Master The DSA Interview [Part 30] - Go Deeper: Follow Through

Find a mock interview buddy: <https://www.jointaro.com/networking/?selectedServices=Mock+Interviews>

To find events like mock interview meetups: <https://www.jointaro.com/events/>

Join Alex's Group Office Hours to get additional support: <https://www.jointaro.com/p/alex-chiou/>

Start a discussion in the Taro Forum and get incredible career advice: <https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/>

Take these courses as well:

- [Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 5] - Finding The Right Team

Not every engineering team can support an additional senior engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- What to look for in terms of product scope when choosing an engineering team to grow to senior
- The people ingredients of a team that's good for senior promotion
- Exactly what a great team for senior promotion looks like

To dive deeper into how to find a great team for senior promotion, check out the discussion here: ["What questions can I ask a potential new team?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/dLS6KcDwKNdMDlJwYdBw/what-questions-can-i-ask-a-potential-new-team/)

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 4] - Structuring Your Growth

There are a **lot** of new skills you need to develop to go from mid-level engineer to senior engineer, far more than most people realize. So how does one process of all this? This lesson teaches you:

- The 4 Meta engineering axes and what they mean (we'll be using these to organize the teachings from the course).
- How to view the overall learning from this course
- Why the senior promotion is different when it comes to these 4 engineering axes
- The strategy you should follow to structure your growth journey, using this course's material as the basis

Managing Up: Introduction

Managing up is the skill of building ethical and effective relationships with your boss and senior peers. This course will teach you how to do that.

- Connect with [**Ethan on LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/)
- Taro members get a discount to join [Ethan's Level Up community](https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/taro25)

[**Ethan Evans**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/) is a retired Amazon Vice President, now sharing his leadership expertise.

He spent 12 years in startups (10 in leadership roles), and then had a 15 year career at Amazon. He has led global teams of 800+ and products with annual revenue above $500M. He holds over 70 patents.

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 19] - Code Review Feedback

If you want to grow lightning fast as a software engineer, you need code quality feedback. This is the primary goal the entire "Pull Requests" section of this course is building up towards. This lesson will teach you:

- The algorithm for leveling up incredibly quickly as an engineer, especially for junior and mid-level engineers
- How NOT to respond to code review feedback
- How to gracefully respond to code review feedback to maximize your learning and deepen relationships with your teammates by going through an in-depth example

If you want to dive even deeper into code review, check out our masterclass: [\[Masterclass\] How To Do Amazing Code Review](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/rhRFh49oouaUDhWUvkQb/masterclass-how-to-do-amazing-code-review/)

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 7] - Code Quality Isn't Static

Things would be so easy if we could just copy-paste the tech stack of our favorite FAANG company and call it a day. The bad news is that this is a prime recipe for disaster. This lesson will teach you:

- Why there's no such thing as objectively "good" code and the primary vector stopping that (hint: It's the only resource that matters)
- The right mentality to have when improving your specific codebase in your specific situation
- How to think about your code architecture as it relates to scale

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 12] - Break It Down

Software is scary, especially when you get big projects that require thousands of lines of code to implement. This lesson will teach you:

- The steps to turn any tough technical problem into something that's quite manageable (and even easy)
- Why decomposition is one of the important skills for a software engineer to have at all levels
- A framework to plan out your commits and create a crystal clear roadmap for your code
- How to decompose coding projects in a systematic way, demonstrated through an in-depth example covering a classic software flow: User login

Senior Staff Engineer (L7) Describes Most Important Skill - Kaushik Gopal

[Kaushik](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopalkaushik/) is a Senior Staff Engineer at Instacart.

- **Most important skill**: identify, deliver, and measure the impact. At the Senior Staff level, it's not enough to execute on a technical vision, you also need to spend time identifying and measuring impact.
- **Advice**: talk to stakeholders across the company to identify problems and areas of impact. This includes non-eng functions like PM, design, customer support.

Here's the full playlist asking engineers what the most important skill is for their level: [Asking 7 Levels Of Engineers The Most Important Skill](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/J9Io5lDGaYUpI8vGrUyI/)

Helpful links:

- [SWE2 --&gt; Principal Eng in 4 years](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/Lvf1TDKt1R4ZJSCr9BVv/rockstar-software-engineer-story-sw2-greater-principal-in-just-4-years/)
- Taro's top 10 to get promoted from [senior to staff engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/YD8LMCSlE71VUGUbNAWM/)
- [David Pan on what makes a great tech lead](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/uHqZZ15SK19MatEvLSO6/what-makes-a-truly-great-tech-lead-a-vp-of-engineerings-perspective/)
- [Kaushik on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopalkaushik/)

How To Find The Best People For Your Professional Network

Many software engineers are introverts who have a hard time connecting with others - We've been there too! This can make it really daunting when trying to build your professional network: How do you identify those who you'll get along with? This video covers how you can find those people who would be great to bring into your professional network.

Here are the core points:
- **It's not too different from making friends** - The most basic barometer for a relationship's success is how much you two have in common. Having mutual interests and similar backgrounds maximizes the chance that you're able to interact and understand one another.
- **The most successfully relationships are bidirectional** - The most successful professional relationships are those where each person is able to provide a lot of value to the other. The split should be as close to 50/50 as possible - If there is one party providing an overwhelming majority of the value, this relationship is not meant to last. *When you're evaluating whether someone would be a great addition to your network, don't only think about how they can help you, think about how **you** can help them as well.*
- **Identify those who actively add value to others** - If someone is kind in a general setting and always happy to help others, it is likely they would be a great person to know in a more personal 1 on 1 way. When you strive to add value to these people, they will almost certainly return the favor, and at its core, this is what a healthy relationship looks like.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech-12172022/) - The full video where this clip was taken from
- [Effective Communication Guide - Building Relationships](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/488EjOLzU707WhdqMOK4/effective-communication-guide-part-3-building-relationships/)
- ["How to get referrals?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/FQIi8us9uoTDIYdzMhvg/how-to-get-referrals/)

Good Engineering Managers Simply Care

- A good manager understands that if your personal life isn't going well, your work performance will almost certainly be negatively affected.
- This is why good EMs genuinely care about how you're doing as a person.
  - In 1:1s, they will always listen intently.
  - If you're not doing well, they will allocate extra time to help you figure things out and just to be there to support you.

