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

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 5] - Resume Gaps

Having an employment gap is effectively inevitable as a software engineer, especially in a layoff-economy. This leads to resume gaps, which unfortunately have a lot of stigma. This lesson teaches you:

- Why employers (rightfully) hold resume gaps against you
- How to include your resume gap on your resume
- What to do in common resume gap scenarios if a company probes you about it during an interview

If you have recently been laid-off, you can check these out as well: [\[Taro Top 10\] Navigating Tech Industry Layoffs](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/pE7pP0nXDx4X7mOChzHS/)

Failure Mode: Fake Learning

*Fake learning* is when an engineer wants feels good by consuming an endless barrage of:

- Tutorials
- Books
- Blogs

These resources (crutches) are addicting because it's easy to monitor progress (40% done with the book!), but they turn out to be terrible for you to retain anything.

Software engineering is about action, not theory. Your goal is to reduce the amount of time from reading about a concept to putting it into practice in front of the computer. This is usually best done within the company, not on a greenfield project or external book you found. Get your hands on the keyboard, and realize that growth comes from discomfort.

The Power Of Big Tech: Meta Interns Can Get $100k+ Signing Bonuses

Compensation is not talked about enough, leading to huge differences in awareness and feedback for different groups of people. This is a snippet from the full masterclass session about [Understanding And Optimizing Your Pay In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/gk408yBIV2fa5RjVR213/masterclass-understanding-and-optimizing-your-pay-in-tech/).

Some companies offer massive signing bonuses for interns that convert over to full-time. In the early 2010s, Facebook (not Meta) paid return interns a $75,000 signing bonus. For top interns (or those who negotiated), they received a $125,000 signing bonus.

For a new grad engineer who might be 21 or 22 years old, **this is a huge amount of money**. It can be difficult to turn that down. But the more important consideration is the overall total compensation (TC) calculation. Total compensation should be computed over a 4 year window since companies typically give out equity grants over 4 years.

For Rahul's full compensation breakdown of the 5 offers he received as a new grad, watch this video: [5 Offers w/ FAANG Companies As A New Grad: Details + Lessons](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/4MBOiqWEMbCTCcLPjisz/5-offers-w-faang-companies-as-a-new-grad-details-lessons/)

Maximizing a Severance Package 6/9 - The Mind of the Manager

- 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)

Ask For Specific Feedback

Key to learning quickly is getting effective feedback. This is especially important while onboarding, so you are able to course correct rapidly. Instead of asking the lazy question "Do you have any feedback for me?" add structure around the question: 

- **Task-specific** - what’s one thing that would have made this stronger?
- **Behavioral** - what’s something I do well that I should do more of?
- **Meta-level** - what’s the best way for us to share feedback with one another

Once you've been working with someone for a few weeks, schedule a dedicated 1:1 for feedback and let them know you'd love their honest opinion.

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 8] - Timing

Behavioral interviews are intense, containing more questions than every other interview type. This greatly affects how you need to talk to pass these rounds as a software engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews are a marathon
- How long you should take per behavioral interview answer
- Tactics you can use to communicate more efficiently

For more advice on communicating concisely: ["How to make communication succinct and more impactful?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/QDLV5owweJveRLlspOdc/how-to-make-communication-succinct-and-more-impactful/)

Asking For A Promotion: The Wrong Way vs. The Right Way

We all want more money and a higher title. However, it's important to remember that it's not your engineering manager's primary goal to give you those things. When it comes to the promotion discussion, it's crucial to frame it in a mutually beneficial way.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Do not**: Frame promotion as something that you inherently deserve from being on the team for a while, making the entire conversation seem like an exercise purely for *your* benefit.
- **Do**: Show your loyalty to the team and make it clear that investing into your growth and promotion is mutually beneficial. Your goal is to have more impact and empower the team - The money and title are more of a secondary benefit you'll happen to achieve along the way.

