[Part 4] Software Engineer Onboarding: Understand Strategic Decisions

Learn the business to make good strategic decisions.

By the time you're a month or more into your job, you should start execution on your projects, but you should continue gathering context about your team and company. You should document key decision points in your work, and reflect on who is involved, how long various steps take, and the level of detail various stakeholders ask for.

------

This is part 4 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 back to part 1 of the masterclass here](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/IYZRmwp33E3TBeFQFr9c/part-1-software-engineer-onboarding-embrace-your-lack-of-knowledge/)
- Connect with Daniel Tomko on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieltomko/)
- Check out the [Formation.dev discount](https://www.jointaro.com/perks/) for Taro Premium members
- [How To Figure Out If A Team Is Important To A Company](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/9OwPRwFFSMvEoVj6Zt5Q/how-to-figure-out-if-a-team-is-important-to-a-company/)
- [How To Find A Good Team With Career Growth Opportunities](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/UGIUC9zaGccK0tOarBri/how-to-find-a-good-team-with-career-growth-opportunities/)
- [This Is How You Get Feedback - Making The Process Smooth](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/aGuxjGbFjYb34ofhRxjs/this-is-how-you-get-feedback-making-the-process-smooth/)

SWE Internship Survival Guide [Part 4] - How Internships Work At Top Companies

Top-tier internships at companies like Meta or Google are structured, high-impact opportunities that can transform you into a confident, job-ready new grad. Here are the core points from this lesson:

- Legitimate internships at top companies have clear structure—interns are given managers, mentors, well-scoped projects, and timelines
- Interns are treated like junior engineers, often contributing to real production work and collaborating closely with full-time teammates
- Larger companies offer more formal evaluation processes for return offers, which helps reduce ambiguity and stress compared to smaller, less organized internships
- You’ll likely focus on one or two substantial projects to avoid context switching and to enable deeper, more meaningful contributions
- Adopt a collaborative mindset with fellow interns—success isn’t zero-sum, and sharing knowledge will help everyone grow and build stronger networks

Ace The ML System Design Interview [Part 4] - Data

Data is the foundation of machine learning, and a thorough discussion of data is essential in any machine learning system design interview. Here are the core points from this lesson:

- Discuss labels, features, and data set splitting, understanding the trade-offs involved in each area
- Explore various methods for generating data labels, such as human annotation, synthetic data, and LLMs, while considering the pros and cons of each approach
- Focus on high-level feature sources, providing relevant examples and selecting predictive features while avoiding sensitive topics
- Understand feature encoding techniques, such as one-hot encoding and embeddings, and their impact on model performance
- Weigh the trade-offs between cross-validation and train-validate-test splits, while considering issues like data leakage and imbalances in the data set

If you like what Ilya has to say, subscribe to his YouTube for more high-quality ML/AI career guidance: [MLEpath - YouTube](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-youtube-mlepath)

If you want hands-on support from Ilya to crack the FAANG ML interview, join his coaching program: [MLEpath - Coaching Program](https://go.mlepath.com/taro-march-25)

Negotiation Course: What If I HAVE To Give A Number?

A common complaint is that despite their best efforts, some tech workers are forced to give an expected compensation number to do a full interview at a company.

**Rebuttal #1**: You can just put a placeholder. e.g. put $1 for your salary expectation.

**Rebuttal #2**: Collect data from your network and provide a wide range. Ambiguity is your friend here, just talk about how compensation is one factor for you.

**Rebuttal #3**: Finally, even if you give a number you're unhappy with with, the interview is still good practice for you.

By the time you provide numbers, you ideally have done the legwork to know what to expect.

If you have to give a number, say the minimum number that is feasible for you. e.g. you need $250k TC to pay mortgage but the job's upper band is $180k)

Clear Communication For SWEs [Part 4] - What Makes A Message Clear?