Related resources:
- ["What's the boundary between what's okay to share with your manager vs. what's not? Are some things simply too deep?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3L4B8iqM7D5GYsYy6xWx/whats-the-boundary-between-whats-okay-to-share-with-your-manager-vs-whats-not-are-some-things-simply-too-deep/)
- [1 on 1s Are The Time To Be Awkward](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/xjeFRpp5YHxG9TTK8wjn/1-on-1s-are-the-time-to-be-awkward/?revalidate=true)

How Effectively Do Big Tech Engineers Perform In Startups?

Make Your Promotion Case Easy - Keep A Brag Journal

Beyond 'Cracking the Coding Interview': 10+ Years Of Tech Interview Evolution

For over a decade, *Cracking the Coding Interview* has been hailed as the "bible" of interview prep. Now, its high-anticipated sequel, [**Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/195570600X), is out. While the original delved deeply into coding problems, the sequel shifts its focus to teaching you how to think—both in the context of technical interviews and throughout the job search process.

In this event, the authors of [**Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/195570600X) will share how tech hiring has changed in the last decade. Ask them anything about interview prep, job stuff, negotiation, or algorithms and data structures. The authors are:

- [**Gayle Laakmann McDowell**](https://www.gayle.com/), the original author of CtCI
- [**Michael Mroczka**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-mroczka/), Google engineer and top interview coach on [**interviewing.io**](https://interviewing.io/?c=taro)
- [**Aline Lerner**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alinelerner/), founder of [**interviewing.io**](https://interviewing.io/?c=taro)
- [**Nil Mamano**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nilmamano/), Google engineer and algorithm researcher

Redeem a discounted mock interview from [interviewing.io](https://interviewing.io/?c=taro) on Taro Perks: [jointaro.com/perks/](https://www.jointaro.com/perks/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 24] - Go Deeper: Follow Through

As mentioned earlier in the course, being a productive is a never-ending battle. You need to keep fighting, growing, and retrospecting to keep yourself in check and maintain your productivity.

Find accountability partners with Taro Networking: <https://www.jointaro.com/networking/?selectedServices=Friendly+Coffee+Chat>

If you can make it, come to Alex's Group Office Hours: <https://www.jointaro.com/p/alex-chiou/>

Find all Taro community events here: <https://www.jointaro.com/events/>

If you have a deeper issue, start a discussion in the Taro forum: <https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/>

Take the related courses:

- [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 7] - Get Good Sleep

Sleep is one of the first things to go when software engineers are faced with daunting workloads. Unfortunately, this is a tradeoff with disastrous consequences which doesn't even solve the problem. This lesson teaches you:

- Why most software engineers get sleep completely wrong in every possible way
- The correct perspective to have with sleep
- The many benefits of getting 8+ hours of consistent sleep every day
- How sacrificing sleep actually makes you less productive, not more

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 13] - Good Vs. Bad Questions To Ask

You're a software engineer and you have slogged through the behavioral round, answering many grueling questions. And now the interviewer opens up the floor to you: "Do you have any questions for me?". What do you do here? This lesson teaches you:

- What a good behavioral interview question to ask looks like through many examples, which you can ask word-for-word in your next behavioral interview
- What a bad behavioral interview question looks like (avoid these)
- The attributes of a high-quality question vs. a low quality question in a behavioral interview

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

Thank People (A Lot!)

Properly thanking people is how you build social capital. Social capital is how you advance your career, build influence, and get promoted.

**Noob way of saying thank you**: "Thanks for the pointer" ❌

**Better way of saying thank you**: "That was so helpful, you unblocked a critical milestone of this project" ✅

Some other tips: 

- Thank them  in-person or over a call
- Write a heartfelt thank you note (1 paragraph)
- Let their manager know
- Thank in public forums
- Give them recurring thanks, e.g. in standup, at the team meeting, and when the project finishes

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 28] - How Much LeetCode Should I Grind?

If you're this deep in the course, you now know that grinding 1,000 LeetCode problems doesn't lead to a Google hiring manager magically appearing on your doorstep with a fresh offer letter in hand. This lesson teaches you:

- Why data structures and algorithms are more damaging to the overall health of a job search than software engineers realize
- Exactly how over-indexing on data structures and algorithms and LeetCode completely destroys the job search of many software engineers
- The framework you should apply on whether you should be grinding LeetCode

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 18] - Have A Test Plan

Test plans are something many tech companies don't do, and it's a shame. Pull request test plans are one of the easiest things you can do as a software engineer to really level up your code review experience and ultimately the quality of your code. This lesson will teach you:

- What a test plan is and the many, many benefits it provides. There's a reason Meta requires engineers to have a test plan in their diffs (pull requests)
- How to creative with your test plans when your code is hard to demo (very applicable for back-end facing engineers)
- The many benefits of having a thorough test plan and the many downsides of not having a test plan
- What the ideal test plan looks like, which we'll cover through a couple in-depth examples

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.