Top System Design Interview Mistakes [Part 15] - Don't Ask For Too Much Permission

In this lessons, we address a common mistake, especially among junior engineers - Asking for too much permission. This often stems from a lack of confidence and a desire to avoid making decisions. Here are the core points:

- We often encounter candidates who, after discussing various options for solving a problem, defer decision-making to the interviewer

- Instead, we should make decisions ourselves. We can evaluate the options based on their trade-offs and choose the best one

- By taking ownership and driving the design, we demonstrate strong decision-making skills

- While it’s important to ask clarifying questions, we should avoid relying too heavily on the interviewer for directional guidance. Instead, we should proactively drive the conversation and make decisions that address the key issues.

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 10] - Don't Speak Only in Hypotheticals

In this video, we discuss a common mistake in technical interviews - Talking only in hypotheticals instead of applying knowledge to practical scenarios. Here are the key points we cover:

- Many candidates discuss system design concepts theoretically without considering real-world applications
- We provide an example contrasting a hypothetical approach with a more practical one
- The goal is to show real-world engineering skills, not just theoretical knowledge
- **Our main advice:** Avoid "it depends" answers and make assertive decisions with proper justification

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>

Why Startups Can Be Better Than FAANG For Career Growth

Whether you are just starting your career or have years of experience in Big Tech, startups can be a powerful accelerator for your career and expose you to unique opportunities.

[**Ben Rudolph**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brudolph/), cofounder and CTO of Peregrine, argues the value of startups in this talk. Ben built Peregrine from within the San Pablo homicide Investigations Unit where, among other cases, he worked with detectives to help solve a high profile cold homicide case. After spending a year embedded onsite with the customer and securing their first contract, Ben has overseen the growth of the company from 2 to 100+ people. Their technology now serves over 30 million citizens and ingests approximately a million data points every 10 minutes.

Topics covered:

- Understanding how the right startup can offer unique experiences not available in Big Tech.
- Deciding if and when to explore startups for your next career move.
- Effectively evaluating the potential of a startup.
- Common traits of top-performing startup engineers.
- Comparing the mindset required for success in startups vs large tech companies.

Related discussions on Taro:

- [**How to evaluate a startup?**](https://www.jointaro.com/question/UCG4XxyEOTjjyg4pEuwY/how-to-evaluate-a-startup/)
- [**How Effectively Do Big Tech Engineers Perform In Startups?**](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/TFhKpoVuu4iKdbrAiJ8d/how-effectively-do-big-tech-engineers-perform-in-startups/)
- [**What questions to ask a CTO of a startup?**](https://www.jointaro.com/question/R4FGhmGlZOQK7Lb1YAlt/what-questions-to-ask-a-cto-of-a-startup/)

Peregrine is hiring Senior Engineers in the SF/DC area (or open to relocation) who have 4+ years of experience. Taro members can use this link to get expedited feedback: [**https://www.peregrine.io/taro**](https://www.peregrine.io/taro)

- [**Connect with Ben on LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brudolph/)
- [**Learn more about Peregrine Technologies**](https://www.peregrine.io/)

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 4] - Structuring Your Growth

When going from senior to staff, you need to develop a *ton* of new skills across several difference categories. This lesson teaches you:

- A framework for organizing the improvements you need to make to grow to staff, based off of Meta's engineering performance axes
- The most important axis engineers need to grow in order to get to staff
- A healthy way to understand this course and your overall progression to staff in general

Take Jordan's course here: [\[Course\] Become The Go-To Expert As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/become-the-go-to-expert-as-a-software-engineer/)

Asking Great Questions [Part 24] - Give More Than You Take

The counterpart to asking a question is answering a question, but it's not exactly right to call them opposites as they actually go hand-in-hand! This lesson teaches you:

- How engineers fail to attract and even repel the best engineers to help them
- What you should do to make altruistic, high-performing engineers (i.e. the people you really want answering your questions) want to help you
- Why answering others' questions is one of the best ways to get great people to answer your own questions
- A very tactical self-serving benefit to answering questions and teaching others

Asking Great Questions [Part 8] - Explain The Impact

Every great software engineer faces the perpetual problem of *"Too much to do, not enough time"*. Great software engineers are who you want answering your questions, and you need to make a case as to why they should use some of their time to answer your question. This lesson teaches you:

