Amazon VP Shares Why Reorgs Happen And Why The True Reason Is ALWAYS Hidden

[**Ethan Evans**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/) is a retired Amazon VP who has gone through dozens of re-orgs across his tech career. 

Re-orgs (reorganizations of the team structure) happen because at least one leader views something as broken: someone is under-performing, the right teams aren't collaborating, or some other reason which you may not have visibility into as an engineer. 

Once a re-org happens, an effective way to build trust is to schedule time with your new skip level manager and ask what the mission of the team is, and if your work is still aligned to that mission. Ask your manager to setup a meeting if you can't do it on your own. 

Communication challenges: Public announcements about such org changes often use vague language and corporate jargon, making it difficult for individual contributors to understand the true reasons behind them. This lack of transparency can lead to further confusion and distrust.

Legal considerations: Legal constraints limit how much information leaders can publicly disclose about personnel changes. Fear of lawsuits can lead to sanitized messages that obfuscate the real reasons behind decisions.

**More to explore:**

- [**\[Masterclass\] How To Work Better With Your Engineering Manager**](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/2PbJb2fuqF3iMHy57eEg/masterclass-how-to-work-better-with-your-engineering-manager/)
- [How To Effectively Leverage Skip Level 1:1s](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/TToehFEc738PBhJcALwL/how-to-effectively-leverage-skip-level-11s/)
- [**Ask Me Anything (AMA) with a Disney Eng Director - Greg Benson**](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/eHbg5nVkHn2LYJ55oOVf/ask-me-anything-ama-with-a-disney-eng-director-greg-benson/)

Was Getting A Masters While Working Worthwhile? From a Distinguished Engineer

Andrew Zhai was a Distinguished Engineer at Pinterest.

After graduating from UC Berkeley in 2013, Andrew started working at Pinterest in Computer Vision. Within a few years, he decided to do a part-time Masters degree from Stanford to build his foundational knowledge of Machine Learning and Deep Learning.

Andrew says the academic rigor and the courses helped him achieve success in industry. For the Machine Learning (ML) field in general, the field evolved quickly enough that going 'back to school' was worthwhile.

[Andrew on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-zhai-2796ab34/)

Related:

- [Does having a Master's mean I can expect a salary equivaent of a 2 YoE SWE?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/YSMUN3uxDmGLqKxIvmXI/does-having-a-masters-mean-i-can-expect-a-salary-equivaent-of-a-2-yoe-swe/)
- [Do I need to do masters in Computer Science to move ahead in career?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/tKuUT3ELEa1uCGBuMykX/do-i-need-to-do-masters-in-computer-science-to-move-ahead-in-career/)
- [Is an online Master's Degree in Computer Science worth it for a non-CS Bachelor's degree holder with 2 YOE?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/Qth4ohK7HbHTEC83dwIJ/is-an-online-masters-degree-in-computer-science-worth-it-for-a-non-cs-bachelors-degree-holder-with-2-yoe/)
- [Rahul's Computer Science Masters Degree from Stanford in 7 Minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDu6slRfLY4)

How To Land 18 FAANG+ Offers With Steven Zhang (Airtable, USDR, Tableau) [October 2023 Version]

While on the job hunt in 2019, Steven Zhang received 18 offers (out of 22 onsites), including from companies such as Airbnb, Apple, Facebook, Palantir Technologies, Pinterest, Stripe, Uber. If you're interested in learning from Steven as part of a cohort-based course about job searching, sign up here: [https://bit.ly/18offers-course](https://bit.ly/18offers-course)

In the process, he became an expert in software engineering interviews and job searching. Steven shared his thought process and methodology:
- When you have many interviews, **operationalize it, and treat it like a multi-week/month project**. Some days will feel like a slog, but that's ok and part of the process. (Steven used Airtable to coordinate all his conversations.)
- **Doing an interview prep course is completely worth it for DSA**. It may cost a few thousand dollars, but being able to land the ideal job is definitely worth it (and likely worth tens of thousands of $$). Steven used InterviewKickstart (his referral: https://bit.ly/swe-tips-ik).
- **For behavioral interviews**, Steven recommends:
    - Writing all questions you received in a Google doc
    - Recording yourself doing mock interviews with a friend and then listening to it. 
- **Steven received offers at various levels through the bands**, from L3 (junior) to L5 (senior). Your level has huge implications for your compensation.
- Negotiation tips: 
    - Negotiation should not be adversarial- think of it as doing price discovery
     - If you ask nicely, no one will rescind your offer for asking for more money.
     - Negotiation/post team matching is a way to get signal on the company itself

