DSA Crash Course [Part 29] - Linked List Find Walkthrough

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

Code along and test your work in the following editor workspace: <https://structy.net/problems/linked-list-find?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/>

Maximize Your Equity And Benefits In Tech [Part 20] - Backdoor And Mega Backdoor Roths

Backdoor and Mega Backdoor Roth strategies offer powerful ways to boost tax-advantaged retirement savings for high earners. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- A Backdoor Roth involves making a non-deductible IRA contribution and quickly converting it to a Roth IRA, but you must avoid having pre-tax IRA balances or you'll face tax via the pro-rata rule
- Mega Backdoor Roths allow after-tax 401(k) contributions (beyond the regular limit) to be converted into Roth accounts, enabling up to \~$40K in additional Roth savings annually
- The ideal Mega Backdoor setup includes in-plan Roth conversions, which are often automatable and avoid tax on earnings during the transition
- Be cautious of contribution timing to avoid missing employer match benefits—either spread contributions evenly or ensure your plan supports a “true-up” feature

Next steps with Andy:

- [Connect with Andy on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymoranio)
- [Leave feedback and/or sign up for Andy’s newsletter](https://subscribepage.io/taroequitycourse)
- [Schedule a consultation](http://adastrafp.com/contact-us/)

Onboarding Tips For Junior Engineers

Your goal as an entry-level engineer is to show autonomy after you've completed onboarding. If you're an intern or new grad, you are not expected to know everything (or much of anything!).

- The most important trait for early career folks is to seek feedback and act on it! **Coachability** is an important criteria for you (this is, in fact, how many interns are judged).
- Don’t “solo carry” a project. Instead, create milestones to measure and show progress. 
- Pair programming is especially valuable for learning from coworkers and building relationships.

The Core Principles Behind Writing Great Performance Review Feedback

- Don't procrastinate writing performance review feedback, especially for your peers! It's such a intimate, powerful thing, and if you truly enjoy working with your peers, they deserve meaty, thoughtful feedback from you.
- Keep it organized
  - Have clear sections. If your company has performance review axes, these can usually be used as your sections.
  - Use bullet points. People hate reading essays and paragraphs.
- Be concise: Use your word count efficiently and avoid repeating yourself.
- A lot of resume feedback applies to performance review as well. Use strong verbs, show the impact, and "Show, don't tell".

DSA Crash Course [Part 38] - Binary Tree Warm Up Lecture

In this lecture, Alvin goes over the python implementation for a basic binary tree.

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/>

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 3] - Your Advantages As A Career Switcher

In this lesson, we hear about Brian’s non-linear journey into tech, illustrating how anyone can make a career change with determination and the right support.

This lesson covers:

- Brian’s transition from a liberal arts graduate with no computer background to a successful software engineer, overcoming doubts and financial hardships
- The importance of networking and receiving targeted advice from experienced engineers, especially in unexpected settings like ridesharing
- How transitioning professionals have an edge in tech due to prior career experience, and the vast opportunities available beyond just top tech companies

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/>

Having The Proper Mentality To Minimize Your Chances Of Getting Laid Off

It's way too easy to start panicking and living in an anxiety-ridden world in this current layoff-rich tech economy. However, this is a very counterproductive mentality to have as a software engineer - This video covers the mindset shift you should make to actually set yourself for success against layoffs.

Here are the core points:
- **Stop freaking out** - It is not healthy to be constantly checking the news for layoffs and having it always take up prime real estate within your mind. *This will ironically make you more likely to get laid off as your performance will suffer.*
- **Your behavior shouldn't change** - The optimal things to do to insulate yourself against layoffs are things you should always be doing anyways. [Building relationships](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/masterclass-how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/), [optimizing your performance review](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/b0B8uqIAUnBLE10jJHJG/masterclass-how-to-navigate-your-performance-review-in-tech/), and [working on a high-impact team](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/9OwPRwFFSMvEoVj6Zt5Q/how-to-figure-out-if-a-team-is-important-to-a-company/) are all necessary for fast career growth in general.
- **Focus on what you can control** - It sucks, but if you're already working a job that you like, it's simply not possible for you to directly control your destiny when it comes to layoffs. Just do your best as you normally should be and hope for the best. Continue treating those around you with kindness, shipping great projects, and improving your skills.

