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

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 10] - Fancy Formats

Creativity is great, and it's a very important skill for software engineers. However, the resume is not a medium for creativity to thrive. This lesson teaches you:

- Why "creative", fancy resume formats are really bad for a tech resume, shown through a very eccentric example
- The principles to follow for a great resume format
- What a resume with an optimal format looks like with a real-life example

If you need inspiration for your resume format, you can use Alex's template as a template. Download it here: [Alexander Chiou Resume.docx](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NnAx2jYkRTMCQwbdDPPqSj1Fwxkahda-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=109380646850979301783&rtpof=true&sd=true)

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 4] - 1 Resume To Rule Them All

Writing tons of different resumes is one of the easiest ways to waste time and overwhelm yourself on the software engineer job search. This lesson teaches you:

- Why you should only have 1 resume, especially if you're an earlier-in-career engineer
- Why "full-stack" engineer is often a trap for more junior engineers
- How to figure out the 1 resume you should write
- What to do if you really can't write just 1 resume (i.e. how to break the tie)

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 11] - Debugging

Debugging is one of the most important skills every software engineer needs to develop. Despite this, many software engineers see bugs as a source of frustration instead of opportunity. This lesson teaches you:

- The mindset shift that has to happen when a mid-level engineer grows to senior engineer when it comes to bugs, particularly large production outages
- How senior engineers solve different types of bugs of a broader scope compared to mid-level engineers

To get better at debugging, check out: [\[Masterclass\] 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/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 19] - Cultural Values

Culture fit is real. A lot of tech companies have toxic culture and don't vet for it properly, but that doesn't change the fact that culture fit is extremely important to running a healthy engineering organization. This lesson teaches you:

- Why cultural values are important
- What you should do to effectively study and internalize the cultural values of a company you are interviewing with
- How to weave a company's cultural values into your behavioral interview answers through an example with Alex for his Meta interview

If you're curious as to how Meta's engineering culture works: ["Is sprint planning and agile not a thing at Meta?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/tB7borE2AWb1KcuFEcon/is-sprint-planning-and-agile-not-a-thing-at-meta/)

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 19] - Depth Of Contribution

Just because you got a meaty, high-impact project doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get rewarded a lot for it when it comes to your promotion case. This lesson teaches you:

- Why volume of code contribution often doesn't correlate with the depth of your contribution and the credit you receive
- How to figure out if your project contributions had lots of depth
- Concrete examples of hard tasks that have great depth and are greatly rewarded for in promotion cases

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/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 10] - Order Matters

We all want to speed run our way into FAANG. The bad news is that this is almost never pans out for software engineers, and aggressively pursuing this strategy can easily lead to your downfall. This lesson teaches you:

- The true way to actually get better at interviewing and why it can't be avoided (no matter how painful it is)
- How to properly structure your job search when Big Tech is one of your goals
- The general approach you should take when it comes to applying to jobs and sequencing your interviews

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 8] - Interviewing While Employed

Finding a job as a software engineer is, in and of itself, practically a full-time job. But should you quit to actually treat it like an entire job? This video teaches you:

- Why currently being employed is usually the best time to find a new job
- The counterintuitive way that having a job boosts your interview performance when searching for another job
- How to find the time to do interview preparation when you're juggling a current job, including emergency levers
- The framework you should apply to determine if you should quit your current job for the job search grind

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 23] - Everything In 1 Place

Monoliths and god-classes are 2 of the most common code anti-patterns, especially in Big Tech. They're extremely easy to fall into, and monolithic infrastructure is actually the right call for the vast majority of software as 99% of software is nowhere near the scale of FAANG. This lesson will teach you:

- Why the "Everything In 1 Place" anti-pattern is so damaging, not just for readability but developer productivity as well
- One of the most powerful clean code techniques: **The delegate pattern** (this is how Meta referred to it). It can go by other names, but the core concept is to understand how an interface works. Once you master this pattern, you'll be able to break up any large codebase into readable, focused, modular components. Delegates were easily the most commonly used clean code pattern back during Alex's time at Instagram. Alex goes through an in-depth example from the Taro app itself to walk you through exactly how this technique works.

