3 Ways To Write Deeper, More Impactful Code Review Comments

In this video, we explore how to give more impactful code reviews by moving beyond surface-level feedback and investing in deeper understanding and learning from experienced peers. The focus is on practical habits that help us become more thoughtful, effective reviewers.

- **We rely on automation for style and formatting.** It's not our job to catch syntax or stylistic issues—those should be handled by IDEs and CI systems with pre-agreed style rules.
- **We review code with a clear perspective.** Before reading the diff, we mentally plan how *we* would solve the same problem, which helps us offer more meaningful, constructive feedback beyond just approving what “looks fine.”
- **We learn by watching the best.** One of the fastest ways to improve as reviewers is to observe how senior engineers reject code—what they flag, how they communicate, and the patterns they look for.
- **We replicate good habits.** By studying thoughtful reviewers—like those who consistently flag performance issues like mobile frame drops—we can develop our own review instincts and level up faster.
- **We treat reviewing as an intentional skill.** There are no shortcuts; it takes practice, pattern recognition, and curiosity to become great at it. But by mimicking smart peers, we shortcut years of trial and error.

You Should Be Vulnerable With Your Manager

You are feeling burnt out at work. Should you share this with your manager?

You feel like you are slower than your other teammates and are afraid that you look bad amongst the team. Should you share this with your manager?

Your dog just died, and you are having a really tough time concentrating at work because of this. Should you share this with your manager?

Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Your manager is responsible for your performance at work. Therefore, it's in their best interest to help you resolve anything that is negatively affecting your work performance, even if it's something non-tactical.
- If you are having a deeper issue (e.g. you have imposter syndrome), this is something you should talk with your manager about. You shouldn't expect them to act as a full psychologist, but they should at least be receptive of your problem and lend an understanding ear.
- Venting and complaining are very natural and can act as a therapeutic exercise. Don't be afraid to do this with your manager once you have a good enough relationship.
- This gets easier over time. Once you start being honest and more transparent in your manager meetings, the trust between you two increases, making it smoother to continue being open in the future.

Related resources:

- [\[Masterclass\] 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/)
- [\[Course\] Networking Guide: Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/course/networking-guide-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/)

What Gets Communicated Gets Done: Why Slack Sucks

How Alex Got Into Meta With 0 Prior LeetCode Experience

The First Thing You Need To Do Before Figuring Out Your Next Company And Team

Choosing the right company and team for you as a software engineer is one of the most important decisions you'll make, and given the high turnover in the tech industry, is a decision that you will have to make multiple times. This is why having the right mentality here is so crucial, which is what this video covers.

Here are the core points:
- Everyone is different - There is simply no "one size fits all" career path for everyone. FAANG companies are great overall of course, but there are going to *many* people and situations where it doesn't make sense to go there.
- Before thinking about your next move, have an honest conversation with yourself and those close to you about your priorities. *Your goal is to create a stack-ranked lists of your priorities.*
- Prioritization is a much harder exercise than people realize as there's simply so many angles to it. Here the ones mentioned in the video:
  - Compensation
  - Work-life balance
  - Company prestige
  - Supportiveness of team
  - Growth opportunities
  - Stability
  - Maximum outcome (risk tolerance)
  - Remote work
  - Product space
  - Company ethics
  - Technical space
  - Level/title
  - Benefits
  - Location

This clip was taken from the following masterclass: [[Masterclass] How To Choose A Good Company And Team As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/0WEmTNZOMIh8xAdfO3JH/masterclass-how-to-choose-a-good-company-and-team-as-a-software-engineer/)

Related resources:
- ["How do I know when it's time to leave a team/company?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/2Ahiy6ZtUYWDjkSoG3Zk/how-do-i-know-when-its-time-to-leave-a-teamcompany/) - This is the Q&A that Rahul mentioned in this video.
- ["What's the difference between Big Tech and startups in terms of learning and growth?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/KWXIrFIR1EIJsvdOdo7u/whats-the-difference-between-big-tech-and-startups-in-terms-of-learning-and-growth/)

[Masterclass] How To Navigate Your Performance Review In Tech

The slides provide a great high-level overview of the entire session for your notes, so here's our Top 5 thoughts that aren't entirely in the slides:

