Inside TaroGPT - Building A Career Coach Chatbot For Engineers

TaroGPT is an AI chatbot designed specifically to help engineers, trained on the 1000s of hours of expert career advice on the Taro platform, crafted by tech leaders at companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, hyper-growth startups, and more. In this session, we go through the system design and product philosophy behind the product.

TaroGPT is a collaboration between 2 companies (and 2 Alexs):

- **Taro (obviously)** - We only built the frontend, and Alex Chiou was responsible for the Android and iOS implementations.
- [**Sentiyen**](https://sentiyen.com/) - This is [Alex Perelman's](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexperelman/) company, and they built the backend that does all the cool machine learning and AI logic.

To learn more about front-end (Android, iOS, web) system design, check out Alex's master series here: [System Design Masterclass: Taro Playlists](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/dChIyTQcu2Ct5VC70lki/)

If you don't have TaroGPT yet, you can download it here:

- **Android** - <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.randomappsinc.techcareergrowth>
- **iOS** - <https://apps.apple.com/us/app/taro-ai-gpt-career-coach-chat/id1605094641>

Lastly, here's the link to the presentation slides:

- [Alex (Taro) - Mobile System Design](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1JKp3xnkdfBNUiCfpDTlpjzzbsSlRrXtZFDMeigxP454/edit?usp=sharing)
- [Alex (Sentiyen) - Backend/ML/AI System Design](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xRsyMi0baRBxVEj7lTVvd6SfUo3gRM9c/view?usp=sharing)

Grow From Junior To Mid-Level Engineer [Part 5] - Decomposition

As a junior engineer, you will inevitably get a problem that's super scary which you have 0 idea how to solve. This will probably happen sooner rather than later. This lesson teaches you:

- The core tactic you need to master to solve large, incredibly complex problems
- Why decomposition is critical to being a good engineer
- The differences between junior and mid-level engineers when it comes to decomposition
- What it means to effectively decompose a problem, shown with an in-depth example

Take the code quality course here: [Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 13] - ATS Obsession

With so many resumes being sent in to any decent engineer job opening, automation is often deployed to filter out resumes. The big piece behind this is the ATS. This lesson teaches you:

- What an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) is
- How the ATS fits into the tech recruiting pipeline and how engineers commonly misunderstand that process
- What engineers usually do to incorrectly optimize for the ATS while sabotaging their overall changes
- What you need to do to properly get past the ATS

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 4] - What Type Of Environment Are You In?

In this video, we walk through the different environments you can or may be working in throughout your career. Depending on where you feel you most thrive, it may make some roles or companies more or less fulfilling.

Avoid choosing the middle number for each of these — do the hard work of making actual trade-offs for each option to make your preferences clearer.

We cover key environments and what they mean, like:

- Fast Paced vs. Methodical
- Job Stability & Cash Comp vs. High Risk, High Reward
- Mentorship & Guidance vs. Independence & Autonomy

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + 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)

Part 1 [RBP] Exploring Modern React Frameworks + Setup

This lesson covers setting up a new React project using best practices. It discusses choosing the right framework, emphasizing the benefits of Next.js for its full-stack capabilities and features like routing and image optimization. The lesson also touches on the importance of TypeScript and ESLint for code quality and maintainability, and introduces the App Router as the modern approach to structuring Next.js applications.

- Florian’s free web development playlist on YouTube: <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrnPJCHvNZuDG6BWjUFVxeWyYlve_SVJO>
- Code link: <https://github.com/codinginflow/react-best-practices/branches/stale>

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 12] - Talk To Your Manager

In order to get promoted, you almost certainly need your engineering manager on your side. However, this is much said than done, and many engineers mess this up. This lesson teaches you:

- The importance of being deliberate about promotion
- Why your engineering manager is so important to your promotion case
- The fundamental principal to remember when it comes to asking for promotion
- What to do and what *not* to do when having that promotion conversation with your manager
- How to react gracefully and effectively if your manager doesn't believe you are ready to start really thinking about promotion

[Part 2] Meta Intern Success Series - High-level Expectations

You can find the full playlist here: [Meta Intern Success Series](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/D4fbBZdkNhIZCyOUofBx/)

- As mentioned before, your goal is to be operating as an E3 MA (Meets All Expectations) by the end of your internship. Assuming the standard 12 week internship, you have 10 weeks to do this.
- You will be working on production code, dealing with Meta's gigantic codebase. The exception is FBU (FB University, a "pre-intern" program) where you build an app/website from scratch in isolation.
- **Every week is crucial**. A great/terrible week can make or break your internship.
- Raw coding ability is the main thing you're judged on as a SWE intern (literally ~90% of your packet). The 2 main components here are velocity and quality, which means that your goal as a SWE intern is effectively just to write a lot of very high-quality code fast.
- In a vacuum, target landing 3-4 diffs per week. Of course, this will vary based on org, stack, etc - Work with your intern manager (IM) to get a more accurate range. You can look at previously successful interns in the org to generate a baseline as well.
- Write 1-2 Workplace posts as technical writing is super important at Meta. The easiest thing to do is write about your intern project as you hit major milestones, especially when you launch it.
- You need a cast of people to vouch for you during calibrations. Target having 2+ peers on top of your IM (i.e. so 3+ people total).
- You will likely work on an internal tool as it's free from XFN thrash and dependencies. Meta has a lot of respect for quality internal tools as well.

