Managing Up: Professional Development

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 12] - Esoteric Terms

As a software engineer, it is absolutely critical for you to write a resume that is incredibly easy to understand, particularly for the recruiter (who, as a reminder, is a non-technical person). Unfortunately, it's very easy for engineers to get this wrong. This lesson teaches you:

- Why engineers often unintentionally make their resumes near impossible to understand
- What esoteric terms are and the categories they fall into
- How to get rid of esoteric terms from your resume with an in-depth example

Grow From Mid-Level To Senior Engineer [Part 16] - Project Management

Planning a project is just the first step: Execution is when things really matter. The problem is that every software engineer leading a project should expect the unexpected, especially at a top tech company. This lesson teaches you:

- How senior engineers set themselves apart when leading projects
- The core ingredients for successfully managing a project, both during and after execution

Related resources:

- ["What are some thoughts on maintaining good meeting hygiene?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/CModSkZ4LWzw9bdaiakt/what-are-some-thoughts-on-maintaining-good-meeting-hygiene/)
- ["How to get more visibility on work?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/XA0X51AypDLCeVeleJv4/how-to-get-more-visibility-on-work/)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 5] - Gathering Requirements And Preferences

As an introduction to this next section, you can expect to start defining what your long-term career and path may look like based on your preferences you defined in the last section.

For each dimension, pick one option only to make your goals as clear as possible. If one dimension doesn’t resonate with you, that’s okay! Skip it vs. making arbitrary goals.

The dimensions we’ll cover are:

- Role types
- Specializations
- Company stage
- Becoming a founder

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)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 24] - Challenge Yourself, Do Great Work

Behavioral interviews are fundamentally an exercise in storytelling. This means that in order to pass these interviews as a software engineer, you need great stories to begin with. This lesson teaches you:

- The 2-step process to become absolutely incredible at behavioral interviews
- The most common mistake software engineers make with their mentality when it comes to growth
- How to get better at coding, even if you're unemployed

For more resources on becoming a better software engineer:

- [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [\[Course\] Build Side Projects With 500k+ Users: Coming Up With An Idea](https://www.jointaro.com/course/build-side-projects-with-500k-users-coming-up-with-an-idea/)
- [\[Taro Top 10\] How To Create Scope As An Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/EWIo3USNcsgXbCs5PS0h/)
- ["What are the Core skills a SDE should be consistently developing?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Hs8VJtUb6bfTPjUgbj96/what-are-the-core-skills-a-sde-should-be-consistently-developing/)

Master The DSA Interview [Part 30] - Go Deeper: Follow Through

Find a mock interview buddy: <https://www.jointaro.com/networking/?selectedServices=Mock+Interviews>

To find events like mock interview meetups: <https://www.jointaro.com/events/>

Join Alex's Group Office Hours to get additional support: <https://www.jointaro.com/p/alex-chiou/>

Start a discussion in the Taro Forum and get incredible career advice: <https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/>

Take these courses as well:

- [Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Rachel's Career Story: Waterloo, Yelp, Airbnb

To check out Rachel's excellent tech career advice, you can find the [full playlist here](https://link.jointaro.com/EFUYvmLHzenKQLRp6).

Rachel moved to Canada in high school, and then attended the University of Waterloo where she picked up programming for the first time. 
- She did various internships as part of the co-op program, and her first job out of college was at Yelp. 
- After 9 years at Yelp, Rachel had become a Director of Engineering there.
- Since 2020, Rachel has been an Engineering Lead at Airbnb, heading up the search product there.

**Rachel's core learning**: The times where you're uncomfortable and struggle are the times you learn the most. Stay calm and embrace the more difficult times in your career - When you view these situations as a growth opportunity, that's how you come out of them stronger than you were before.

Don’t Do THIS Kind of Code Review - Healthy vs Unhealthy Comment Example

In this segment, we explore a crucial cultural principle in code review: **“You are not your code.”** The way we give feedback deeply influences team trust, learning, and psychological safety. Our goal isn’t to be “right”—it’s to help each other grow and to build a healthy, collaborative engineering culture.

### Key Takeaways:

- **We critique code, not people**: Everyone—from interns to staff engineers—writes imperfect code. We give feedback without attacking the author, always assuming good intent and shared goals.
- **We use empathy-driven language**: Ending comments with a question mark (“Have you considered…?”) or using tentative language (“This might miss an edge case…”) keeps feedback constructive and opens the door to discussion, not defensiveness.
- **We avoid destructive comments**: Terse feedback like “Did you even test this?” not only fails to help—it can demoralize authors and harm team culture. Being “right” is meaningless if it alienates collaborators.
- **We model humility, especially as senior engineers**: Seniority should amplify empathy, not authority. Even if we're confident, we acknowledge the possibility we're wrong and focus on dialogue, not dominance.
- **We prioritize helpfulness over harshness**: Great reviewers point to specific issues, offer reasoning, and invite collaboration. They focus on moving the work forward—not “winning” a debate.