Relevant resources: 
- [[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/)
- [[Masterclass] How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview - System Design](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/J3I9fTW9ulr6T9KjxpqY/masterclass-how-to-ace-your-big-tech-interview-system-design/)
- [How Alex Got Into Meta With 0 Prior Leetcode Experience](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/ZYiTbN21FsqFxFdpwt5a/how-alex-got-into-meta-with-0-prior-leetcode-experience/)
- [Steven's original talk on Taro about receiving 18 offers](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/gGkO4pLeFq1ctRM9tSBF/case-study-how-to-land-18-faang-offers-with-steven-zhang-airtable-usdr-tableau/)
- Steven's [viral Medium article about this experience](https://medium.com/@stevenzhang/how-i-landed-18-faang-software-engineer-offers-after-not-interviewing-for-5-years-fc0dfc957a5d).
- Connect with [Steven on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenqzhang/)

Stop Bugs From Happening Again - The Importance Of Retrospectives

Bugs are often times like ants: They don't come alone and are often representative of many more of their own kind. After you fix any bug, retrospect on why it occurred to begin with and what the team could have done to prevent it. If the bug was very serious (e.g. a production outage), bring the team together with a formal post-mortem report and meeting.

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:
- ["What's the difference between a low performer software engineer and a high performer?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/nMxx2EMVIlJbl1oK4SGu/whats-the-difference-between-a-low-performer-software-engineer-and-a-high-performer/)
- [[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/)
- ["How to turn a string of silly mistakes into a mature positive outcome?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/JybGyc935lsYbM8dAo7Y/how-to-turn-a-string-of-silly-mistakes-into-a-mature-positive-outcome/)

This Is The Easiest Way To Get Better At Debugging

Before you go into any bug, it's important to write down all the relevant details into a task or ticket. Here's why:
- It makes it easier to get your bearings and start looking into the right places for debugging
- If you need to pass the bug to someone else, the knowledge transfer is much smoother as you have this artifact
- The written context will be very valuable for retrospectives

Here's the information you should put down:
- Steps to reproduce the issue
- The blast radius
- Relevant code pointers
- Priority of the bug

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] 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/)
- ["What is the effective way to understand new repository in order to make the required changes in that repo?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/KoxB3UU2zWC9pdYU6Rx0/what-is-the-effective-way-to-understand-new-repository-in-order-to-make-the-required-changes-in-that-repo/)

To Fix Software Bugs, You Must Understand Their Blast Radius

It's not enough to be able to reproduce the bug on your own device: You need to fully understand the blast radius as well. This will help you fully understand the bug and fill out the post-mortem report afterwards.

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] 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/)
- ["What is the effective way to understand new repository in order to make the required changes in that repo?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/KoxB3UU2zWC9pdYU6Rx0/what-is-the-effective-way-to-understand-new-repository-in-order-to-make-the-required-changes-in-that-repo/)

Autism Allyship and Identity in Tech - By Lee McKeeman & Jaswir Raghoe

[Lee McKeeman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmckeeman/) and [Jaswir Raghoe](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaswir-raghoe/) give an insightful talk on Autism Allyship in the tech industry, and how one can discover the power of creating inclusive workplaces for autistic individuals while gaining valuable tips on how to be an effective ally to autistic colleagues.

Lee and Jaswir talk about how autism is a spectrum with individuals having a wide range of abilities and needs. They give a deeper understanding of general biases and assumptions about autism, and learn why it's crucial to challenge them. They expound on the importance of asking autistic individuals about their preferences and needs, while understanding the significance of respecting their boundaries. Jaswir and Lee uncover the value of patience and understanding, as well as the importance of not expecting autistic individuals to always conform to social norms.

Join us in celebrating the diversity of autistic individuals and learn how you can become an advocate for their inclusion in the workplace.

Don't miss this enlightening talk that will empower you to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all.

Incase you missed it, also check out Lee McKeeman's previous talk about his career journey: [An Autistic Journey To Google Staff Engineer [L6] From Software Analyst](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/nujUVma6boGJxGAQzoiX/an-autistic-journey-to-google-staff-engineer-l6-from-software-analyst-by-lee-mckeeman/)

How To Recover After You've Been Laid Off In The Tech Industry

Steven Zhang and Chris Talley are 2 incredible software engineers who have worked at Airtable, Airbnb, Meta, and more between them. They have advised hundreds of engineers who have been laid off about how to recover, and this session shares that wisdom.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Don't blame yourself** - Getting laid off is very different from being fired. Layoffs are purposely random and made with very limited information - It is not your fault that you got cut. Being part of a layoff has no indication towards your ability as an engineer or your quality as a person. *As long as you did your best at the company and treated others well, you should be proud.*
- **Figure out your severance** - Make sure the amount and time period you're kept on payroll are correct; the latter is especially important if you're on a visa. If you have the resources, you can get a lawyer to look over it. After you figure out the package timeline, file for unemployment benefits accordingly - California in particular is pretty generous with unemployment pay. These packages can be negotiated as well: [Laid Off? Here's How to Negotiate Your Severance Package](https://www.teamrora.com/post/how-to-negotiate-severance-package-when-laid-off)
- **Organize** - If you were laid off from a Big Tech company in particular, there's a very good chance that it has an alumni community: Join it! If your company doesn't have an alumni community, make one. Communities are great for sharing resources and boosting your mental state by interacting with others in a high-solidarity environment. You can find a list of company alumni communities here: [WARNTracker - Tech Company Alumni Communities](https://www.warntracker.com/blog/company-alumni-communities)