If you want to learn more about Instagram's stellar engineering culture around code quality, check out this in-depth discussion: ["What do mobile testing strategies look like at top tech companies?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/fpySzIO02aQ0sCz5N6dP/what-do-mobile-testing-strategies-look-like-at-top-tech-companies/)

Lessons From The Top: Managing And Growing 800 People (Ethan Evans)

[**Ethan Evans**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/) is a retired Amazon VP who now teaches managers how to break into executive levels. He was at Amazon for 15 years, and he became a VP in 2013 until he left in 2020. This wide-ranging interview covers many topics:

- Ethan's career trajectory, and how he entered the management path startlingly early.
- How do you know if an IC will be a good manager or not?
- What are the common reasons why managers fail to get promoted?
- Why do re-orgs happen, and why is there so much corporate speak?
- What should you look for in a leader?
- How are the senior-most engineers evaluated?
- Why did Ethan leave Amazon to become a full-time teacher?

Ethan shares valuable insights for anyone interested in management or career development.

**Key insights:**

- **Why did Ethan choose management so early?** He was drawn to it because that was the need from his team and his managers supported his decision.
- **What skills helped Ethan ascend quickly in startups?** High-growth environments provided opportunities, but Ethan capitalized on them by actively seeking problems to solve and proposing solutions. He took initiative and wasn't afraid to ask for more responsibility.
- **What advice does Ethan have for others?** Be proactive, identify problems, and offer solutions. Don't be afraid to step up and make the ask to your leadership team. "*Do good work and hope*" is not an effective strategy.
- **Careers are long**. Ethan was a "fake" startup VP before going getting downleveled as a manager at Amazon, and it took years for him to return to a true VP role, managing a team of 800 people.

**Helpful links:**

- [\[Masterclass\] How To Work Better With Your Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/2PbJb2fuqF3iMHy57eEg/masterclass-how-to-work-better-with-your-engineering-manager/)
- [Overcome Career Stagnation (5 Common Scenarios)](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/UvGdGyBfHn4oNCfE77KV/overcome-career-stagnation-5-common-scenarios/)
- [Asking 7 Levels Of Engineers The Most Important Skill](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/J9Io5lDGaYUpI8vGrUyI/)
- [**How do I figure out whether I should stay as an IC engineer or explore management as an EM?**](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Y6qIop9wpOlCYUL0nGs0/how-do-i-figure-out-whether-i-should-stay-as-an-ic-engineer-or-explore-management-as-an-em/)
- [**\[Masterclass\] 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/)

How Does FAANG Hire? What Big Tech Recruiters Look For

[**Nikita Gupta**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/guptanikita16/) worked as a Senior Technical Recruiter at Uber and Amazon with 3+ years of recruiting and hiring experience. She extensively used applicant tracking systems (ATS) to search for the right candidates and hire them.

Nikita is an expert in helping candidates create better resumes and LinkedIn profiles in order to land more job opportunities. Her company [CareerFlow.ai](https://www.careerflow.ai/?via=taro) does exactly this.

As a full-cycle recruiter with experience in Big Tech and startups, Nikita will talk about how FAANG companies hire, and what misconceptions engineers often have when applying to jobs. She'll cover:

- Does "keyword stuffing" in resumes increase the chance of getting an interview?
- What are the top 3 things a recruiter looks for when opening a resume?
- How much does the recruiter screen matter in the overall interview process?
- How much does your LinkedIn matter in the job search?

Discounts for CareerFlow.ai's resume review service are available from the [perks page](https://www.jointaro.com/perks/). Use code `TARO` on [CareerFlow](https://www.careerflow.ai/resume-review?via=taro). 

Additional resources:

- [**\[Taro Top 10\] Effective Interview Prep**](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/HLBYxJI7D1j8STolrwum/)
- [**\[Masterclass\] How To Write A Stellar Tech Resume That Gets You More Job Opportunities**](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/OnQV2V3J8DYVBBuGbZx6/masterclass-how-to-write-a-stellar-tech-resume-that-gets-you-more-job-opportunities/)
- [**\[Masterclass\] How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview - Data Structures And Algorithms**](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/V4sTACzfOh22nMVcUV3w/masterclass-how-to-ace-your-big-tech-interview-data-structures-and-algorithms/)