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 9] - You Need More Senior Teammates

As a software engineer, it can be confusing on what's actually needed to get to the next level. Having more senior teammates helps tremendously with that. This lesson teaches you:

- Why more senior teammates are important
- What the ideal senior teammate looks like
- Healthy vs. unhealthy teams for promotion when it comes to seniority

After you find a more senior engineer to mentor you, follow the advice here: ["How do you get the most out of mentorship?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/IbuZydz0QzsVVqESVaxQ/how-do-you-get-the-most-out-of-mentorship/)

Onboarding With A Probation Period

Because labor laws outside the US can make it difficult to fire someone, many companies will add more barriers before you are a full-time employee at the company with benefits. They will make employees work during a probation period before deciding to offer full-time employment. Contract-to-hire is another common way that this manifests ("try before you buy").

Here are some tips if you're working on this model:

- Chat with your manager early (ideally even before you join) so you can hit the ground running and make a good first impression.
- Information access may be limited, so call out when this happens. You don't want something outside your control to reflect poorly on you.
- Understand the criteria you’re being judged on, e.g. code commits, code reviews, design docs, etc. Track these metrics diligently, and you can even report on them regularly.

Relevant discussion: [I’m starting at Apple with a 3 month probation as a new grad. How should I think about the probation period?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/JtFLSdc1ShdaqiIyFcqe/im-starting-at-apple-with-a-3-month-probation-as-a-new-grad-how-should-i-think-about-the-probation-period/)

How To Discover Your Work Passions And Hatreds

Which of the following should you do to discover your work passion?

What of these is a legitimate, strong sign that something is a work passion for you?

- *Regularly take time to reflect on how much you enjoy your work, especially when you're earlier-in-career*.
- Write down everything you do. Here are some examples of common things software engineers do:
  - Writing code
  - Reviewing code
  - Meetings
  - Working with JIRA
  - Talking with cross-functional stakeholders
  - Fixing bugs
- Split all the items into 3 buckets:
  - Things you genuinely enjoy: Tasks/behaviors you are excited to do and can lose track of time doing them.
  - Neutral: Things you can do a good amount of, but in the end, you do it for work.
  - Chores: You *only* do it for work, and you actively try to minimize doing these as much as possible.
- From the top bucket (enjoyment bucket), try to craft your work life around that.

Related resources about soul searching and find your own path:
- ["I feel like senior engineers tend to focus on a specific area. How can I pick a specialization that's still relevant in 5-10 years?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/xFEhcvfbJ2P0pYzZ4r6f/i-feel-like-senior-engineers-tend-to-focus-on-a-specific-area-how-can-i-pick-a-specialization-thats-still-relevant-in-5-10-years/)
- [[Masterclass] How To Choose A Good Company And Team As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/0WEmTNZOMIh8xAdfO3JH/masterclass-how-to-choose-a-good-company-and-team-as-a-software-engineer/)

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 17] - Projects

In this day and age, 99% of software engineers have a "Projects" section on their resume. Of those engineers, 90%+ of them won't get any benefit from their "Projects" section when it comes to their resume passing the recruiter screen and getting them an interview. This lesson teaches you:

- Why projects are at a natural disadvantage compared to work experience on your resume
- What it takes to make a personal project actually impressive on your resume
- The proper link to include to show your project
- How to make a project GitHub actually have the chance to impress a recruiter and get you an interview

To get more users on your side project: ["\[Side Project\] How to get more users + interviews?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Z456XTkusKszxcHjVfYA/side-project-how-to-get-more-users-interviews/)

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/)

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 16] - Impact

Impact is a word that's constantly tossed around the software engineer community, especially at Meta. But what exactly does it mean? This lesson teaches you:

- The definition of impact and how it varies between bigger and smaller tech companies
- The 2 core industry terms you should know when it comes to impact
- How junior and mid-level engineers are rewarded when it comes to project impact (spoiler: they usually aren't)

How To Accomplish Something Every Single Day

How do you make every one of your days productive?

True or false: People overestimate what they can do in 1 day while underestimating what they can accomplish in 1 year.

Which of these attributes should your singular daily goal have?

True or false: You should try to keep your goals purely inside your head instead of writing them down. This saves you time and prevents you from overloading yourself with too many notes.