- Not deeply understanding your company's performance review cycle is job suicide, especially in the current age of layoffs and stack-rank (the latter being perennial).
- If you're truly working at a top company, you shouldn't be promoted to the next level unless you have been functioning there for at least 3-6 months. Companies that don't do this tend to promote due to raw experience and have many incompetent people at senior+ levels.
- Always have a plan for your performance review, even if your goal is just to be average and survive. Work with your manager at the beginning of every cycle to create a clear and living expectations document.
- Be very deliberate about the peers you want leaving feedback for you on your performance review. Assemble that cast at the beginning of the cycle and start building those deep 1 on 1 relationships once you have done that.
- When you are asked to leave constructive feedback for a peer, flip the question from *"What did they do poorly?"* to *"How can they expand their scope?"*. This will become easier as you reach an L5 (senior) level and more deeply understand what each engineering level means.

Related resources:

- [\[Masterclass\] 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/)
- [\[Masterclass\] How To Get Promoted Faster In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/W730BOdrfAIXAEVd8HUf/masterclass-how-to-get-promoted-faster-in-tech/)
- [\[Masterclass\] How To Have Impactful 1:1 Meetings](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/FEK6JZqW2Jg3rdN9yeGn/masterclass-how-to-have-impactful-1-on-1-meetings/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/142PsWRJ-fmdP42CrFpR0VD64L1qFP-6nPTmjk5g1DKM/edit?usp=sharing)

Growing To Meta Tech Lead And Then Entrepreneurship - By Jocelin Ho

If you use WhatsApp web, level up your experience with the Cooby (the company Jocelin is cofounder and CTO of) plug-in: [Cooby: Best WhatsApp Extension for Work](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cooby-best-whatsapp-exten/hcikfoejbgdmajlbhadhfchoekcoablm)

To level up your software engineering knowledge, follow Jocelin on LinkedIn: [Jocelin Ho - LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jocelinho/)

Jocelin's presentation is **filled** with gems (including a fun video by Mark Zuckerberg), so we're just going to share her core learnings here:
1. **You need to be versatile to survive** - One of the biggest misconceptions about software engineering is that it's mostly about writing code: This couldn't be further from the truth. In order to be a genuinely stellar engineer, you need to have a vast array of skills on top of coding like communication, the ability to smoothly process feedback, multi-tasking, and much more. Jocelin excelled at developing these skills, which is why she was able to get promoted from E3 -> E4 at Meta (junior -> mid-level) in just 6 months, faster than 95% of FAANG engineers.
2. **Don't get emotionally attached to what you built** - Tech is always fast-moving and chaotic, and this is accentuated when you work at a top company like Meta. Organizational priorities change all the time, and this can mean that your hard work gets thrown out. Don't take it personally and continue striving to deliver impact and grow.
3. **Don't be afraid to take the leap** - You will literally never be ready for that big career or life change, whether it's taking your first FAANG interview, switching to management, or starting your own company. Once you have conviction in knowing what you want to do, make that jump and focus on growing and adapting as fast as possible. It's not about where you are now but rather where you can go in the future.
4. **Live up to your own expectations instead of others'** - While we should always try to add value to other people's lives and help one another, this doesn't mean we should derive our happiness from what they believe we should be. You own your own happiness - Set goals that are both feasible and exciting for you and ignore all the noise. This is especially relevant in tech where there's so many brilliant people, and it's tempting to compare yourself to others.

Related resources:
- ["What's the core insight behind quick growth?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/nJ762p255cGyuth36H6w/whats-the-core-insight-behind-quick-growth/)
- [[Taro Top 10] Junior Engineer To Mid-Level Engineer (L3 To L4)](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/iBKHYpkjd0BRWWLKQG2j/)
- [Presentation slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1BkaaiKQXXx6eUi5heaNiNmPgBriK9rr5UdTfHfd2K5k/edit?usp=sharing)

How To Actually Learn Software Engineer Skills

A very common trap among software engineers is that they end up merely acquiring knowledge instead of actually learning software engineer skills. This is especially true when you're onboarding into a new team or company.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Learn how to fish** - If you are growing as a software engineer, you want to make sure that you're actually learning the systems underneath instead of just acquiring surface-level solutions to your problems. "Receiving fish" is knowing that solution X solves your problem Y. "Learning how to fish" is understanding how solution X was crafted.
- **Get maximum value per answer** - Learning is largely absorbing support from other software engineers. When this happens, make sure to deeply understand how they arrived at their support. This can be when they give you an answer to your question or leave a comment on your pull request. *Ask follow-up questions to "download" their thought process.* It's much better to take full advantage of each interaction all in one go, so you don't need to ask them other simple questions in the future.
- **Example:** A teammate helps you debug. You can ask them the following:
  - How did you identify the breaking code?
  - Why did you choose this approach for the fix vs. others?
  - If you couldn't understand the code immediately, how did you figure out who to ask to get this understanding?