- How to empathize with helpers when it comes to how they choose who to help
- Why showing the impact of your question is critical, especially at high-performance tech companies like FAANG
- What attaching the business impact to your question looks like, explained with an in-depth example
- A bonus type of impact you can illustrate with your question

[Become A Go-To Person 18/18] More Resources

- 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/)
- Discover more from Jordan across [videos, articles, and livestreams here](https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/p/resources-and-deals?open=false#%C2%A7find-me-in-other-media).
- Get a discount on Jordan's newsletter here: <https://read.highgrowthengineer.com/taro>

[Become A Go-To Person 11/18] Exactly What To Do - Be Visible

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/)

[Become A Go-To Person 8/18] Other Ways To Develop Exptertise

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 11] - Not Every Meeting Needs You

Meetings are everywhere at tech companies, especially massive ones like FAANG. The unfortunate reality is that so many of these meetings are wasteful, especially for more junior engineers. This lesson teaches you:

- The huge mistake many n00b engineers make with meetings
- The most powerful tactic you can use to take control of your calendar
- How to figure out which meetings you can skip
- Tactics to safely delete meetings from your calendar

How To Be An Effective Tech Lead [Part 2] - Why Most Tech Leads Suck

There are far more bad tech leads than good tech leads. But why is that? This lesson teaches you:

- How tech leads struggle when they have bad intentions
- How tech leads struggle when they have good intentions

Maximizing a Severance Package 3/9 - Termination Circumstances

Let's talk about the different circumstances where you may need a package or to try and get a severance from a company.

- Connect with [**Ethan on LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanevansvp/)
- Taro members get a discount to join [**Ethan's Level Up community**](https://levelupwithethanevans.substack.com/taro25)

[Timeless Career Advice] Promos and Relationships

[Timeless Career Advice] The Promotion Formula

[Timeless Career Advice] The Soft Skills

[Timeless Career Advice] How Software Engineers Create Value

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 18] - Non-Technical Experience

A lot of software engineers don't have a Computer Science degree and switched into software from a non-technical background. So how can those engineers succeed with their resume? This lesson teaches you:

- What transferable skills are
- How to best frame your non-technical experience on an engineering resume, broken down with an in-depth example

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.

Negotiation Course: View The Recruiter As Ally, Not Antagonist

Recruiters get a bad reputation, but they can actually help you a lot! The recruiter's job is to get qualified people to work for the company, so there is incentive alignment between both parties.

Instead of viewing the recruiter as an obstacle you must overcome, view them as an ally and a valuable source of information. 

- **Before the interview**,  ask them what will be on the interview and what advice they'd have to prepare.
- **After the interview**, ask them what parts of the comp are likely to change, and build the relationship with them so they can advocate for you.

How do you build a relationship with the recruiter? 

- Say thank you whenever the recruiter shares an update with you: *"Thank you for sharing, I appreciate your clear communication throughout this process!"*
- Show an interest in the job and what makes it unique. Don't ask generic questions. 

Keep in mind that most recruiters are not technical and may not understand the value you bring as an engineer. (Unlike the hiring manager, who will know intimately what role they're hiring for.)

Understand 2 different types of recruiters:

- **Contract (agency) recruiters** are compensated for landing a butt in the seat: they’ll be much more transactional and focused on getting you to accept an offer (any offer).
- **In-house recruiters** will usually NOT see a direct financial gain if you accept the offer. They are evaluated based on goals around recruiting conversion metrics.

Negotiation Course: Closing The Deal

If you’re willing to sign the offer, **you have manufactured leverage you can use to squeeze out additional compensation with high probability**. Tell the recruiter you’re willing to sign the offer immediately if they can give you X, where X is a bit higher than the current offer.

A good choice is to ask for an extra $10K-$20K in sign-on bonus. Companies are willing to do this since it’s a one-time cost but they can guarantee you sign. But $10K is be life-changing for many people.

Making the final request focused on salary or equity is a bit more difficult since it often requires more people’s approval. Your goal in this final round of negotiation is to propose something quick and a no-brainer for the company.

Phrasing:

> I'm eager to use my experience to have impact quickly at \[COMPANY\]. I'm willing to sign the offer today if you can add a signing bonus of $15,000. This would make the offer compelling for me so I can commit to \[COMPANY\] for the next phase of my career.

Ideally you want things in writing. Some recruiters will tell you they can’t put it in the formal offer until you’ve verbally agreed, which is fine, but in that case, you can still ask them for a quick email recap with the numbers included.

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.