Related resources:
- [[Taro Top 10] Software Engineer To Engineering Manager (IC -> M Track)](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/oz0mnJvHHgM8NfVF7rgp/)
- [[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/)
- [[Taro Top 10] Getting Promoted Faster In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/eZOEUatYEe7BBAZByuha/)

PIPs and Interviews: The Ultimate Guide To Navigating A PIP

The PIP is as big a deal as you make it out to be. This is the key insight as you interview at other companies: **Don’t share information** **that hurts you.** 

In the same way that you wouldn’t share your previous salary or your compensation expeditions in the interview, you also shouldn’t share past performance struggles. You don’t get points for transparency. The thinking should be that you only share information if it helps you with the job interview. In particular, you should *never mention that you got PIP-ed*.

Instead, use neutral phrasing like “*I’m super excited about this company. I deeply resonate with the mission and people.*” Or *“The previous role wasn’t a good fit”*

3 Quick, Powerful Negotiation Tips

Negotiating pay can feel intimidating, but it’s one of the highest-leverage actions you can take in your career. These strategies highlight how to be persuasive, respectful, and ultimately successful in maximizing your offer.

- **Be kind but firm**: It’s possible—and important—to express appreciation for the opportunity while making clear that thoughtful evaluation and proper compensation are needed to make a long-term commitment.
- **Avoid real-time pressure**: Recruiters gain valuable insights over phone calls. To reduce information asymmetry, favor email, where you can be thoughtful and deliberate. Delay commitment by saying you’ll consider it or need to speak with someone.
- **Use neutral language**: Phrases like “That’s interesting” help you remain agreeable without showing your hand. Avoid affirming too positively during negotiations to preserve leverage.
- **Commit only at the end**: Only offer verbal commitments once the negotiation reaches final stages. At this point, you can say something like, “If you can meet $X in signing bonus or equity, I’ll sign tomorrow.” This gives the recruiter a clear target and a sense of closure.
- **Respect your word**: When making such final commitments, be sincere and only offer them if you’re truly ready to accept. This maintains credibility and professionalism.

Maximizing a Severance Package 9/9 - Summary

Watch Ethan's other course on Taro about [Managing Up](https://www.jointaro.com/course/managing-up-build-effective-relationships-with-your-boss/) and [The Growth And Promotion Recipe](https://www.jointaro.com/course/the-growth-and-promotion-recipe-magic-loop/)

Follow ups:

- 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)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 12] - Just 1 Thing

As a software engineer, it is incredibly easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of tasks on your plate. This lesson teaches you:

- What you need to do every single day to give yourself the gift of focus and be productive
- What to do if you absolutely need to get multiple major tasks done in a day
- How to enforce your focus on your singular task by systematizing it

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 20] - Code Comment Caches

Code comments can be immensely helpful, but they can be incredibly damaging to a codebase if used incorrectly (which this course will cover even more later on down the line). This lesson will teach you:

- Why engineers will try the very weird "code comment cache" anti-pattern
- The importance of Git, GitHub, and version control platforms in general
- How to not be lazy and properly deal with code that isn't necessary now but may be useful later

DSA Crash Course [Part 23] - Linked List Warm Up Lecture

In this lecture, Alvin goes over how to implement a linked list in python.

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [**Alvin's**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [**Structy**](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [**this link to get 20% off**](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 16] - Senior Engineer

Senior engineers are proven leaders who make the engineers around them better. "Senior" is a badge of honor that almost all engineers strive for after entering the industry. This lesson teaches you:

- The expectations from a senior engineer overall and how that reflects in behavioral interviews
- The kinds of stories senior engineers tell in behavioral interviews

[Case Study] Building XFN Alignment Across Multiple Orgs (w/ Staff Engineer Cat Chen)

[Cat Chen](https://catchen.me/) talked about his success building alignment across multiple orgs. 

Cat was working at Facebook as a Staff Engineer on the growth team. His charter to get the Android apps on app stores beyond the Play Store. (There were 10+ non-Google stores where Android apps get downloaded with some level of traffic.

Getting an app listed on a 3rd-party platform is simple – sign up as a developer on that platform; upload the Android app for review; wait for approval and launch it. Just as simple as publishing to Google Play.