This clip is from our masterclass on how to succeed at a new team or company as a software engineer. [Click here to watch the full thing.](https://link.jointaro.com/9sJzfDeH3JdWzZRg9)

Related resources:
- [This Is How Software Engineers Should Initially Learn](https://link.jointaro.com/hoL4o29S3YsGsR9i7)
- [Building Software For Optimal Learning Example - Login Flow](https://link.jointaro.com/BjyeKesdaZt7SrwJ8)

Questions You Can Ask To Evaluate An Engineering Manager

Here are some questions you can ask to engineers on a team to evaluate the engineering manager:
1. How has the manager been able to grow you? How clear is their advice? 
2. Is the team more on the stable or thrashy side? 
3. What has the team struggled with historically? 
4. What has the manager done to uphold work / life balance (WLB) and minimize burnout?

Here are some questions you can ask directly of the manager: 
1. How do you prioritize tasks and projects within your team? Can you walk me through your process for making those decisions?
2. How do you handle conflicts or disagreements among team members? Can you provide an example of a time when you successfully resolved a conflict within your team?
3. How do you ensure that your team members are growing and developing in their roles? Do you have a process for providing feedback and setting goals with team members?
4. How do you measure the success of your team and your individual team members? What metrics do you use?
5. How do you balance the needs of your team with the needs of the company? Can you provide an example of a time when you had to make a difficult decision that balanced those competing interests?
6. How do you stay up-to-date with new technologies and industry developments? Do you encourage your team members to do the same?
7. How do you foster a culture of collaboration and communication within your team? Can you provide an example of a successful collaboration within your team?
8. How do you handle failure or setbacks within your team? Can you provide an example of a time when your team faced a setback and how you supported your team through it?
9. How do you ensure that your team is delivering high-quality work on time? Do you have a process for reviewing and testing code?
10. How do you prioritize work-life balance for your team members? Do you encourage them to take breaks and disconnect from work outside of working hours?

This video is a clip from our masterclass about how to find a good engineering manager. You can watch it here: [[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/)

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome - You Have So Much More Value Than You Realize

One of the biggest factors holding software engineers back is a simple one: They don't believe in themselves. This is very common in the tech industry where being surrounded by talented peers makes it very easy to end up with a case of imposter syndrome. This video explains why every single person in tech is wrong when they believe they can't add value.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **You can't be alive for 20+ years and not have something to share** - 2 decades is a long time. A lot of people don't believe they can share value when they're early in career, which completely discards all their years prior to their career. It's not like you only started generating value in the world after you embarked on your tech career journey. It is mathematically impossible to have been on planet Earth for so long and not have something cool you can share with others.
- **Believe in yourself** - You are limited by what you think of yourself: If you don't believe that you can offer value, then you won't offer value. The absolute first step to successful networking is recognizing your own potential and feeling empowered to help others.
- **Accessible ways that *anyone* can add value**
  - Interesting experiences
  - Odd talents
  - Learnings from failure
  - Being a friendly face

Related resources:
- ["How can I bridge my confidence gap to put myself out there more and ask for help more aggressively?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/mLKUkNXpLcCxQMfWopqU/how-can-i-bridge-my-confidence-gap-to-put-myself-out-there-more-and-ask-for-help-more-aggressively/)
- ["I've felt imposter syndrome from seeing super talented peers - How do I deal with this?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/MPUkGXFDaBixmxfjOg9i/ive-felt-imposter-syndrome-from-seeing-super-talented-peers-how-do-i-deal-with-this/)

Do This To Stop Wasting Time In Your DSA Interviews

True or false: You should tackle the easiest, most trivial parts of a data structures and algorithms problem first, just to get it out of the way and boost your confidence.

True or false: A lot of the time, the interviewer won't care if you don't code out every single piece of the entire solution.

Why shouldn't you prioritize writing the simple utility methods your overall solution needs?

True or false: If you are 100% confident that your solution doesn't have bugs, just tell your interviewer you are done and kick the conversation back to them to save time and move on to the next problem.

You can save a lot of time during your data structures and algorithms interview by not having to write any utility functions.