In this video, we delve into the key elements of crafting clear messages: simplicity, conciseness, structure, and relevance. I provide examples and tips on how to enhance message clarity, emphasizing the importance of using plain language, getting to the point quickly, organizing thoughts logically, and focusing on essential information. No specific action is requested from viewers, but implementing these strategies can significantly improve communication effectiveness.

Connect with me on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-wiens/>

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 13] - Bring Teams Together

Just because you're leading a team's worth of engineers doesn't mean that you're a staff engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- The difference between senior and staff engineers when it comes to the number of stakeholders on their projects
- The difference between senior and staff engineers when it comes to the depth of their XFN (cross-functional) collaboration
- How to align multiple teams, even those you aren't very familiar with

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:
- [[Masterclass] What Software Engineers Should Look For In Their Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/oeY7ncZhzJ5NO6dij5e7/what-software-engineers-should-look-for-in-their-engineering-manager-5282022/) - The video where this clip is taken from
- [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/)
- [How To Figure Out If An Engineering Manager Is Good](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/9WSpugwRuskw8Xj0YNZv/how-to-figure-out-if-an-engineering-manager-is-good/)
- [Questions You Can Ask To Evaluate An Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/VOQc7vIzQ4STtw7UrB29/questions-you-can-ask-to-evaluate-an-engineering-manager/)

Master The DSA Interview [Part 21] - Programming Language Selection

There are a ton of programming languages you can use for a data structures and algorithms interview. This lesson teaches you:

- A basic flowchart to follow to determine which programming language you should use in data structures and algorithms interviews
- Why it's often not worth it to pick up an entirely new but "optimal" programming language for data structures and algorithms interviews
- How overly verbose languages can ruin your chances, explained with an in-depth example

Negotiation Course: Don't Give A Number First

The most important rule of negotiation is "Don't give a number first." Don’t talk about what compensation you’re expecting, and definitely don't share what you were making at your last job. 

It’s actually illegal in 22 states for recruiters to ask about your prior compensation (CA, NY, IL): <https://www.hrdive.com/news/salary-history-ban-states-list/516662/> 

Because of the info asymmetry we talked about before, there’s no benefit to you sharing a number, but a lot to lose. Henry Ford (the automaker in Detroit in the early 20th century) illustrated this well. He employed a tactic called "highball negotiation" where he would match the offer given by a landowner, even if it was inflated. Read more about this in "[The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century](https://www.amazon.com/Peoples-Tycoon-Henry-American-Century/dp/0375707255)" by Steven Watts

Example dialog from the recruiter:

> We really need a number before proceeeding”

Sample candidate reply:

> At this time, I’m more focused on determining if the role is a good fit. I’m confident we can figure out an agreeable number once we mutually agree that we could work together.

Negotiation Course: Negotiation Starts Now

It's critical that you only start negotiations when a company has verbally given you an offer.

Leveling is very important since it’ll dictate your salary band and equity. If you’re at a larger company, ask what level you’re coming in at, and see what kind of wiggle room there is.

If possible, talk to the hiring manager or people involved in your interview"

- You can learn advice on what you could work on.
- You can hear what the business need was to hire a role and why they picked you. 

The above points give you “ammunition” for negotiation: you want to understand how badly the company wants you.

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 21] - Attribution

The best software engineers don't need to be told what to do; they're able to come up with impactful projects on their own. This lesson teaches you:

- Why ideas are worthless and how engineers can come up with great ideas and get 0 credit for them
- The hard work you need to do to convert an idea into an actual roadmap project
- What it takes to get massive credit on the attribution axis for projects

Here's the case study Alex referred to in this lesson: [\[Case Study\] Revamping Oncall For 20 Instagram Engineers - Senior to Staff Project](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/esVxIGXYC5BdgxXUkO6H/case-study-revamping-oncall-for-20-instagram-engineers-senior-to-staff-project/?playlistId=EWIo3USNcsgXbCs5PS0h)

