Create An Onboarding Doc

The **onboarding doc** is a reference guide as you join the company. This document is literally designed for you, outlining your role + team, people to meet, and how you can get started. Generally, your manager will provide an onboarding doc for you, but you should feel free to augment or create your own if the doc is lacking. This is a great place to collaborate and deepen your relationship with your manager -- point out further areas of discussion.

Components of a good onboarding doc:

1. Team charter (translated down from the company mission)

2. Partner teams + people

3. Expectations + milestones 

   1. These should be clearly defined so it'll be clear if you achieved the expectation or not

4. Project ideas with t-shirt sizing

5. Engineering rubric or career matrix for your role, if one exists

Reference question: [What should be part of an onboarding doc?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/FL7XdfLsG9Da6YyfbjZ3/what-should-be-part-of-an-onboarding-doc/)

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 6] - Embrace The Pain

A defining characteristic of mediocre software engineers is that they run away from problems in their code and avoid confronting hard problems in general. This lesson will teach you:

- Why (and how) you should embrace the pain if you truly want to write better code as a software engineer
- The process to follow to go from writing bad code to good code
- What it means to actually learn system design
- How to level up your technical understanding with an in-depth example from Alex's past about how he truly mastered a deep Android concept and applied that mastery to learn iOS development almost instantly

[Masterclass] How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview - System Design

System design is a crucial software engineer interview skill, especially for FAANG and Big Tech in general. It is effectively a requirement to be leveled at a senior software engineer or higher and will show up in mid-level engineer interviews as well (with the occasional appearance in even junior engineer interviews). The cool thing about system design (unlike data structures and algorithms) is that it's something you actually need to do on the job.

Here are our Top 5 points from the session (in no particular order):
- **Leverage engineering blogs of top companies** - And if you're applying to one of these companies, definitely read their blog. This will help you understand their high-level design and gives you a real-world example to anchor off of, as opposed to something more abstract and high-level that you would get from a traditional book.
- **Do NOT write code** - System design is a *high-level* exercise meant to gauge seniority. Writing raw code is the mark of a more junior software engineer, which is why you should never be writing code in a system design interview. Instead, draw boxes with arrows where the boxes represent components and the arrows represent how they interact.
- **There is no right answer** - One of the main reasons software is hard is because of how open it is. For any complex technical problem, there will be several good solutions, each with varying tradeoffs. System design is not like school or DSA where there is a singular right answer.
- **Understand the problem requirements** - System design problems are, by design, very open-ended. For example, if you get "Build the Twitter feed", there are so many features that make it up: There is no way you can design the entire thing in 1 interview round. Work with your interviewer to understand the scope of the problem and which parts should be prioritized.
- **Follow mature software principles** - The 5 covered in this presentation are robustness, scalability, performance, extensibility, and resiliency. Don't just get the happy flow working - Think about how your system will react when edge cases are hit and things go wrong.

Related resources:
- [How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview [Data Structures & Algorithms]](https://link.jointaro.com/iTNxPCvkdGite4wT9)
- [System Design Series: Taro Playlists [Part 1] - What REAL System Design Looks Like](https://link.jointaro.com/4obaFizTZAdAcStY6)
- [Presentation slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1z4yX5LiiSxbHiNrBOTPIiDfhBL5qmwRUrDojT71OROY/edit)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 4] - Don't Memorize: Be Nimble

Too many software engineers keep thinking as if they're still in school, and this applies to how they study for interviews. Unfortunately, memorization is a terrible strategy with behavioral interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- The mindset you need to have to be a successful behavioral interviewer
- Why memorization doesn't work with behavioral interviews
- How to properly train your brain when it comes to behavioral interviews
- What good vs. bad looks like when it comes to what to remember with behavioral interviews

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 4] - Do It For The Right Reasons

It's easy to become promotion-obsessed, especially at top companies like FAANG where promotions are so meaningful. However, this is a toxic mentality to have that ultimately hurts your career ambitions. This lesson teaches you:

- How to strike a delicate balance between deliberately pushing for promotion and having a healthy growth mentality
- The optimal mindset to have to get to extremely senior engineering levels
- Common pitfalls promotion-obsessed engineers fall into and what you should do instead for each of those situations

Related resources:

- ["How do I come up with innovative, impactful ideas and bring them to my team?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3QIJhAT4loA7n1hSfCuw/how-do-i-come-up-with-innovative-impactful-ideas-and-bring-them-to-my-team/?playlistId=EWIo3USNcsgXbCs5PS0h)
- ["How do I find projects for myself at work?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/KitOGyYkpbsXFGoHPJUj/how-do-i-find-projects-for-myself-at-work/)
- ["How can I help juniors?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/OzbQJCzLPbOKTEqpeSxF/how-can-i-help-juniors/)

What Is An Engineering Manager?

