Best/Most efficient use of Taro premium
Outside of live events (which I try and make when I can because I am UK based), I plan to dedicate 2/3 hours of work time to deliberately learn from this wonderful platform.
The problem is - there is so much (good) content and do know what to focus on.
I had a general idea to spend this time on watching all the relevant masterclasses -> editors choice discussions -> level appropriate content in my dedicated Taro time in order of priority/sequencing.
Does this sound like a good 80/20 approach? What would others recommend?
Another issue is that I am now a mid at a smaller company (2 YOE) but don’t think I would be currently any stronger than a L3 at Google so consider myself in both the Junior and Mid populations in the context of Taro content, so finding it really difficult to figure out what to hone in on.
Thanks!
Discussion
(2 comments)- 9
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a year agoSenior Software Engineer and Career CoachThis is an interesting question and it's definitely a good problem to have for Taro.
Taking a step back, remember that most of your learning will come from "doing." Taro is great to expose yourself to new ideas and frameworks that you might have only learned about over years worth of time with proper mentorship.
However, it means nothing if it comes in, you feel like you're learning, and you don't have a chance to retain it.
So I'd say the best use of Taro would be one where you can actively retain a lot of what you pick up. A good way of doing that, in my opinion, would be identifying a growth area for yourself, and then searching for knowledge in that area specifically. Spend time actively applying the techniques you learn, and when you feel you're ready for a new growth area, move on to a new one.
Over time, you'll have built up multiple skill sets! I hope this helps :)
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a year agoStartup EngineerA lot of the tactical advice has been extremely useful. They're essentially cheat codes for career acceleration—like a map in a dark forest or a survival guide telling you what mushrooms are safe to eat.
I tend to focus/fixate on things I can form a habit or reputation from, such as:
- Mindset (most important thing IMO). I can't tell you how disillusioned and cynical I used to be. With the right role, responsibilities, and work culture, you can actually feel like a "professional" and not just a glorified code monkey (or someone who sees themselves as not really doing anything important but has to act like it).
- Behaviors around communicating ideas and progress
- Things like spending time dressing up PRs and over-describing in written communication
- What to disregard if you want to optimize career growth (distractions such as the "hot new framework or thing")
- General career planning, i.e.:
- Understanding that you can't just submit an application and hope—you need a solid plan and time/security before you start
- Techniques to record your accomplishments in your current role
- Knowing the TC of Big Tech and the expectations that come with it (no one actually tells you)
- Knowing Big Tech standard practices so that it isn't a surprise later on
- Being exposed to a larger world of possibilities and seeing a concrete destination
Things like code velocity and quality are more individualistic and depend on the engineer, so I deemphasize advice that talk more about talent than repeatable systems. There are tactics for getting better at coding on Taro, but obviously, you can't get better by just reading advice and not exploring, programming, failing, and persevering.