How To Make Sure Your Engineering Manager Gives You The Proper Credit

So many software engineers are frustrated with the amount of credit their manager gives them, especially during performance review. Watch this video to ensure that this never happens again.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Assume that your manager doesn't know what you're doing** - Engineering managers are *extremely* busy, and they are unfortunately more busy the higher quality they are (i.e. more people will want to book meetings with them if they are good). A lot of the time, they simply won't have the time to proactively scan what you're doing - They aren't unaware of your impact/problems due to bad intent.
- **Alert your manager of important events**
  - cc them on communications (Slack/Teams message, emails) and documents
  - Put them as optional on meetings (they may even want to join if it's an important meeting)
  - Share in 1:1 meetings (this is the most powerful medium)

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/)

The First Step Of Debugging - Reproducing The Issue

The first thing you need to do when you get a bug is to see it happen with your very own eyes. From there, you can execute the steps necessary to identify the root cause and fix the bug. However, a lot of engineers aren't diligent enough when they try to get the repro.

This video is a clip from our debugging masterclass. You can watch it here: [[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/)

Related resources:
- [[Case Study] Revamping Oncall For 20 Instagram Engineers - Senior to Staff Project](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/esVxIGXYC5BdgxXUkO6H/case-study-revamping-oncall-for-20-instagram-engineers-senior-to-staff-project/)
- [[Case Study] Solving A Multi-Million $$ Instagram Bug](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/WYk4J05iBqOuPtD0CYKX/case-study-solving-a-multi-million-dollardollar-instagram-bug/)
- ["How can I become more independent and better at unblocking myself with tricky technical issues?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/QhqQQGrDgFjZbqohpKe0/how-can-i-become-more-independent-and-better-at-unblocking-myself-with-tricky-technical-issues/)

This Is Why You Should NOT Work For Big Tech

Working at FAANG is great for many reasons, but the Big Tech life isn't for everybody. For many engineers, it doesn't really make complete sense to go there.

Here are the core scenarios where Big Tech might not be the best for you:
- **You have strong WLB needs** - Work-life balance generally becomes more important as you get older, and Big Tech is generally pretty bad at giving you that.
- **You don't like stress** - There's nothing wrong with wanting to chill and avoiding pressure. However, Big Tech is usually not a good place to do this.
- **You want to hyper-maximize your career growth** - Big Tech is often a consistent path that takes your career to a very good place. However, if you want to go to an astounding place (e.g. become a VP of Engineering by the time you're 30), startups are far superior. Startups have much higher risk but also much higher rewards.
- **You just want to code** - Engineers at Big Tech almost always need to become incredibly well-rounded, especially at senior and staff. If you don't want to play politics and spend mountains of time running meetings and writing planning docs, Big Tech is likely not the place for you.

Related resources:
- ["How to have FAANG level of career growth in startup?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/VQgUHZPwbzqxjutaDU3W/how-to-have-faang-level-of-career-growth-in-startup/)
- ["When does it make sense to leave big tech?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/v6GBLlfXb1ugNobkEm7w/when-does-it-make-sense-to-leave-big-tech/)

How To Prepare To Leave Big Tech For A Startup

If you’re like [Rahul](https://www.jointaro.com/profile/tTjEXHcTZEYDGh8oUFU2Dy5VFVG2/), you were intent on leaving the bubble of Big Tech to pursue the startup life for a long time. If you have 6 months or 1 year left working in an established company, what can you do in anticipation of your startup journey?

One of the best things you can do is validate the idea of your startup with a side hustle. **Be careful that you’re not using company time or resources or you may later get sued.**

Generally, there are 3 types of projects an engineer can work on: 
1. A project purely for learning, to try out some technology or framework that may have come out recently. 
2. A small business. Also known as an indie business, a micro-Saas, or even something as simple as selling a digital product like an eBook. 
3. A VC scale startup. **This should be reserved for very few companies.** When you take venture capital money, they are looking for a massive return on investment, something like 50x or 100x. That means you’ll be accountable for strenuous growth targets.

Whichever path you choose, go in with your eyes wide open about what your motivations are and whether you’d be happy signing up for the likely outcome. 

An input into the decision about *when* to leave the Big Tech life is to look for some indication of commitment for the customers you’re serving. Are your customers offering you their time, money, or reputation for your product? That’s a promising sign. 