In this lesson, we explore what an Engineering Manager (EM) is, what they do, and how understanding their incentives helps us collaborate more effectively.

- We learn that an EM is a leadership role supporting engineers, typically managing 8–12 reports, though team sizes can vary widely.
- We understand that the EM’s primary goal is ensuring the team consistently delivers meaningful impact.
- We recognize that knowing an EM’s core incentives helps us work with them more effectively and collaborate better overall.
- We review the two major career tracks in tech: the IC (individual contributor) track and the M (management) track, which begins with the EM role.
- We note that the EM is the first layer of management, with roles like Director, VP, and CTO above them, and that most of us will report to an EM unless we reach very senior IC levels (e.g., L8/L9).

Don't Learn Code In This Way - How Software Engineers Waste Time

So many software engineers mess up when they're trying to learn code by bringing over a bad habit from school: Studying. This is simply not how software works, and this video's here to explain why.

Here are the core points:
- **Reading code and documentation is ineffective** - You can't purely read your way towards a good understanding of a codebase; it will get you 10-15% of the way tops. Software is fundamentally about doing - The actual learning begins when you jump in and start playing with the code. On top of all this, it's much better to get a high-level understanding of the codebase by asking your teammates for it instead of trying to infer it yourself from raw reading.
- **Documentation gets worse the better the company is** - Good software companies are fast-moving. This is a big reason why FAANG is successful: They are able to still move quickly despite their immense size. Because of this, documentation is rarely kept up to date due to how fast the codebase evolves. In fact, excessive reading of documentation may actively harm you if it contains legacy patterns that aren't accepted at your company anymore.

This clip is from our masterclass on how to succeed at a new team or company as a software engineer. You can watch it here: [[Masterclass] How To Succeed At A New Team Or Company As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/n384HdJuDgulSHbHQLnf/masterclass-how-to-succeed-at-a-new-team-or-company-as-a-software-engineer/)

So now that you know how NOT to learn a codebase, here's some resources on how to actually learn a codebase:
- [How To Learn A New Codebase Fast](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/DX27hiXPJ4G7Czk2mwLL/how-to-learn-a-new-codebase-fast/)
- [Learning A New Codebase? Here's How To Figure Out What Matters](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/dQXKZNqivtoByEHV9V17/learning-a-new-codebase-heres-how-to-figure-out-what-matters/)
- ["How can I learn a large codebase fast as an intern?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/F2rJZgdUBxdGZilFTR6k/how-can-i-learn-a-large-codebase-fast-as-an-intern/)

Why You Should Start Your Career At A Big Tech Company

- **There's no universal right answer to which company works best for you** - At the end of the day, you should figure out what you care about and what your goals are and work backwards from there. It's entirely possible that Big Tech isn't a good fit for you.
- However, in a vacuum, you should start your career at a Big Tech company if you can. The main reason is that Big Tech is generally quite good at adding a layer of consistency to your career.
- You will probably learn a lot about writing good, scalable code as these companies know how to build massive systems and hire smart people.
- Your compensation will be very competitive, making it easier to negotiate proper pay and level at future jobs.
- You will probably develop a decent suite of fundamental soft skills as you need to learn how to work with many stakeholders to succeed at Big Tech.

Learning A New Codebase? Here's How To Figure Out What Matters

In this video, we explore how a strong **test plan** benefits not just the immediate code review process but also long-term codebase understanding and team efficiency. As engineers join new teams or revisit legacy code, test plans become invaluable guides for understanding and validating past changes.

### Key Takeaways:

- **We use test plans to unlock team knowledge**: In large codebases, no one fully understands every part of the system. A clear test plan helps future engineers (and our future selves) grasp what a change does and why it was made.