[Case Study] How I Get 500,000+ LinkedIn Post Views Per Week

[Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) is one of the cofounders behind Taro, and he owes a lot of his success building up Taro to his LinkedIn profile. As of September 2023, he:

- Has 66,000+ followers
- Gets 500k - 1M post views per week
- Spends just 10-15 minutes writing each post

Alex covers a lot of ground in this presentation, so here are just the Top 5 core points:

- **LinkedIn is extremely underrated** - When it comes to return on investment for your time, LinkedIn is easily one of the most effective content creation platforms if not *the* most effective. Unlike TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube which are media-based and require lots more effort, you can regularly go viral on LinkedIn with relatively short snippets of text.
- **Consistency is key** - LinkedIn is pretty generous at allowing you to post many times a week without your posts cannibalizing each other. Try to post at least 3-4 times a week with the upper bound being 2 times a day. If you post too frequently, you are leaving views on the table. Also, you are naturally going to have some posts that do terribly and some that do well: By taking more shots on goal, you are evening out your returns. *Variance can be conquered with volume.*
- **Keep it short, don't be too smart** - This is *by far* the most common mistake Alex has seen aspiring LinkedIn creators make. Engineers tend to be very smart people who love to cover all the nuance, which leads to overly long posts that are neither concise nor dense. This type of content does horribly on social media. Alex's style is to have 5-9 sections (each separated by a line break) with each section being just 1-3 lines for a 30-75 second read. Keep it snappy.
- **Write first sentences, not posts** - The entire purpose of the 1st sentence is to convince the reader to read the 2nd. LinkedIn by default hides the vast majority of your post's text behind the "See more..." button. Purely focus on writing a compelling first sentence, and the rest of the post should flow from there.
- **Never forget: It's just social media** - LinkedIn, like every social media platform with 100M+ users, is full of dumb stuff. *Don't let that get to you*. Don't be afraid to disengage from the platform and not read notifications and comments. And never ever couple your emotional state to how well your social media posts are doing.

Related resources:

- ["Why should I bother building a brand or becoming famous on LinkedIn?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/s1NVrO0VlvIufReDKCSl/why-should-i-bother-building-a-brand-or-becoming-famous-on-linkedin/)
- ["How to be brave and post publicly on LinkedIn?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/xUJSnOXQOmJyisZCB0Qa/how-to-be-brave-and-post-publicly-on-linkedin/)
- [\[Case Study\] Building An Engineering Brand - Why And How (LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Substack)](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/t06NajpS2kSCk98IEmQm/case-study-building-an-engineering-brand-why-and-how-linkedin-youtube-twitter-substack/)
- [How Rigid Should You Be With Your Coding / Content Schedule?](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/GaOB5qFLoTbGilp7UokF/how-rigid-should-you-be-with-your-coding-content-schedule/)
- [Presentation slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-_it2buJQ764fQAf5MgXtIKRrYJPI_ayUv5WdU5cslw/edit?usp=sharing)

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 2] - There's More To It Than Coding

In this lesson, we cover the essential steps beyond just learning to code for successfully transitioning into a tech career.

This lesson covers:

- The limitations of advice for engineers at top companies like FAANG and how to focus on realistic guidance for the majority of engineers
- The importance of developing a clear learning path, mastering time management, and focusing on one meaningful side project
- How building an online presence, networking authentically, and maintaining optimism throughout the journey is critical for career-switchers

If you need extra help breaking into tech, join Brian's exclusive, cohort-based bootcamp (just 10 students per batch). Use this special link for $800 off: <https://www.parsity.io/taro>

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjenney/>

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 6] - An Easy Way To Understand The Next Level

What does it actually take to get promoted? A lot of software engineers are overwhelmed with all the possible ways to grow, which ultimately leads to inaction. This lesson teaches you:

- A straightforward mental framework to understand why you aren't at the next level yet
- Questions you can ask yourself to identify gaps in your behavior to level up

Negotiation Course: Recruiter Case Study: Insights From An Ex-Meta Recruiter

This was a conversation with a recruiter who spent several years as a recruiter at Facebook (Meta) and Pinterest. 

- The tactic of *"I will sign the offer if you meet me here"* is **effective if it's sincere**. You should be prepared to explore/defend various options around other ways the company could compel you to sign the offer.
- Exploding offers are almost always fake. Recruiters know that "**time kills all deals**" so they want to close candidates quickly. However, as a candidate, you can and should push back on an arbitrary deadline. Ask why the timing constraint exists and share why you need more time.
- Be graceful when you turn down a company's job offer. This recruiter would frequently be able to hire candidates several years later who had received an offer if they kept the relationship alive.

DSA Crash Course [Part 30] - Get Node Value Approach

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

> Write a function, *get_node_value*, that takes in the head of a linked list and an index. The function should return the value of the linked list at the specified index.
>
> If there is no node at the given index, then return *None*.

```
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
get_node_value(a, 2) # 'c'
```

```
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
get_node_value(a, 3) # 'd'
```

```
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
get_node_value(a, 7) # None
```

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/>

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 6] - Poor Spelling And Grammar

The vast majority of software engineers don't have English as their first language, and this leads to many basic spelling and grammar mistakes on resumes. Unfortunately, this hurts engineers far more than they realize. This lesson teaches you:

- Why there is 0 tolerance for spelling and grammar errors on a resume (i.e. 1 mistake is enough to get your resume tossed out entirely)
- How spelling and grammar mistakes speak volumes about a software engineer's overall skill
- Basic ways to perfect the spelling and grammar of your resume, even if English isn't your first language

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.