Another reason to leave is that you feel that there’s a narrow period of time when your idea could succeed, e.g. new regulation or a groundbreaking technology.

------

Connect with [Eric on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbahn/)

One Of Management’s Hardest Tasks: Properly Giving Feedback

This video explores the complexities of effective feedback in engineering management, emphasizing the balance between honesty and empathy. It also highlights how mentoring approaches must evolve based on the experience level of the engineer receiving feedback.

- **Honest feedback is essential for growth**: Engineering managers must avoid both extremes—being overly harsh or too protective of emotions—and instead aim to deliver candid, constructive feedback with empathy.
- **Empathy does not mean avoidance**: Withholding critical feedback to preserve feelings can be detrimental to an engineer’s development; it’s important to be honest even when the message is difficult.
- **Good mentorship goes beyond directives**: Effective managers explain the *why* behind advice, helping reports internalize the underlying principles rather than just follow instructions blindly.
- **Tailor feedback to experience level**: Junior and mid-level engineers often need clear, actionable advice, while senior engineers should be given higher-level guidance and trusted to translate it into execution independently.
- **Mentoring is a skill that evolves**: The ability to adjust mentoring style across a range of experience levels is a key marker of a strong engineering manager.

The Incredibly Rare Benefit Top Tech Companies Offer - Equity Refreshers

This video segment explains **refresher equity grants**, a powerful and rare form of compensation offered mainly by top-tier tech companies like Facebook and Google. These grants serve as both a performance incentive and a retention strategy.

- **Refresher grants are annual RSU awards**, given in addition to the initial offer. Their size is determined by an employee's level and most recent performance review.
- **Compensation structure is formulaic** at big tech companies, including the calculation of refresher amounts, which often outpace inflation even in challenging economic climates.
- **Grants stack over time**, meaning employees may have multiple overlapping equity packages (original + yearly refreshers), significantly increasing total stock-based compensation over the years.
- **Year four marks a peak**, where compensation from the initial grant and up to three refreshers overlap—this is why many employees leave after their fourth year, as compensation often drops after the original grant fully vests.
- **Refresher grants are a major retention tool**, helping extend average tenure at top companies from around two years closer to four.

How RSUs Can Both Greatly Reward And Punish You - Pinterest Example

This segment explains the volatile nature of equity compensation through the real-life example of Pinterest. It demonstrates how RSUs (Restricted Stock Units) can dramatically boost or reduce total compensation based on stock market performance, and highlights the importance of timing, risk awareness, and planning when joining a company.

- **Pinterest’s RSU Grant Example:** An employee joining Pinterest in January 2020 with a 20,000 RSU grant at a $20 stock price would have received a $400K equity package. As the stock price rose to $80 in a year, the total value of those RSUs skyrocketed to $1.6M.
- **Golden Handcuffs Phenomenon:** When stock prices soar, employees become financially incentivized to stay—even if they’re unhappy—due to the high value of unvested RSUs, often referred to as "golden handcuffs."
- **Stock Price Timing Matters:** The RSU grant is priced just before the start date. If the stock price dips right before joining and then recovers, the employee benefits from an immediate bump in total compensation.
- **Market Downturn Impact:** As Pinterest’s stock fell \~70% from its peak in 2021, employees who joined during or after the peak saw a significant drop in total compensation—sometimes down to one-third of their original grant value.
- **RSU Lockout Periods:** Employees at public companies can't sell RSUs at will. Sale windows are restricted to prevent insider trading, which can prevent selling even when the stock is at a peak.

Related resources:

- ["If my main goal is compensation, would it be wise to learn blockchain tech since it will potentially be the tech of the next couple decades?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/tyS6MzzADqBzt10802Mh/if-my-main-goal-is-compensation-would-it-be-wise-to-learn-blockchain-tech-since-it-will-potentially-be-the-tech-of-the-next-couple-decades/)
- ["How do people in Big Tech deal with constantly fluctuating Stock Prices from their company?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/JhEDkJl8AexlsL4IXBOH/how-do-people-in-big-tech-deal-with-constantly-fluctuating-stock-prices-from-their-company/)
- [\[Taro Top 10\] Pay Negotiation](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/uyWSc5q79zFw2Ei7w59d/)

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.

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.