**BUT it's not that simple at a company like Facebook.** Facebook lawyers wouldn’t allow Cat to accept the Terms of Service on behalf of Facebook the company. Cat didn’t have the privilege to bind Facebook into this contract and even if he did, the lawyers would certainly advise against that.

Instead of simply handing this problem to another person or org, Cat met with a director-level lawyer. Given he was on a different time zone, and in a different job function altogether, this took some legwork. The director explained the risk profile (Facebook could have unlimited downside by blindly accepting an agreement). Eventually Cat discovered a workable solution by using a contracting company to sign the legal agreement, which limits the damages that Facebook may face.

Impact of this work: 
- Successful launch of the existing Android apps
- Ability to launch other apps in the future
- Deep and positive relationship with the legal team, and Cat owned that relationship (which made him indispensable)
- **Almost zero lines of code written!**

[Connect with Cat](https://www.linkedin.com/in/catchen/)

For more resources on how to communicate, build alignment, and operate as a Staff Engineer:
- ["How do I sell the vision behind a large, org-level project?"](https://link.jointaro.com/NGCrB2ifkkpDaDe69)
- ["What's the Difference Between A Senior And Staff Engineer?"](https://link.jointaro.com/BEM2RAjPFe8Pv7826)
- [Guide to Effective Communication](https://link.jointaro.com/mP3WEd4zt5ecnupX6)

20 Years Of Fighting Procrastination [Part 6] - The #1 Way To Create Accountability

When motivation fades, there's a simple yet powerful way to regain momentum—build accountability into your workflow. Here are the key ideas from the lesson:

- Social pressure is more powerful than self-discipline alone, making accountability partners or group settings highly effective for staying on track

- Benefits of accountability include learning from others, drawing inspiration, and getting called out when you're making excuses or losing focus

- Tactics include going into the office, joining virtual co-working platforms, setting review checkpoints, or scheduling deadlines—even artificial ones—to create external motivation and structure

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 11] - Struggling? Send More Applications

One of the most common reasons for a struggling software engineer job search is that they simply aren't applying enough. The good news is that this can be easily fixed with the proper behavior adjustments. This lesson teaches you:

- How you can conquer the job search with sheer math
- A healthy conversion rate for application -&gt; interview chance
- Why you should almost never spend too much time on any individual application (quantity &gt; quality)
- The framework to follow on whether you should apply a ton or apply more selectively

Here are the Big 2 job searching websites:

- <https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/>
- <https://wellfound.com/>

On top of the Big 2, we've seen engineers have success with:

- <https://otta.com/>
- <https://www.workatastartup.com/> - Jobs at Y Combinator startups specifically, the greatest incubator in the world which is behind Stripe, DoorDash, Airbnb, and many more FAANG-adjacent companies

Failure Mode: Excessive Handholding

A common failure mode of onboarding is that, even 6 months into the job, the engineer still needs support to make code changes. Either with their workflow or a technical question about the code.

The sign of progress as you ramp up is if your questions and code reviews are evolving over time. The types and depth of interaction you have with coworkers should change.

The key to doing this is to reflect:

- Look at earlier code comments you received
- Write down questions you’ve had
- Don’t make the same mistake twice
- Ask your onboarding buddy to look for patterns

Reference question: [What does it mean to not require handholding anymore?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/5vEWajcZlSi7nlohTGtJ/what-does-it-mean-to-not-require-handholding-anymore/)

Avoid This Performance Review Death Trap - Creating An Expectations Plan

- Work with your manager at the beginning of your performance review cycle to create a plan. Do this no matter what: Even if your goal isn't too ambitious and you just want to get an average rating.
- The plan should outline expectations for you very clearly, ideally as a checklist:
  - What does it mean to hit your baseline expectation and not be in danger of a performance improvement plan (PIP)?
  - What does it mean to knock it out of the park?
- Things will change, especially in high-performance tech companies. This document will change over time, and you and your manager should be 100% aware of this and adapt.

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.