Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 13] - Just 1 Sentence Is Enough

As a software engineer, you will often get tasks and projects that aren't fully defined. How you react and are able to perform in these scenarios is a huge factor when it comes to determining your seniority. This lesson teaches you:

- A simple framework to understand the expectations of a senior engineer when it comes to handling ambiguity
- The different components that go into converting a single sentence to a full-blown project

Meet The Team

Software Engineering is a team sport, and therefore building strong relationships with your team is a prerequisite for your success. Book 1 on 1s with teammates proactively, and for key people, look into recurring meetings for the first month or two.

One useful thought exercise: think about **who can throw you under the bus?** By doing this pre-mortem (analysis *before* an issue has happened), you can take steps to make them like you and prevent an issue to begin with.

The other key component to building strong relationships with your team is to prioritize in-person interaction. 

- Trust is much, much easier built when you're in person compared to remote
- If you’re hybrid, try to come in as much as you can. Align on days when other people are in the office.

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 27] - Continue The Learning Journey

Watching one course is not going to automatically make you master of code quality (or anything really). To really learn these concepts and burn them into your mind, you need to continue the learning journey. What's next:

- If you have mastered code quality, then here's a great skill for you to move on to: [\[Masterclass\] How To Become A Debugging Master And Fix Issues Faster](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/ioR6WzamAIUTpySLAr7o/masterclass-how-to-become-a-debugging-master-and-fix-issues-faster/)
- Apply your coding skills to open source! [Become An Open Source Master](https://www.jointaro.com/course/become-an-open-source-master/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 5] - It’s A Conversation

If you're doing it right, behavioral interviews shouldn't even feel like interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews should feel like a conversation
- How the flow of behavior interviews are fundamentally different from all other interview types
- Why behavioral interviews are actually about far more than just the words you say
- The importance of honesty in interviews, not just in reality but with perception as well

Here is the communication course: [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

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

Performance Bonus Explainer With Meta Senior Software Engineer [E5] Example

This video breaks down how **performance bonuses** work in the tech industry, focusing on their structure, key variables, and real-world examples—especially from companies like Facebook. It underscores how these bonuses are a significant portion of total compensation and are both performance- and timing-sensitive.

- **Performance bonuses are calculated using a base percentage** tied to level and salary, and then adjusted by two multipliers: individual performance and company performance.
- **Company performance multipliers vary**, often based on metrics like revenue or stock performance. For example, Facebook’s company multiplier was 90% in late 2017, despite its historically strong track record.
- **Individual performance multipliers** reflect how well someone met expectations (e.g., "meets all" equates to 100%), and strongly influence the final bonus amount.
- **Bonuses are only paid if still employed at payout time**, meaning even working a full half-year won't earn a payout if the person leaves before the bonus distribution date.
- **Payout examples help contextualize the numbers**: a senior engineer at Facebook with $62K eligible earnings, a 15% target bonus, and multipliers of 1.0 (personal) and 0.9 (company) would receive about $8,300—paid out roughly two months after the performance period ends.

[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)

DSA Crash Course [Part 24] - Linked List Values Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *linked_list_values*, that takes in the head of a linked list as an argument. The function should return a list containing all values of the nodes in the linked list.

```
a = Node("a")
b = Node("b")
c = Node("c")
d = Node("d")
a.next = b
b.next = c
c.next = d

# a -> b -> c -> d

linked_list_values(a) # -> [ 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd' ]
```

```
x = Node("x")
y = Node("y")
x.next = y

# x -> y

linked_list_values(x) # -> [ 'x', 'y' ]
```

```
q = Node("q")

# q

linked_list_values(q) # -> [ 'q' ]
```

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/>

Truly Mastering A Data Structures And Algorithms Problem  - 2 Sum Example

Why is the following not a good way to remember the solution to 2 Sum?
        
def twoSum(self, nums, target):
    required = {}
    for i in range(len(nums)):
        if target - nums[i] in required:
            return [required[target - nums[i]],i]
        else:
            required[nums[i]] = i

Why is [Look for the difference and use a HashSet] a great way to remember the solution to 2 Sum?