- **We prioritize hotspots over ancient code**: When onboarding to a team, we focus on recent changes in active areas of the codebase—not the 1,000 untouched lines at the top. Test plans tied to recent diffs help us make sense of these hotspots quickly.

- **We support testability with repeatable artifacts**: Whether it’s a video, screenshot, or command-line script, we include a way to replicate and verify our changes. This ensures others can validate functionality easily and efficiently.

- **We aim for speed and clarity**: For front-end work, visual demos (videos or GIFs) help reviewers instantly see the impact. For backend or logic-heavy changes, unit tests and integration scripts are more scalable and maintainable.

- **We build infrastructure for long-term velocity**: Investing early in test infrastructure—like command-line test runners—makes it easier to validate changes quickly and helps teams move faster as the codebase grows.

Ultimately, we think of test plans not just as review aids, but as **living documentation** and a **key onboarding tool** for future engineers working in our code.

[Case Study] Revamping Oncall For 20 Instagram Engineers - Senior to Staff Project

Oncall is a critical process for any good engineering team, especially larger ones. However, a lot of software engineers aren't truly exposed to oncall until several years into their career. This detailed case study covers what a healthy oncall looks like and how ex-Instagram tech lead Alex led his organization towards that.

This session covered a *lot* of ground, so we'll focus more on the learnings instead of the historical story:
- **Good oncall ingredients**
  - Very strong sense of ownership expected from the current oncall - The buck should stop with them
  - A detailed runbook and thorough documentation in general around SLAs, SEV criteria, and ownership
  - 7 to 12 engineers on the rotation so you're only oncall <15% of the time
  - A retrospective process that brings together the team to share knowledge and figure out how to improve their systems as a whole
- **Pain = Opportunity** - Never say *"That's just the way it is"*: Every problem is solvable. If you want to level up fast, strive to alleviate pain at scale for your team instead of running away from it. Here's a great discussion covering this concept in more detail: ["Ways to add value when asked “What do you think would be biggest challenges for next quarter?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/zYbkS5Bn00H9RGKiiL4F/ways-to-add-value-when-asked-what-do-you-think-would-be-biggest-challenges-for-next-quarter/)
- **It's All About Relationships** - This is especially important at senior and staff engineering levels. In order to change process and push big projects, you need to get many people to agree with you. Understand that these relationships take time to grow and you need to start as early as possible. Check out this masterclass to deep-dive into this: [[Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/masterclass-how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/)
- **Understand Everyone's Incentives** - They will be very different for people who aren't on your team or aren't engineers. As a tech lead, you are expected to work across XFN boundaries regularly, and succeeding at this requires understanding what drives everyone and finding mutual interests.
- **Lead By Example** - Put yourself on the line and practice what you preach. A disconnect between what you're recommending and your own actions is one of the easiest ways to sabotage your own influence.
- **Stand On The Shoulders Of Giants** - At Big Tech companies in particular, there will always be hundreds of other engineers in the company who have already solved the problem you are currently working on. There is no need to reinvent the wheel - Seek out those people and learn from them.

Related resources:
- ["How to form a healthy on-call rotation?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/8OuTidxuVaeuQCV28IhD/how-to-form-a-healthy-on-call-rotation/)
- ["How can I improve the unstructured, chaotic oncall rotation I'm on?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ScxFpybXXC90qmnLEU7A/how-can-i-improve-the-unstructured-chaotic-oncall-rotation-im-on/)
- ["How can I maintain work-life balance with a hectic oncall?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/WLqDVZQa8rAEmFEl15oA/how-can-i-maintain-work-life-balance-with-a-hectic-oncall/)
- [Presentation slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19PpKY5VoRAP8OMhu2shwhLthKiodw5cUruk6Lycelho/edit?usp=sharing)

Course Introduction

In this opening session, Gilad Noor introduces the Essence of Management course, outlining what we’ll learn, how it’s structured, and what to expect. The focus is on practical, actionable lessons that help us become better managers.

- We’ll explore one core management lesson across **four modules**, combining theory with hands-on exercises to build real-world skills.
- The course begins with a look at the **individual contributor role** to set the foundation, then shifts to the core question: *What is a manager’s job—really?*
- Later modules help us **practice and apply** what we learn, and then explore how to take our management capabilities even further.
- Gilad brings his experience as an engineering manager at Meta, Amazon, and a clean tech startup, along with his work coaching over 100 managers.
- The course is designed to be **accessible, practical, and growth-oriented**, helping us avoid common mistakes and accelerate our impact as managers.