Related resources:
- ["Staying motivated among lay-offs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/EEMkoCSNPzdRToTHjuSb/staying-motivated-among-lay-offs/)
- ["How to survive potential layoffs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ydZFpJz0x8wKUIfd8E1r/how-to-survive-potential-layoffs/)

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

This was a conversation with a recruiter who spent several years as a recruiter at Amazon and Uber.

She believed everyone should negotiate, but only when the company wants to give you an offer. 

- Most recruiters won’t prevent you from shooting yourself in the foot if you share too much information in the phone screen.
- Amazon would let go of unreachable candidates, e.g. Meta, if they sensed the candidate was already lost.

She also shared the dangers of getting starstruck with a company, e.g. Uber hiring in LATAM hired many people who didn't negotiate at all.

What Too Many Companies Don’t Get: Management IS NOT A Promotion

Most tech companies have no idea what they're doing when it comes to engineering managers and overall leadership culture. One of the clearest ways this is reflected is how engineering manager is positioned within the company hierarchy.

Here are the core points:

- **Management is NOT a promotion** - Becoming an engineering manager is about adding value to the overall engineering in a different way. It's not about "moving up" or "controlling the engineers". *A trademark sign of bad companies is that they position the switch into management as moving up the corporate ladder.* The problem with this is that employees then switch into management for the wrong reasons, chasing money and power. This leads to an unhealthy dynamic between engineers and manager as engineers are "beneath" the manager, usually leading to the manager treating them as expendable and burning them out.
- **Top companies have separate SWE and EM tracks** - In companies like FAANG, both staying as an individual contributor (IC) software engineer and becoming an engineering manager are valid career paths with the same ceilings. This means that for every management level (manager, director, VP), there is an equivalent software engineering level with a similar amount of compensation.

Related resources:

- [How Do Effective Engineering Leaders Help Their Teams Achieve More?](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/xGJDCG7VL4hcZaq5XL92/how-do-effective-engineering-leaders-help-their-teams-achieve-more/)
- ["What do career levels structure in big tech company look like? What are the responsibilities for each level?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/qV5oikdcgs4GWmGeousX/what-do-career-levels-structure-in-big-tech-company-look-like-what-are-the-responsibilities-for-each-level/)

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/)

Understanding The Differences Between Engineering Levels

True or false: Very senior engineers are at their levels because they act and operate in a fundamentally different way from their more junior peers.

How can you properly tell the more senior engineers from the others?

Which one of these is a core example of what a very senior (i.e. Staff or above) engineer would do?

Make Sure To Get This Resource From Your Manager 1 on 1s

True or false: Your performance review result should not be a surprise, and the manager 1 on 1 is an instrumental mechanism towards ensuring that.

What are some ways to get the feedback flowing in a manager 1 on 1?

True or false: A simple "Do you have any feedback for me?" is a good way to ask for feedback from your manager.

One-on-one meetings are a crucial venue for growth-focused feedback. When approached intentionally, they can drive clarity, alignment, and personal development.

- **Feedback should be mostly positive and constructive**: Many people brace for criticism, but it's just as important to highlight wins. Sharing accomplishments helps managers advocate effectively during reviews or calibrations.
- **Effective solicitation matters**: Instead of vague prompts like “Do you have feedback?”, ask targeted, open-ended questions such as “How could I have handled that project better?” or “What would you have done differently in my place?” This encourages thoughtful responses.
- **Use self-reflection as a feedback tool**: Sharing your own doubts or observations (“I felt X didn’t go well—do you agree?”) helps deepen the conversation and opens the door to more candid advice.
- **Track progress consistently**: Keeping a running one-on-one doc helps you monitor growth, reflect on past feedback, and ensure you're aligned on expectations over time.
- **Avoid surprises in performance reviews**: By using regular one-on-ones to benchmark progress and confirm you're trending toward the right goals, formal review ratings (e.g., “meeting” or “exceeding expectations”) should never come as a shock.