What more general higher-level learning principle is also exercised alongside the proper mastery of data structures and algorithms problems?

Data structures and algorithms are a core part of FAANG software engineer interviews, and they're seemingly the bane of every software engineer's existence. However, so many software engineers don't learn these concepts properly.

Here are the core points from the video:
- In this example, we cover 2 sum, a classic data structures and algorithms problem that many companies use on phone screens. Here's how to learn it properly:
  - **Bad:** Memorizing all the code behind the optimal implementation.
  - **Good:** "Look for the difference and use a HashSet."
- All DSA problems will have this core insight that "unravels" the entire thing. Once you find and truly understand this insight, the implementation should flow naturally.
- This is also a sign of higher learning via "thinking in terms of abstractions". Your brain is a lot more powerful if it is able to take something more singular and high-level and convert it into the nitty gritty. Memorizing everything at the lowest level simply isn't scalable.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview - Data Structures & Algorithms](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/V4sTACzfOh22nMVcUV3w/how-to-ace-your-big-tech-interview-data-structures-and-algorithms-7172021/) - This is the full video this clip is taken from
- [[Masterclass] How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview - System Design](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/J3I9fTW9ulr6T9KjxpqY/how-to-ace-your-big-tech-interview-system-design-1162021/)
- [How Alex Got Into Meta With 0 Prior Leetcode Experience](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/ZYiTbN21FsqFxFdpwt5a/how-alex-got-into-meta-with-0-prior-leetcode-experience/)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 12] - Mitali Gala: Choosing The Engineering Manager Route

Next, [Mitali Gala](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitali-gala) (a Mentor at Formation) discusses her decision to charge forward as an Engineering Manager and what that entails for her day-to-day work.

She reflects on some of the challenges, some of the highlights, why she is passionate about this work, and who it would be a good fit for.

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers like Mitali + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

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)

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 21] - Instagram Ads Testing Tool

Sometimes being a little selfish can help you tremendously when finding senior scope as it did in this case study. This lesson goes through:

- The problem Alex was solving with Instagram ads internal testing, particularly with mobile engineers
- How Alex came up with a very simple solution to the testing problem (far simpler than senior engineer technical complexity)
- How Alex scaled both himself and his basic Instagram ads testing tool
- The learnings from this case study that you can apply to your own day-to-day at work to find senior scope

Master The DSA Interview [Part 7] - Regularly Be Talking

There is far more to a data structures and algorithms question than simply being able to code up a solution. This lesson teaches you:

- Why consistent communication is critical for data structures and algorithms interviews, especially at top companies
- How much silence is too much in an data structures and algorithms interview
- How bad vs. good engineers solve technical problems in general

DSA Crash Course [Part 21] - Sum Numbers Recursive Walkthrough

In this lesson, Alvin walks through the python implementation for the *sum_numbers_recursive* problem.

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/sum-numbers-recursive?language=py>

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/>

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/)

Onboarding Tips Within Larger Companies

In a large company, you should expect a more formal onboarding process. However, don’t let this be an excuse to move slowly. Your goal is (still) to set up your environment and land code within a week.

Big companies will have many teams which may have slightly competing priorities. That means you need to invest in relationships and understand how the work connects between teams. Disperse and collect knowledge from around the company.

Spend some time understanding the unique terminology and culture of the company. Companies like Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft are large enough that they have their own set of acronyms, languages, and cultures!

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. 

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/)

Case Study: Setting Up Your Environment

One of the first tasks for an engineer in a new company is to setup their environment. 

- Your goal is **not** to setup your environment

- Your goal is to **do something that the environment setup enables**, e.g. make a copy or color change

Abstraction is essential when you’re working in a large codebase. Don't try to understand everything you come across: there will surely be a guide or script that you'll blindly follow, and that's ok. Keep your focus on completing the setup so you can make progress.

If you get blocked (*you probably will...*), forecast ahead what's coming and check if there's something else you can do in parallel.

Tech Lead Blueprint 4/17 - TL Archetypes

Connect with Lalit on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/lalitkundu/>

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)

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.