Become A Debugging Master [Part 4] - Where To Find Bugs

Finding and fixing bugs proactively is one of the most underrated ways to accelerate your growth as an engineer. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Great engineers don’t wait for bugs to be assigned—they actively hunt for them through QA reports, user feedback, crash logs, dashboards, and on-call alerts
- Proactively surfacing and solving bugs builds trust, reduces last-minute surprises, and makes you a more reliable and promotable team member
- Attending SEV (severe incident) reviews, learning from outages, and applying those lessons is a major career hack for fast growth
- Engineers can approach bugs at different levels of ownership, from simply reporting them to fully owning the investigation, fix, and communication
- Creating scope by finding and fixing high-priority bugs—even without being asked—can dramatically accelerate your career trajectory and reputation

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 3] - The #1 Rule Of Networking

Many engineers struggle with networking as they don't fundamentally understand how it's supposed to work. This lesson teaches you:

- The #1 rule of networking and how not following it completely messes up your social circle
- A very tactical, mathematical framework from which to view networking
- How giving more than you take creates an infinite amount of value
- Why you're not a "loser" for being benevolent and kind
- The pain and toxicity of being in a fake network, which many engineers are a part of
- The powerful benefits of being in a true network

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 3] - The Key To A Great Project Idea

Most engineer resume projects are half-baked school projects or wrappers around basic tutorials, lacking the necessary continuity to be impressive and get users. This lesson teaches you:

- The #1 cause of death with engineer side projects
- The key that every good side project idea needs to even have a chance of being successful
- What it means for a side project idea to satisfy that key, explained with a concrete example showing the inspiration behind Alex's Random Name Picker app, which has over 1.1 million users

DSA Crash Course [Part 87] - Outro

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 DSA Interview [Part 27] - How FAANG DSA Rounds Work

A big part of being prepared for a data structures and algorithms interviews is having a clear general idea of what problems are going to be asked. This lesson teaches you:

- What LeetCode problem difficulties mean
- What kinds of data structures and algorithms questions are asked in FAANG phone screen (screening) interviews
- What kinds of data structures and algorithms questions are asked in FAANG onsite (final round) interviews
- The common trap you must avoid when preparing for FAANG data structures and algorithms interviews, depending on where you are within the interview process

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

Become An Open Source Master [Part 25] - Taking The Next Step In Open Source

We've come to the end of our journey exploring open source contributions.

- This course focused on contributing to existing repositories, not creating your own. Creating a successful open-source project involves technical and marketing challenges. James is doing this right now with TinyBase: <https://github.com/tinyplex/tinybase>
- **Open source takes time and patience**. It takes time to learn a codebase, earn trust, and become a strong contributor.
- Don't get discouraged by rejections or setbacks. Every piece of feedback helps you grow.
- The social side of open source is critical. It's about teamwork, building relationships, and demonstrating your ability to work well with others.

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>
- LinkedIn: [**https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespearce/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespearce/)

Top System Design Interview Mistakes [Part 13] - Identifying Key Issues

In the final segment of the system design series, we focus on the importance of driving the design of your system during interviews. In this video, we cover how to identify key issues. Here's the video's core points:

- Avoid following a rigid structure. For example, don't just jump into a data model or architectural diagram without considering the unique requirements of the system you're designing, such as group messaging dynamics
- Actively ask clarifying questions to understand the requirements better. This helps in identifying and addressing key issues specific to the problem, rather than sticking to a generic approach
- Tailor your approach based on the specifics of the problem. If dealing with a unique system, like a group messaging app, adapt your design to handle unique challenges, such as managing multiple notifications from a single message
- Lead the discussion by probing into requirements and challenges. This ensures that your design addresses the most critical aspects of the problem

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>

Top System Design Interview Mistakes [Part 8] - Don't Make Arbitrary Decisions

This video discusses the importance of explaining technical decisions during interviews. Key points include:

- Candidates often make arbitrary choices without justification, missing opportunities for self-correction or valuable discussion
- We go through an example contrasts a poor response (choosing a database without explanation) with an improved one (considering options thoroughly)
- If a decision is worth stating, it's worth defending
- **Concluding tips:** Ask questions, document as you go, and always show your work for technical decisions

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>

[Become A Go-To Person 2/18] What Industry Experts Say

A course by [Jordan Cutler](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancutler1/), Senior Software Engineer at Pinterest and Author of the [High Growth Engineer Newsletter](https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/)

Tech Lead Blueprint 1/17 - What's The Deal With Tech Leads?