If you want to learn more from Gilad, he shares free leadership advice daily on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladnaor/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta) and weekly on the[ δeltas newsletter](https://posts.managementdeltas.com/?utm_source=taro&utm_medium=course&utm_campaign=cta)

How To Figure Out If An Engineering Manager Is Good

This segment emphasizes how to make informed decisions when evaluating a potential team or engineering manager, especially in scenarios like internal transfers or team matching at large companies. Rather than relying solely on the perspectives of hiring managers, it's essential to dig deeper and gather honest insights.

- **Recognize incentive misalignment**: Engineering managers are incentivized to grow their team, so their portrayals may be overly positive. Rarely will a manager openly admit that a team has significant issues.
- **Talk to individual engineers**: Engineers, especially those who’ve been on the team for a while, tend to be more honest about both the strengths and challenges of the team. Speaking with two to three engineers—including the tech lead—can offer a well-rounded perspective.
- **Attend a team meeting if possible**: Observing how a team interacts in real-time reveals power dynamics. Red flags include a manager dominating the conversation or cutting off team members, indicating possible micromanagement.
- **Tap into your network**: For a broader view of the company or org, talk to trusted contacts about engineering culture and how managers are evaluated. These insights are rarely available through public sources.
- **Build long-term relationships for deeper intel**: Sensitive, nuanced feedback usually only surfaces when mutual trust exists. Superficial networking isn’t enough—invest in meaningful relationships to access the full truth about potential teams.

Grow From Junior To Mid-Level Engineer [Part 2] - At A Glance: Junior Vs. Mid-Level

What exactly does it mean to be a junior engineer vs. a mid-level engineer? What's the gap? This lesson teaches you:

- What it means at a high-level to be a junior vs. a mid-level engineer
- The difference in execution between a junior engineer and a mid-level engineer
- The types of tasks junior engineers work on vs. a mid-level engineer
- The ownership and scope difference between a junior vs. a mid-level engineer
- The difference in organizational complexity between junior engineers and mid-level engineers

Asking Great Questions [Part 2] - There Are No Stupid Questions

All questions start off from a positive place: An intent to learn more about the world. What matters is how you move forward with that positive energy when executing your question. This lesson teaches you:

- Why there's no such thing as a stupid or dumb question
- Why software engineers need to ask a *ton* of questions in order to succeed
- How bad questions corrupt their initially positive core can weaken the reputation of the asker
- How good questions follow through on their initially positive core to maintain that positive energy and strengthen the reputation of the asker

How To Earn Respect Fast - Senior Engineer Onboarding Story

Even if you're onboarding, you can earn respect amongst your team. In fact, you should feel empowered to earn this respect despite being new, especially if you're a senior software engineer.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Help junior engineers** - This is one of the most effective ways to earn respect on a team as a more experienced engineer. The junior engineers may be more fluent in the code than you are, but if you're a senior+ engineer, there is a reason you have this level: You have certain fundamentals and instincts that are applicable everywhere that junior engineers don't really have.
- **Show your depth** - You won't win with velocity and output when you're new. However, you can win with depth and quality as that's largely a function of your effort and time. If you're a more experienced engineer, think about how you can go deeper into something than everyone else on the team.
- **Alex's senior engineer onboarding story** - Here's how a senior Android engineer quickly made a splash after joining Alex's team back at Instagram.
  - They saw a junior engineer struggling with a very complex text layout bug with the Instagram Android app.
  - They volunteered to help with this bug, even though they didn't have to.
  - After many failed debugging attempts, *they slowly extracted the relevant code line by line into an entirely separate Android app to identify the breaking line*. This was a brilliant tactic that nobody else on the team even remotely considered.
  - This combination of goodwill and extreme software engineering depth earned them a mountain of respect pretty much immediately.

This clip is from our masterclass on how to succeed at a new team or company as a software engineer. [Click here to watch the full thing.](https://link.jointaro.com/9sJzfDeH3JdWzZRg9)

Related resources:
- ["How can I quickly gain respect among my team as a senior engineer?"](https://link.jointaro.com/i9j4dtohx2bXc2Sq8)
- ["How do you network effectively within a company?"](https://link.jointaro.com/Hr1nr53D7sfQAEv3A)

Code Review Is NOT For Catching Bugs

In this follow-up video, we dive deeper into the **true purpose of code review**, challenging the misconception that its main goal is to catch bugs. Instead, we emphasize how code review plays a central role in shaping team culture, accountability, and knowledge sharing.