How To Negotiate A Raise At Your Current Job

Sometimes the goal isn’t to leave a job, but simply to be paid more for the work being done. Negotiating a raise internally is possible, but the dynamics are more complex due to limited leverage.

- **Internal raises are harder without leverage**: Simply asking for a raise based on merit often fails because the company knows most employees won’t go through the pain of interviewing and switching jobs.
- **Competing offers create leverage**: The most effective strategy is to secure a higher offer elsewhere and use it to negotiate a raise. This shows initiative and forces the employer to evaluate retention costs.
- **Company policy plays a role**: Some companies, like Facebook, may have policies against matching outside offers. Others, like Google, are more flexible and may respond aggressively to retain top talent, especially when the competing offer comes from a company perceived as a talent threat.
- **Raises typically come in equity**: When a raise is granted in response to a competing offer, the increase often comes in the form of additional stock (RSUs), rather than base salary.
- **This approach is a calculated risk**: Bringing a competing offer can trigger a raise, but it can also signal that an employee is willing to leave, which may affect internal perception. It should be done carefully and with genuine intent.

[Part 5] Meta Intern Success Series - Writing The Code

- Keep your diffs focused and atomic. Aim for 25-250 lines of code per diff.
- Use stacked diffs: They are core to Meta's code culture. If you're unsure how to break up your work into a diff stack, work with your intern manager to come up with how things should be broken down.
- Make sure that all your diffs have a really good context section. You can have a "Context" section at the top explaining the overall goal of the diff stack (i.e. usually what your intern project is meant to do) and then a "In This Diff" section which explains the specific problem your diff tackles.
- Attach a test plan to show that your code works and to turn the diff review into a high-value artifact. Record a video of you stepping through the flow if possible (this should be easy as many interns work on internal tools) and make sure to cover those edge cases!
- Keep a very close eye on your Phabricator notifications. Your goal is to respond to code review comments quickly (within 30 minutes) and gracefully. **Code review feedback is the main way you grow as a software engineer intern** as the internship's goal is to develop your raw coding ability.
- Land diffs ASAP, so you don't need to deal with rebase hell.

Related resources:
- [One Diff, One Thesis - What Every Code Review Should Be Like](https://link.jointaro.com/Wnp45zAysqyaidSF7)
- [The Most Common Mistake Made When Authoring Code Reviews](https://link.jointaro.com/bCaB7gh2u5budm2V6)
- [What A Test Plan Is And Why Every Code Review Needs One](https://link.jointaro.com/62fq4369rxjXuDju5)
- [This Is What A Good Code Review Test Plan Looks Like](https://link.jointaro.com/ieDhChExstEpD8sw9)
- [Full In-Depth 1 Hour Masterclass On Effective Code Review](https://link.jointaro.com/Vn7YSzTL61i9shwM8)

This Is What A Good Code Review Test Plan Looks Like

In this segment, we highlight a real-world example of an **exceptional test plan** that showcases how thoughtful demos not only validate functionality but also build confidence and trust before a single line of code is reviewed.

### Key Takeaways:

- **We use test plans to demonstrate functionality and edge cases**: In this example from the Random Name Picker app, the test plan includes both the core feature (removing images from names) and handling an edge case (screen rotation), showing completeness and attention to detail.
- **We treat test plans as trust tokens**: A strong demo assures reviewers that the author has thoroughly tested their changes, reducing fear or hesitation around approving the diff.
- **We provide a positive starting point for reviewers**: Watching the video demo first puts reviewers in the right mindset—making them feel confident that the code works as intended, even before reading the diff.
- **We recommend test plans for all product-facing diffs**: Especially when there’s a visual or user-facing component, attaching a video or GIF dramatically improves understanding and quality of collaboration.
- **We invest a few minutes to add a lot of value**: Creating a short demo takes just 5–10 minutes, but it adds context, transparency, and professionalism that elevate the entire code review experience.