Here's the case study Steven did about his legendary interview run in 2019: [[Case Study] How To Land 18 FAANG+ Offers With Steven Zhang (Airtable, USDR, Tableau)](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/gGkO4pLeFq1ctRM9tSBF/case-study-how-to-land-18-faang-offers-with-steven-zhang-airtable-usdr-tableau/)

Connect with Steven and Chris on LinkedIn:
- [Steven Zhang](https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenqzhang/)
- [Chris Talley](https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophertalley/)

Steven's and Chris's businesses + side projects:
- [WARNTracker.com](https://www.warntracker.com/) - Learn more layoff trends and find helpful resources
- [ClimateTechList.com](https://www.climatetechlist.com/)- Find jobs at companies that are meaningfully tackling climate change
- [RationalRiches.com](https://rationalriches.com/) - Free tools for real estate investors

For more resources on layoffs:
- [[Masterclass] How To Survive Tech Industry Layoffs](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/axnVXYox5QeOneqcoyuH/masterclass-how-to-survive-tech-industry-layoffs/)
- ["What are the signs of an impending layoff in an organisation that can help an employee prepare themselves better?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/tNOO9FtALQIRrUXSqzV1/what-are-the-signs-of-an-impending-layoff-in-an-organisation-that-can-help-an-employee-prepare-themselves-better/)
- ["How to survive potential layoffs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ydZFpJz0x8wKUIfd8E1r/how-to-survive-potential-layoffs/)

[Part 3] Software Engineer Onboarding: Understand Tactical Decisions

Learn the product to make good tactical decisions.

Within the first few weeks of your onboarding, you should have have fixed a few bugs and . Now it's time to slow down a bit and do some reflection on the decision-making process and priorities of the team.

- [How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech-12172022/)
- [The Crucial First Step To Building Relationships That Everyone Misses](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/YPniDFNQqoHEpYHC9JEq/the-crucial-first-step-to-building-relationships-that-everyone-misses/)

This is part 3 of a 4 part series from Daniel about how to **most efficiently** and **most effectively** onboard into a new team or company. What should you spend your time doing in the first few months of joining, and how should that change based on your level? 

This masterclass covers this topic from the perspective of Daniel Tomko, a 20 year Big Tech veteran. Daniel spent 11 years at Microsoft and 8 years at Meta in various senior IC and management positions. 

- [Go to part 4 of the masterclass here](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/JFvfEoKshdPWuiCuy3GY/part-4-software-engineer-onboarding-understand-strategic-decisions/)
- [Go back to part 1 of the masterclass here](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/IYZRmwp33E3TBeFQFr9c/part-1-software-engineer-onboarding-embrace-your-lack-of-knowledge/)

The Most EVIL Way To End An Interview (And How Not To Do It)

Here are the core points from the video:
- It is **never** okay to end an interview early because the candidate wasn't good enough. This is immensely disrespectful, especially for an onsite interview where the candidate carved out an entire day to do it (likely taking PTO if they are currently working).
- As an interviewer, you are also representing your company. If you do this, you are hurting your company's reputation as people talk - That candidate is very likely to tell others that your company is a horrible place to interview at.
- When this scenario happens, *the proper thing to do is to switch gears and go entirely into maximizing candidate experience* (as your goal isn't collecting signal anymore). This involves:
  - Giving them hints aggressively to help them complete the problem
  - Pair programming with them and trying to teach them - Use your interview to make the candidate a better software engineer!
  - Allocating more time for them to ask questions about the company - Try to get them excited! If you do this properly, they'll want to interview with your company again at a later time. People change - They may come back in a few years and be an absolutely incredible engineer you 100% want to hire.

Related resources:
- [Full session on being an amazing interviewer](https://link.jointaro.com/NhjenQ5vERKwRPdb9) - This is where this clip was cut out from.
- [Full 1 hour+ Masterclass On Acing Your Big Tech DSA Interview](https://link.jointaro.com/VfSeuUFiXNtKa5if7)
- [Full 1.3 hour Masterclass On Acing Your Big Tech System Design Interview](https://link.jointaro.com/Tmqs62Lw7WV4qDw59)
- [How Alex Got Into Meta With 0 Prior Leetcode Experience](https://link.jointaro.com/vaNH1hjRUhmF8ibSA)

Understanding How To Empower Your Manager To Get The Rating You Want

- Come calibration time (i.e. when managers and very senior engineers come together to calculate your manager), your manager is going to have to defend you to get the rating they're proposing for you.
- This is another reason why it's so important to have a clear expectations plan. By setting the baseline, your manager has a concrete anchoring point to argue your case, in particular when you have gone above and beyond the baseline.