### Key Takeaways:

- **We see code review as a cultural engine**: It’s a key mechanism for how our team communicates, transfers norms, and builds a shared understanding of quality and standards.
- **We’ve learned that code reviews aren’t about bug-hunting**: Studies—including from Microsoft Research—show that code reviews are not effective at finding bugs, even with multiple reviewers or approval layers.
- **We hold ourselves accountable for our code**: The responsibility for quality and testing lies with the author—not the reviewer. Code review isn’t a safety net for catching functionality issues.
- **We avoid over-reviewing**: Adding more layers of review slows us down without meaningfully reducing bugs. Instead, we focus on meaningful reviews that support learning and alignment.
- **We use code reviews for knowledge and culture transfer**: Through thoughtful feedback and shared context, we reinforce how we build, think, and collaborate—making code review a vital part of team growth.

[Masterclass] How To Navigate Your Performance Review In Tech

The slides provide a great high-level overview of the entire session for your notes, so here's our Top 5 thoughts that aren't entirely in the slides:

- Not deeply understanding your company's performance review cycle is job suicide, especially in the current age of layoffs and stack-rank (the latter being perennial).
- If you're truly working at a top company, you shouldn't be promoted to the next level unless you have been functioning there for at least 3-6 months. Companies that don't do this tend to promote due to raw experience and have many incompetent people at senior+ levels.
- Always have a plan for your performance review, even if your goal is just to be average and survive. Work with your manager at the beginning of every cycle to create a clear and living expectations document.
- Be very deliberate about the peers you want leaving feedback for you on your performance review. Assemble that cast at the beginning of the cycle and start building those deep 1 on 1 relationships once you have done that.
- When you are asked to leave constructive feedback for a peer, flip the question from *"What did they do poorly?"* to *"How can they expand their scope?"*. This will become easier as you reach an L5 (senior) level and more deeply understand what each engineering level means.

Related resources:

- [\[Masterclass\] What Software Engineers Should Look For In Their Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/oeY7ncZhzJ5NO6dij5e7/masterclass-what-software-engineers-should-look-for-in-their-engineering-manager/)
- [\[Masterclass\] How To Get Promoted Faster In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/W730BOdrfAIXAEVd8HUf/masterclass-how-to-get-promoted-faster-in-tech/)
- [\[Masterclass\] How To Have Impactful 1:1 Meetings](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/FEK6JZqW2Jg3rdN9yeGn/masterclass-how-to-have-impactful-1-on-1-meetings/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/142PsWRJ-fmdP42CrFpR0VD64L1qFP-6nPTmjk5g1DKM/edit?usp=sharing)

How Alex Got Into Meta With 0 Prior LeetCode Experience

Top System Design Interview Mistakes [Part 7] - Document As You Go

In system design interviews, it's essential to use multiple forms of communication—verbal, written, and visual. A common mistake is relying only on verbal communication, which can lead to confusion and missed opportunities to iterate on your design.

- Not writing anything down makes it difficult to follow your logic, especially when discussing complex systems. Without written or visual references, both you and the interviewer may struggle to keep track of the design.
- Documenting as you go—whether through diagrams, lists, or notes—makes it easier to iterate on and debug your design. It also frees up your mental resources to focus on solving new problems instead of remembering all the details.
- Finally, well-documented designs provide a useful reference for interviewers when they review your performance after the interview.

If you need extra help with your system design interview, [Formation.dev](https://formation.dev/partners/taro) can provide you hands-on, personalized support. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 2] - Why You NEED A Killer Resume

As a software engineer, there are a million different things you can do. Choosing the right things to work on from engineer to engineer, but the good news is that having a great resume is one of those right things for every engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- Why optimizing your resume is one of the highest return on investments you can possibly do
- Understanding the overall job search funnel and how a good resume fits within it

Tech Career Growth Videos

Our instructional videos provide software engineers with insights needed for career growth. Masterclasses go incredibly in-depth on a specific tech topic while case studies are real examples from established engineering leaders.