Engineer A claims "*I am the Tech Lead for Engineer B*", while Engineer B claims "*I am the Tech Lead for Engineer A*" 🤔🤔

Lalit has seen several variants of this from his experience as a peer reviewer for Google engineers during performance reviews. Lalit discusses the common desire for the tech lead role, the lack of explicit definitions in tech companies, and the implicit nature of becoming a tech lead.

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

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 23] - It's A Never Ending Marathon

With the meteoric rise of the Internet, software engineers are constantly bombarded by magical success stories where other engineers rose almost instantly to the top. However, reality is rarely that smooth and simple. This lesson teaches you:

- What successful career paths actually look like, even among the world's best engineers
- How productivity naturally trends across your life
- What to do when you're facing a serious lack of productivity that seems unfixable

[Timeless Career Advice] Intro & Agenda

Over the last decade, I grew from an Individual Contributor Software Engineer to a Senior Director running multiple engineering teams at a Fortune 1 Company.\
\
My teams and I built Tech for a business unit with over $35 Billion in annual revenue.\
\
Before this, I was an early employee at a Startup, and I built eCommerce, personalization, and growth marketing tech that helped us go from 0 revenue to over a billion in sales in 1 year. Then that startup ([Jet.com](http://Jet.com)) got acquired for $3.3 Billion.

**This is the 1:1 with your Engineering Manager you should've had**.

Connect with Louie:

- SmallBets community: [**https://smallbets.com/?utm_source=taro**](https://smallbets.com/?utm_source=taro)
- Newsletter: [**https://newsletter.memesmotivations.com/**](https://newsletter.memesmotivations.com/)

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 22] - Instagram Ads Survey Cleanup Workstream

See something, say something: You'll be surprised at how much opportunity you can find by championing this mentality, including to senior levels. This lesson goes through:

- The weird organizational dynamic that led to a bunch of senior scope existing "for free" but easy to ignore as a junior or mid-level engineer
- The simple but powerful trick Alex used to turn several smaller issues into a senior-level project
- How Alex continued to deepen the impact of this survey cleanup workstream by digging deeper and doing the right thing
- The learnings from this case study that you can apply to your day-to-day to find senior scope

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

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 12] - System Design

System design is a topic engineers are becoming more and more familiar with, largely due to their emerging prevalence in interviews. It's also critical for the mid-level to senior promotion. This lesson teaches you:

- Why system design is the most important technical skill that mid-level engineers need to develop to grow to senior
- The ingredients of a high-quality system design document
- How to get feedback on your system design document
- Tactics to run an effective technical review meeting

Here's the system design course: [\[Course\] Frontend System Design Masterclass - Building Playlists](https://www.jointaro.com/course/frontend-system-design-masterclass-building-playlists/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 22] - Do Mock Interviews

Software engineers love working and studying solo, but this is extremely difficult with behavioral interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews are inherently collaborative and effectively require mock interviews to master
- How to get the most value from your mock behavioral interview sessions

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 20] - Write Stuff Down

Writing English is far more important than writing code, and this applies to mastering the behavioral interview as a software engineer as well. This lesson teaches you:

- How to create a powerful Q&A database to master the behavioral interview
- What you should be remembering from your written preparation vs. not

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 18] - How To Get The Level You Want

If you don't play your cards right, it is easy to get down-leveled, which means getting a level lower than what you were at before. This is very common in bad markets and for engineers breaking into FAANG. It's also common if you don't give an amazing behavioral interview performance. This lesson teaches you:

- The overall strategy to not get down-leveled
- Tips you should follow to maximize your level

To better understand the expectations at each level, go through this: [\[Taro Top 10\] Understanding Engineering Levels](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/e9rjATPbSyvRPsukXiHn/)

For resources on becoming a better engineer:

- [\[Course\] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)
- ["What are software engineering fundamentals?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3VNPK7wol76s89EkgFeW/what-are-software-engineering-fundamentals/)

Negotiation Course: Life After Joining

Our careers are long and the real hard work begins once we join a company. Beyond negotiation and compensation, there are many other factors that go into a fulfilling career, such as technology, network, and company culture. Compensation is one part of the job, but there are intangibles that are hard to measure. Don’t feel like you need to go for the highest number.

Once you join a company, learn how performance is evaluated and what makes up compensation. Prioritize people, learning, and culture for long-term career success.

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.