Why Infrequent Manager 1 on 1s Severely Hurt Your Career

True or false: Delayed and infrequent manager 1 on 1s can seriously affect your career growth long-term.

Why is it crucial to have frequent, consistent 1 on 1 meetings with your manager?

It's important that you have regular, frequent 1:1s with your manager because you can severely delay your career growth.

20 Years Of Fighting Procrastination [Part 15] - Conclusion

Congratulations on making it to the end of the course! While watching great content like this feels good - It doesn't actually mean anything unless you put the learnings into practice. With that being said, here's some ideas for "homework" for you:

- Start sleeping consistently every day, even on weekends
- If you have a task or project that will take at least 1 week, decompose it into at least 3 different sub-tasks
- Set up a meeting with yourself on a regular basis to reflect on your productivity
- Go through your calendar, audit all the meetings, and kill as many as you can

If you want to learn how Rahul's cofounder Alex made $750,000 per year at Robinhood working \~35 hour weeks, you can go to the next level and take his much deeper and more concrete productivity course here: [Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/maximize-your-productivity-as-a-software-engineer/)

20 Years Of Fighting Procrastination [Part 14] - Reflect

Reflecting regularly is a powerful habit that can dramatically improve your productivity and self-awareness. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Daily micro-reflections and bi-weekly deep dives help you identify patterns in when and why you're productive or struggling
- Documenting reflections as written artifacts (e.g. notes or voice memos) forces clarity and gives you useful data over time
- Review both the nature of your work and the relationships that support or hinder your progress—productivity often depends on collaboration
- You can keep reflections private, share them with a manager, or even make them public to foster accountability and gain feedback from others

20 Years Of Fighting Procrastination [Part 13] - Your Phone Is A Menace

Your phone can be both a powerful tool and a massive productivity killer—how you manage it makes all the difference. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- To prevent unconscious distractions, keep your phone physically out of reach during deep work and turn off nearly all notifications by default
- Replace passive phone checking with active forecasting—mentally plan what you’ll do next based on the outcome of a task to stay engaged
- Use batching strategies (e.g. scheduled email checks) to reduce context switching and maintain focus
- Aim to move up the PEM framework: from Pleasure (mindless scrolling) → Engagement (being immersed in your craft) → Meaning (working toward a long-term purpose)

20 Years Of Fighting Procrastination [Part 7] - Just One Thing

Become A Debugging Master [Part 10] - Document Your Process

If you want to debug faster and avoid getting stuck, one of the best habits you can build is writing everything down. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Document your hypotheses, tests, and findings continuously during debugging to create clarity, reduce mistakes, and avoid repeating the same experiments
- Writing things down makes it easier for teammates to jump in, share context quickly, and collaborate effectively when tackling complex bugs
- Even when debugging alone, written notes help you stay organized, maintain momentum, and prevent morale-killing mistakes like redoing work you already tried
- Good documentation habits (like clear pull requests and linking to issues) allow future debuggers to “time travel” and understand why code was written a certain way
- Strong debugging cultures start with individuals — write as you debug today, and your future self (and team) will thank you

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/)

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 16] - 1 on 1 Meetings

Want to make someone like you? Go talk to them privately! This lesson teaches you:

- Why 1 on 1s are the most important vehicle for deepening relationships
- A simple 2-step framework to make a relationship incredibly powerful, centered around 1 on 1s
- The core mindset you need to have in order to make 1 on 1s effective
- How to think about the frequency of your 1 on 1s
- Basic tactics to get far more value from your 1 on 1s, especially with more senior people

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 13] - Lead With Kindness

Many engineers get impatient when it comes to networking, frustrated that it takes so long to get someone to provide meaningful value to them. It doesn't need to be this way. This lesson teaches you:

- A very simple way to understand networking and how to convert it into something that provides concrete benefits
- Why leading with kindness is the most powerful mindset you can have to build trust *fast*
- How leading with kindness really isn't that difficult, especially if you're smart and on the lookout for disproportionate activities
- What it means to lead with kindness, explained with an in-depth example that is very relevant to Taro

Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech [Part 6] - You're Going To Get Burned

Networking isn't all sunshine and roses - You're going to go through a lot of pain as well. This lesson teaches you:

- Why many relationships fall apart
- Why you shouldn't let a failed relationship turn you off networking forever
- A tactical, mathematical framework to minimize risk and maximize upside when it comes to networking
- How to identify if a relationship isn't going anywhere and should be cut off

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.