that your company has 6k people, I am sure the seniors have some insight into hire/fire winds that are blowing. My perspective is this - if you are able to sense lay offs/see that a vast majority of people you identified you wanted to work with are leaving, you should think of leaving too.

But if it is just a team dependent thing (your team has a new manager that people do not identity with), then do try to look for roles outside of your team! Maybe there's other better high performing pockets

A few things concern me here

- title inflated senior roles - this is not the best sign
- is there any way for you to verify that they are working for the company they claim to work for? 
- I do understand if the recruiters are employees of different companies but they end up being 'vendors/contingent/contractors' for the parent company (best acid test - company email ID). But it does worry me if they are just 'headhunters' so to say.

On the flip side, it's probably a recruiting model that tech teams in finance use. I do see some evidence of this - <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-fintech-recruiters-essential-growing-hedge-funds-radley-james-ajz8e/>\
\
My strategy would be as follows 

- depending on how many interviews you get, I'd just give these interviews to a- get the experience, b- make sure the interviewers are employees of the company
- after getting the offers, maybe use them for leverage/negotiation and thoroughly verify that they are from the companies they claim to be

I think this may be a classic case of imposter syndrome. First off, you got into the startup, which, in itself, is quite significant given how you had to pass multiple rounds of interviews. 

If it is a fast-paced startup, they'd expect you to start contributing as soon as possible, given that you're probably in a team of &lt; 10 people. I have seen interns in teams that I have worked at (in a startup and elsewhere) who contribute quite significantly to the team. As for new grads, once again, spending time to understand the code base, asking questions and formulating your own solutions are essential skills in startups and outside too. And you've been selected only because you passed that bar, so cherish it!\
\
If you think you could probably spend time learning/scouring through the tech stack before you join, that would give you a great head start. Trust me, I have been there. Endlessly doubting my skills, being very resistant to opening up about 'getting stuck', and not asking any questions to other folks in the firm. \
\
It's a wave and once you ride it, you're going to get better at coding!

I entirely hate the idea of [formation.dev](http://formation.dev) teaching you how to ace LC. It's 5k $ too much. Taro is a fraction of that fee and you get accountability + community + job recommendations.

As for failing recruiter calls, I think strength in number is a great way to go. More interviews = more rejections, potentially more offers. Once you are ready, you should probably try to dip your feet into a Microsoft/Meta/Amazon interview just to assess how difficult/easy it is!

First off, congratulations. That is no mean achievement in this economy.\
If you're looking to start up, then in all likelihood your first few months (and even perhaps years) will necessitate that you have a great understanding of the business you plan to run. So, in that case, it is a question of just getting your feet wet if and when you want to.

Alternatively, if you prefer to move to a TPM role, here are my two cents.\
\
I think a good TPM has a combination of three offerings - \
1\. good technical skills (plain-speak - has written code in the past) \
2\. great people skills (high empathy for engineers, good understanding of business requirements and an even better translation of business needs into the coding world)\
3\. supreme prescience (being able to have the right pulses to 'know' the future direction of every single initiative)

You probably have the first skill above. If you're still new to the tech world, a few months in a fast-paced unicorn will help you polish your tech skills. Be sure to check this course out - <https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/what-actually-makes-code-good/>. It is probably the best lottery ticket out there to learn how to code 'better'.

The second skill is highly experiential. The more time you spend talking to engineers and people with business needs, the better. Much of communication is also about asking questions, collating information, and having a 0-&gt;1 understanding of every system you work with.

The third skill is the toughest in my opinion. Two resources come to mind. A - This essay by Paul Graham - <https://paulgraham.com/greatwork.html> and this remarkable video by @Alex - <https://www.jointaro.com/course/maximize-your-productivity-as-a-software-engineer/finding-the-best-things-to-work-on/>. Be sure to check out the matrix that he refers to. Doing great work helps you know what is important. And knowing what is important enables you to predict future direction better!\
\
As for timelines, I do think you should do it at a time when your manager thinks you have contributed sufficiently and you have learnt enough of the above three skills to move.

With the meteoric rise of ChatGPT, ML and AI are on software engineers' minds more than even before. How can we leverage AI to boost our workflow? Is it worth it pivoting to MLE? Use the resources here to find out.