By reviewing with empathy, humility, and clarity, we turn every code review into an opportunity to strengthen our team and elevate everyone’s craft.

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 5] - Finding The Right Team

As a senior engineer, you can work hard and do everything right and still not have a real case to get promoted to staff engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- Why certain teams are far better for a staff engineer promotion than others
- What you need on a team from a seniority perspective to get to staff
- Why it's important for a team to have engineers more junior than you to grow to staff

Pass On Your Onboarding Knowledge

After you've completed onboarding, one immediate value you can create is making life easier for the next person. Improve the onboarding process, support more junior engineers, and continue building relationships.

Onboarding is fundamentally about building trust. (Remember the [trust meter from the beginning of the course](https://www.jointaro.com/course/the-complete-onboarding-guide-for-software-engineers-succeeding-when-youre-new/why-onboarding-matters/)?) Trust is the currency through which you grow your career, and you’re always gaining or losing trust. Trust is how you get influence, which is essential for further career growth.

[Part 3] Meta Intern Success Series - Onboarding Efficiently

- Onboarding is arguably the most important part of your internship as it sets the foundation and tone for your entire software engineer internship.
- Set up a 30 to 45 minute meeting with your intern manager (IM) ASAP, so they can explain the codebase to you at a high-level (i.e. a component level).
- Make sure you have a recurring 1:1 meeting with your IM, which should be a weekly 30 minutes. Your IM should set this up for you, but in case they don't, you can work with them to set it up.
- You will get 2-5 onboarding tasks to work on across the first ~2 weeks. The purpose of these is to familiarize yourself with the codebase.
- Aim to put out your 1st diff by the end of Week 1. If you're doing this around the end of Week 2, you're really behind.
- Ask a ton of questions and learn to ask high-quality questions. Don't be afraid of "over-asking" questions: If you're polite while asking questions and attaching great context to them, you will be fine no matter how many questions you ask.
- Use Work Chat DMs to ask for help aggressively during this period as it's vital for you to become productive within the codebase very quickly

Related resources:
- [Asking Effective Questions That Get Great Answers Quickly](https://link.jointaro.com/E8eaKmMpZcKWNGkbA)
- ["How can I learn a large codebase fast as an intern?"](https://link.jointaro.com/L8tXjWah6ycdNpNf7)
- [There Is No Such Thing As A Stupid Question](https://link.jointaro.com/F4p3fL4eHqp5GXti7)

Do This To Get Maximum Value From Your Manager 1 on 1s

The manager 1 on 1 meeting is arguably the most sacred and high-leverage time you have in your career. Make sure you don't waste it by stumbling in with 0 preparation.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Come in with a plan** - In your running meeting notes doc, write down the agenda beforehand with discussion points ordered by priority. Not only does this make your meeting more effective, it improves the perception of you from your manager's eyes as it shows that you're being more respectful of their time and you're more serious about your own growth and productivity.
- **Alert your manager of the plan 24+ hours beforehand** - This allows them to "pre-compute" the best responses to your meeting topics, so they don't get caught like a deer in the headlights with the trickier ones. It also makes it harder for your manager to cancel, especially when you have deeper, more important topics on the agenda.

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/)

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 11] - Self Ratings

There's tremendous pressure to stand out with your resume as a software engineer, especially as you usually need to beat out 100+ or even 1000+ other engineers to get an interview opportunity. This lesson teaches you:

- Why self ratings don't add any value to a resume
- The dangers behind self ratings on a resume, particularly with more junior engineers

Become An Open Source Master [Part 6] - The Right Reason To Do Open Source

The video emphasizes that we should approach open source with the right motivations, focusing on the long-term benefits rather than seeking quick career gains.

- **It's not a shortcut to a job:** Open source requires dedication and time; it's not a quick fix for career advancement.
- **Authentic contributions matter:** Open source work is transparent, showcasing your genuine skills and passion to potential employers.
- **Patience is key:** It takes time to learn, contribute meaningfully, and build relationships in the open source community.
- **Focus on the right reasons:** The primary benefits include making an impact, learning and growing, joining a community, and demonstrating your passion for building.
- **Embrace the challenge:** Navigating large, complex projects and overcoming obstacles in open source can develop valuable professional skills applicable to any work environment.