Master The DSA Interview [Part 18] - Fishing

Many engineers think that they got rejected due to the interviewer being bad or "out to get them". While low-quality interviewers do exist (and there are a lot of them), it is often the engineer's fault by being a weak candidate. This lesson teaches you:

- Why there is often a discrepancy between what engineers believe is the cause of their data structures and algorithms interview rejection and what reality actually is
- What fishing is and how it forces interviewers into a very awkward situation that makes them seem icy to the candidate
- How to not do fishing during an interview so you can have a real chance of passing (and make the interviewer more likely to help you)
- Why asking the interviewer for a raw hint is a recipe for failure

You tried to be clear. They heard threat.

The words were fine.\
The logic was solid.\
The delivery? Unclear. At least to them.

This is the story of feedback that missed—badly—and why it had nothing to do with the message.\
You’ll walk into a moment that cost more than expected… and learn why it’s so common.

**Want to go deeper?**

- Explore more tools and courses at [**Taha’s Method**](https://www.tahasmethod.com/) — from interview prep to leadership development.

- Follow me on [**LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahahussain/) and subscribe to my weekly newsletter, [**The Conscious Leader**](https://tahahussain.substack.com/), for more lessons like these. 

- **Taro members get 30% off** my flagship course [**Top Tech Leader**](https://bit.ly/tarotopleader)*. Discount available later in the course.*

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 18] - Product Hybrid

As a software engineer, you generally want to evolve past the code. There is 1 group of staff engineers who take that to the extreme. This lesson teaches you:

- What the product hybrid staff engineer archetype is
- The exact expectations of a product hybrid staff engineer
- How software engineers are uniquely positioned to hybridize as product managers
- Why most tech companies don't support the product hybrid archetype
- How to become a product hybrid staff engineer

Learn to sharpen your product sense with these resources: [\[Taro Top 10\] Product Management For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/66TyB60SRRmdnm0jmf55/)

Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer [Part 31] - Promotion Is A Journey: Follow Through

Promotions take years, especially the more senior ones. You won't automatically become a promotion wizard by finishing this 1 course. You need to follow through, and the Taro community is here to help you along the journey.

If you have any questions about the course material, ask them in the instructor AMA: [Ask The Instructor: \[Course\] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/question/73wFgYQ35WEowrDKZGKU/ask-the-instructor-course-nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)

If you can make it, come to Group Office Hours and attend communal events: <https://www.jointaro.com/events/>

If you have a deeper issue, start a discussion in the Taro forum: <https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/>

How To Be An Effective Tech Lead [Part 7] - System Design Discussions

In order to build high-quality software, you need to go through the process of system design. As a tech lead, you are expected to play a major role in this process. This lesson teaches you:

- What to avoid when participating in system design meetings (i.e. how to not add negative value)
- The overall principles to be helpful in system design discussions
- How to make yourself better at system design through relationship building
- Tactics to provide better input in system design discussions, even if you're not incredibly familiar with the underlying domain

To learn how to write a stellar tech review doc: [\[Course\] System Design Masterclass: Shipping Real Features To Production](https://www.jointaro.com/course/frontend-system-design-masterclass-building-playlists/)

So Many Software Engineers Get This Wrong About FAANG - Big Tech Isn't A Monolith