Become An Open Source Master [Part 8] - Find Companies Active In Open Source

The video discusses where to find open source projects to contribute to.

- The GitHub Octaverse Report and websites like <https://gitstar-ranking.com/> provide lists and rankings of companies and projects active in open source.
- Many large tech companies, like Microsoft and Google, have active open source ecosystems.
- The GitHub trending pages can help you discover new and interesting projects that are gaining popularity.
- Don't limit yourself to one type of project or technology; contributing to a variety of projects will broaden your skills and experience.

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

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

Who Gets Cut In A Mass Tech Company Layoff?

After a layoff, some will be cut and the rest will survive. This begs the question: Who gets cut? There is a lot of misinformation about how these decisions are made, so this video goes over how this extremely painful process actually works.

Here are the core points:
- **Layoffs vary heavily based on company** - There is no standard when it comes to layoffs, and different companies value different things. *There is no such silver bullet that will protect you 100% from layoffs.*
- Potential layoff factors (remember, there are exceptions to all of these):
  - **Performance** - High-performers will be preserved over low-performers
  - **Org priority** - Higher revenue orgs will be preserved over loss makers
  - **Seniority** - Senior engineers will be preserved over more junior engineers
  - **Tenure** - Engineers with deep domain expertise will be preserved over newbies who are still learning the ropes
- **For most people, layoffs are effectively random** - At the end of the day, layoffs are almost always made by executives with very incomplete information. You can be a consistent high-performing software engineer who is a 10-year company veteran and still get cut. Do your best and keep your expectations realistic.

Related resources:
- ["How to survive potential layoffs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ydZFpJz0x8wKUIfd8E1r/how-to-survive-potential-layoffs/)
- ["Are layoffs random or can I do something to prevent getting laid off?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/TIX9Mox7KAPJg6ZUujpg/are-layoffs-random-or-can-i-do-something-to-prevent-getting-laid-off/)

Setting Up Your Engineering Mindset For Long-Term Success

What separates the top senior engineers from everyone else?

True or false: One of the reasons top tech companies are so strong is because they are so well organized. Every project is neatly defined, so when engineers take them on, they can just execute quickly and easily.

Which one of these is the enemy of productivity?

True or false: A lot of senior engineers write very little code, adding value in other ways.

Why is it important to break problems down?

- A core expectation of engineers at top tech companies like FAANG is that they're able to take large, ambiguous tasks and smoothly execute on them. This is effectively a requirement reaching senior levels at these places.
- The trick to these projects *is to break them down*. Breaking down large projects into smaller and smaller sub-tasks makes the overall body of work clearer and less scary. Clarity is one of the main ingredients that leads to action.
- This decomposition is also vital for your mentality. By defining these smaller and more reasonable milestones, you are setting up your brain to register a win more frequently and consistently. This does wonders for your confidence and self-worth, which allows you to do good work sustainably over a long period of time and eventually ship these large tasks and massive projects.
- The gained clarity also enables you to ask for help more easily and delegate work, the latter being a staple behavior of senior+ engineers at top companies.

Related resources:
- ["How can I get better at estimating long-term projects?"](https://link.jointaro.com/bcc3PgBTWCoaKqDD7)
- ["How do I make software less overwhelming?"](https://link.jointaro.com/j3itbssZN9XUdq998)

Come Up With 500k+ User Project Ideas [Part 5] - Tech Stack Rankings

Machine learning, web, back-end, DevOps, mobile - There are so many different tech stacks software engineers can specialize in. So how does the type of engineer you are affect your side project potential? This lesson teaches you:

- The rankings for tech stacks when it comes to side projects, starting from which one is the best suited and which ones are the worst suited
- Why mobile engineers in particular are extremely well-positioned to build impressive side projects
- The unfair advantage front-end engineers have when it comes to building side projects and getting credit
- Ideas for non-front-end engineers to build great side projects
- The pros and cons of every tech stack when it comes to side projects

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.