Connect with James: 

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

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 6] - Build A Side Project

In this lesson, Brian explains the value of building side projects that not only boost your technical skills but also help you stand out in the job market.

This lesson covers:

- How a well-crafted side project can help you learn new technologies and fill knowledge gaps without needing formal training or mentorship
- The importance of focusing on meaningful, long-term projects that you are passionate about, rather than numerous small, disconnected ones
- Using a self-assessment worksheet to identify your knowledge gaps, create a learning plan, and design side projects that address those gaps and align with your career goals

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/>

Career roadmap worksheet: <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OpjXtJeQ93TGIz8z9u-p_lYNbhSbk32rPFPDecNMDyM/edit?usp=sharing>

How side projects can even get you into FAANG: [\[Case Study\] Building An App With 1,000,000+ Users To Get Into Facebook](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/jly45Gx6qR1kqQwBmJEy/case-study-building-an-app-with-1000000-users-to-get-into-facebook/)

Conclusion: The Ultimate Guide To Navigating A PIP

Thanks for being part of this course! Here are the main takeaways: 

- A PIP **does not** mean your career is over
- Make it easy to receive feedback
- You should (probably) start looking for a new job
- Don’t over-share information

Follow-ups:

- Share + get support: [joinTaro.com/questions/create/](http://joinTaro.com/questions/create/)

- Find community: [joinTaro.com/events/](http://joinTaro.com/events/)

- Discussions:

  - [I have been put in PIP. What should I do?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/i2RqeCiAQJ04eU1rp0eQ/i-have-been-put-in-pip-what-should-i-do/)

  - [Bouncing back after termination](https://www.jointaro.com/question/iDARmEmqYKlCIhzKIMNh/bouncing-back-after-termination-what-can-i-do-to-move-forward/)

  - [Advice on PIP with unsupportive team?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/93GBTJ73ayNLPY0sLuHz/advice-on-pip-with-unsupportive-team/)

Send your feedback to team+pip@jointaro.com

Managing Up: Managing Expectations

DSA Crash Course [Part 53] - Has Path Approach

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

> Write a function, *has_path*, that takes in a dictionary representing the adjacency list of a directed acyclic graph and two nodes (\_src\_, *dst*). The function should return a boolean indicating whether or not there exists a directed path between the *source* and *destination* nodes.

```
graph = {
'f': ['g', 'i'],
'g': ['h'],
'h': [],
'i': ['g', 'k'],
'j': ['i'],
'k': []
}

has_path(graph, 'f', 'k') # True
```

```
graph = {
'f': ['g', 'i'],
'g': ['h'],
'h': [],
'i': ['g', 'k'],
'j': ['i'],
'k': []
}

has_path(graph, 'f', 'j') # False
```

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/>

How One Of FAANG's Biggest Upsides Becomes A Terrible Downside - Peer Pressure

A big reason engineers go to FAANG is to learn from the brilliant talent there. However, this benefit is very much a double-edged sword.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Big Tech is very competitive** - You will be compared to your peers, many of whom will be better and more productive than you are. Most Big Tech companies make this competition explicit by having stack ranking where the bottom 5-15% of engineers are fired or PIPed every performance cycle. This means that if you're not superior to enough of your peers, your job is in danger.
- There are many side effects to this environment:
  - **Imposter syndrome** - Imposter syndrome is rampant at Big Tech where everyone is so insanely smart and hard-working.
  - **Anxiety and fear** - Being a low performer at Big Tech sucks and is almost always extremely stressful. A lot of engineers here spend a ton of time worrying about being at the bottom.
  - **Poor work-life balance** - You will be pushed by your peers to excel. Many of them will also be overachievers who work late, pushing you to do the same.

Related resources:
- ["How does Stack Ranking work (at FAANG) and how can I be proactive at a base level?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/lScy3l2NPIrWvRuHOjcF/how-does-stack-ranking-work-at-faang-and-how-can-i-be-proactive-at-a-base-level/)
- ["How do you deal with zero-sum situations where one's success comes at the expense of another?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/wDZ2LC0AzujhbOOBs43m/how-do-you-deal-with-zero-sum-situations-where-ones-success-comes-at-the-expense-of-another/)
- ["How do you push back against a PIP when it doesn't feel fully justified?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/4fLz0VmshEouTzQl2Iuc/how-do-you-push-back-against-a-pip-when-it-doesnt-feel-fully-justified/)

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.