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/)

The Silent Killer Of Too Many Software Engineer Careers: Burnout

Burnout is a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling like you have too much to do. Most software engineers will encounter burnout at some point in their career. Four reasons you may hit burnout, and how to mitigate: 

1. **You can do your job anytime + anywhere.** Try to create some separation between work and home, or set deadlines for yourself. 
2. **Unlimited complexity.** A typical codebase will have too much complexity for one person to understand all of it. Instead, share with coworkers where you feel lost, and start small.
3. **Unclear roles.** There’s often ambiguity around things like handling support requests or maintenance. Try to create structure around this, and acknowledge that this work does exist. 
4. **Unclear communication.** For your work, over-communicate the bad news and refer to [this Taro session about communication](https://link.jointaro.com/6jdUd3ucPprEEVog6).

Figuring Out The Best Company To Join As A Software Engineer

- **Follow The Talent You Know**
  - One of the best things about the tech industry is how full it is of extremely talented people, and you probably know some of them. In particular focus on those who are both talented and have a strong degree of integrity.
  - For the people you truly respect in your network, you should seriously consider the companies they go to as options. After all, if a company met the bar of these great people, it's probably pretty good!
- **Understand A Company's Strengths And Match Against Them**
  - Different companies have different core cultural values, and it's really important for your values and theirs to align. When this alignment isn't there, it's far too easy to go somewhere, work very hard, and not achieve much impact or career growth.
  - Examples: Amazon's leadership principles, Netflix's emphasis on freedom and responsibility
  - To find out what the culture is like at other companies, consult your network and [ask within the Taro Premium community](https://www.jointaro.com/membership/)!

Related resources:

- [\[Masterclass\] How To Choose A Good Company And Team As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/0WEmTNZOMIh8xAdfO3JH/masterclass-how-to-choose-a-good-company-and-team-as-a-software-engineer/)
- ["What's the best way to think about a team switch?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/NwXACx0n3JniBETi3f1E/whats-the-best-way-to-think-about-a-team-switch/)
- ["What questions can I ask a potential new team?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/dLS6KcDwKNdMDlJwYdBw/what-questions-can-i-ask-a-potential-new-team/)

Signs Of A Healthy Manager 1 on 1 Meeting

- **Golden standard**: Weekly 30-45 minute meeting
  - Bi-weekly can be okay, but weekly is ideal. Anything less frequent than bi-weekly is a red flag.
  - This should be recurring and scheduled, not ad-hoc.
- The meeting should feel proactive instead of reactive.
  - Reactive 1 on 1s happen when the meeting has no agenda beforehand.
  - The discussion should be focused and talking about future themes for you and your career like growth and career goals.
- The meeting isn't purely tactical: This is a time for you and your manager to build trust and get to know one another.
- The time should feel "awkward". Some "awkward" areas include:
  - Honest feedback
  - Emotions 

Related resources:
- [1 on 1s Are The Time To Be Awkward](https://link.jointaro.com/kuS9keFuUwRJk9rSA)
- ["How do I help my manager (who is also my mentor) be a better manager and mentor?"](https://link.jointaro.com/72SzjBb9HW1S46Dx8)
- ["How do I create a growth plan with my manager/mentor and what should it include?"](https://link.jointaro.com/fude3eS1nJwcMSp9A)

English Communication Is The Most Important Skill For Immigrant Engineers

The field of engineering is filled with immigrants. Silicon Valley is famously built from the creativity and hard work of immigrants around the world (China, India, Israel, and much more).

If English is your 2nd (or 3rd) language, only or mostly speaking your native language at work will hold back your career. Rachel talks about her misconception that communication skills weren't that important, and how to improve your speaking + writing.

If you want to get better at communication, check out our course: [\[Course\] Clear Communication For Software Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/clear-communication-for-software-engineers/)

This thread is helpful too: ["How to improve my communication?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/omak9oOT4NJE9dhKeMZi/how-to-improve-my-communication/)

How Base Salary Becomes Insignificant - Tech Compensation Archetypes

**Equity** is the primary reason that tech compensation is so high. Equity means your employer gives you ownership in the company as a portion of your compensation. The idea is that this incentivizes you to work harder to have the company perform well.