Many software engineers who aspire to get into Big Tech have this consistent, utopian vision of what working there is like. This couldn't be further from the truth and thinking in this way severely holds back your career direction.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Big Tech companies aren't all the same** - Even though there are commonalities working at companies with such massive scale, each company has its own culture and unique way of doing things. For example, the life of the average engineer at Amazon is going to be *very* different from that of the average engineer at Microsoft.
- **Big Tech can vary within themselves** - Once you reach 5,000+ employees, it is impossible to maintain a completely homogenous culture throughout the entire company. Organizations and teams will develop unique sub-cultures, so even 2 engineers within the same company can have very different experiences, even if they're the same level and working on the same tech stack.
  - Meta is an extreme example by giving its major acquisitions (WhatsApp, Instagram, Oculus) a lot of autonomy in how they run. Meta is almost like 4 different companies in 1.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] Should You Work At FAANG? - What Big Tech Is Like For Software Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/JnEnRphdi5TaPZl1Zrl8/masterclass-should-you-work-at-faang-what-big-tech-is-like-for-software-engineers/) - The full video where this clip was taken from
- ["Typical Day of Average FAANG Software Engineer?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/sOoGZwl8fsQ3hq8yv10v/typical-day-of-average-faang-software-engineer/)
- ["How much is the tech culture within a company a predictor of its overall growth?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/o7CVNROK0yiRa7YEeFNH/how-much-is-the-tech-culture-within-a-company-a-predictor-of-its-overall-growth/)
- [promotions.fyi](https://www.promotions.fyi/) - This is the website Rahul mentions at the end of the video

DSA Interview Step #1: Clarify The Problem

- The first step for any data structures and algorithms (DSA) problem is to *clarify the problem*. This means understanding exactly what the input and expected output are.
  - A common failure mode for candidates is that they will jump straight into coding, not doing this step. This leads to them wasting a lot of time writing code that isn't actually relevant.
- Often times in an interview, you will get a purposefully ambiguous problem - This happens with Big Tech a lot. The goal is get signal on the candidate's communication abilities.
- Clarifying the problem can help you *a lot* as it's very possible that the problem's scope is much more limited than you initially thought.

Related resources:
- [[Taro Top 10] Effective Interview Prep](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/HLBYxJI7D1j8STolrwum/)
- [[Taro Top 10] Finding A Tech Job](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/E6R0wVJ5EyCfVnVrlfno/)

DSA Crash Course [Part 47] - Tree Min Value Approach

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

> Write a function, *tree_min_value*, that takes in the root of a binary tree that contains number values.
>
> The function should return the minimum value within the tree.
>
> You may assume that the input tree is non-empty.

```
a = Node(3)
b = Node(11)
c = Node(4)
d = Node(4)
e = Node(-2)
f = Node(1)
a.left = b
a.right = c
b.left = d
b.right = e
c.right = f

#      3
#    /   \
#   11    4
#  / \     \
# 4   -2    1

tree_min_value(a) # -> -2
```

```
a = Node(5)
b = Node(11)
c = Node(3)
d = Node(4)
e = Node(14)
f = Node(12)
a.left = b
a.right = c
b.left = d
b.right = e
c.right = f

#      5
#    /   \
#   11    3
#  / \     \
# 4   14    12

tree_min_value(a) # -> 3
```

```
a = Node(-1)
b = Node(-6)
c = Node(-5)
d = Node(-3)
e = Node(-4)
f = Node(-13)
g = Node(-2)
h = Node(-2)
a.left = b
a.right = c
b.left = d
b.right = e
c.right = f
e.left = g
f.right = h

#        -1
#      /   \
#    -6    -5
#   /  \     \
# -3   -4   -13
#      /       \
#    -2        -2

tree_min_value(a) # -> -13
```

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/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 59] - Largest Component Approach

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

> Write a function, *largest_component*, that takes in the adjacency list of an undirected graph. The function should return the size of the largest connected component in the graph.

```
largest_component({
  0: [8, 1, 5],
  1: [0],
  5: [0, 8],
  8: [0, 5],
  2: [3, 4],
  3: [2, 4],
  4: [3, 2]
}) # -> 4
```

```
largest_component({
  1: [2],
  2: [1,8],
  6: [7],
  9: [8],
  7: [6, 8],
  8: [9, 7, 2]
}) # -> 6
```

```
largest_component({
  3: [],
  4: [6],
  6: [4, 5, 7, 8],
  8: [6],
  7: [6],
  5: [6],
  1: [2],
  2: [1]
}) # -> 5
```

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/**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/)

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.