For most of Senior+ roles in US-based companies, equity will begin to dominate your pay. (This is the hallmark of a top tech company.) Some examples:

- **For mid-level roles**, the equity in a company could be something like $20K - $100K / year. Senior engineers at top companies start to make almost an equal amount in stock as they do in base salary (cash comp).
- **For very senior roles**, the majority of the total compensation comes from equity. e.g. at the Director level, the ratio is around 2:1, so their base salary may be $270K/year, and their equity could be $500K/year.
- Compare this to a non-tech, old-school company like General Motors. The average pay for a Director of Engineering is $280K, which is great, but you could easily make that amount much earlier in your career within Big Tech. The reason for this gap is because General Motors is a lot more stingy when it comes to giving out stock to their employees.

Suppress Your Instincts And Treat All Feedback As A Gift

True or false: If you get a piece of feedback, you should initially assume good intent and that it is correct.

What should be your immediate reaction when you get a piece of constructive feedback?

True or false: If you get feedback that you do not believe is 100% correct, you should just ignore it.

Which of the following are good things you can do when you get a piece of feedback that you genuinely believe is not constructive and is phrased in a harmful way?

True or false: One of the most straightforward ways to grow in tech is to just immediately incorporate every piece of feedback you get.

- **Don't be defensive at all when receiving feedback unless it is entirely incorrect.**
- If you have taken the time to find a supportive team, the vast majority of feedback you receive (95%+) will be correct and have value.
- Feedback is a gift and arguably the greatest gift you can possibly receive for your career. *One of the most common attributes among top performer engineers is that they take and apply feedback extremely well.*
- Have empathy for the feedback giver. They probably feel a bit awkward as they're unsure how you're going to receive the feedback. Make them feel comfortable after they share the feedback by thanking them immediately and earnestly.
- Write down all great feedback you receive and try to convert it into action items:
  - **Example:** "I feel like you could be more active in meetings." -> I will try to say at least 1 thing in every team meeting from now on.
- If you get feedback you genuinely believe is incorrect and hurtful:
  - Talk to your manager if you don't have a good relationship with that person.
  - If you feel comfortable enough to talk with that person directly, have a crucial conversation.

Related resources:
- ["How can I find more opportunities to grow when I'm getting very little real feedback?"](https://link.jointaro.com/TzKmgN5nLnLyXJ5G6)
- ["Everyone's telling me I'm doing great - How do I get actionable, constructive feedback?"](https://link.jointaro.com/ng6MUQy2yUfS8w4e8)
- [Effective Communication Guide - Giving Feedback](https://link.jointaro.com/VsQvnzsnJbbXUQDy6)

How To Supercharge Your Resume As A Junior Engineer

What's the best way to juice up your resume after you have gotten the basics?

True or false: As long as you can code and have a polished resume, that is enough to comfortably find a job.

Why are side projects such an effective tactic?

True or false: You can get something extremely close to work experience without having a formal job, all from the comfort of your own home.

So many junior engineers struggle for a very simple reason: They haven't taken the time to build real software. In this video, we talk about how earlier-in-career software engineers in particular need to stop dancing around the core issue and just start writing the code.

Here are the core points:
- **Resume optimization only goes so far** - At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how well your resume is formatted. If the underlying material isn't good, you don't have a real portfolio. If you are looking for your first job, this means that you need to be creative with what you put in.
- **Use side projects to create your own experience** - You don't need a formal company and work experience to write practical code that matters: You can do it completely on your own as long as you have a decent computer and an internet connection. It is easier than ever before for anybody to deploy their own app or website, all for free.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Write A Stellar Tech Resume That Gets You More Job Opportunities](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/OnQV2V3J8DYVBBuGbZx6/masterclass-how-to-write-a-stellar-tech-resume-that-gets-you-more-job-opportunities/) - The full video this clip was taken from, which includes a link to Alex's resume
- ["What technologies or stacks should I create a project to add in my resume for entry level software jobs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/c0DiG5ureLbkZ1mKD9Rf/what-technologies-or-stacks-should-i-create-a-project-to-add-in-my-resume-for-entry-level-software-jobs/)
- [[Masterclass] How To Build And Grow Tech Products To 500k+ Users For Free](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/OEuX0KMhcnNSTJ50Voee/masterclass-how-to-build-and-grow-tech-products-to-500k-users-for-free/)

Why Your Manager Sucks, And What You Can Do As A Software Engineer

Hate Data Structures And Algorithms? Turn It Into A Habit

Set aside 30 minutes, 2-3 times a week, to build a regular habit out of learning data structures and algorithms.

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/)

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.