Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 13] - Good Vs. Bad Questions To Ask

You're a software engineer and you have slogged through the behavioral round, answering many grueling questions. And now the interviewer opens up the floor to you: "Do you have any questions for me?". What do you do here? This lesson teaches you:

- What a good behavioral interview question to ask looks like through many examples, which you can ask word-for-word in your next behavioral interview
- What a bad behavioral interview question looks like (avoid these)
- The attributes of a high-quality question vs. a low quality question in a behavioral interview

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 12] - Double Dip

Software engineers and people in general don't realize how incredibly powerful questions can be when you ask the right ones. This lesson teaches you:

- How the best questions that you can ask in a behavioral interview actually help you pass on top of extracting useful team selection information
- What the 2 core failure modes are when it comes to you asking the interviewer questions

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 11] - Interviews Are A 2-Way Street

One of the easiest ways to tank your career as a software engineer is to join the wrong company or team. Despite this, so many software engineers squander their time in behavioral interviews to uncover extremely valuable information about the quality of an organization. This lesson teaches you:

- Why not having thoughtful prepared questions to ask the interviewer makes you look really bad in a behavioral round
- The critical career importance of behavioral interviews being a 2-way street

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 10] - When You Don’t Have An Answer

If you're an earlier-in-career software engineer, there is a very high chance that you will get a behavioral interview question where you don't have an answer. This lesson teaches you:

- How to gracefully and immediately react when you get a behavioral interview question asking for a scenario that you have never been in before
- Backup options that you can present to the interviewer to still answer the question despite not having an answer that 100% fits

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 9] - The Interviewer Isn’t You

One of the biggest mistakes software engineers make during behavioral interviews is not having empathy. This lesson teaches you:

- A crucial way to understand the goal of a behavioral interview
- How a lack of empathy leads to immediate tactical failure in behavioral interviews
- How you can use empathy to take in a non-confusing way

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 8] - Timing

Behavioral interviews are intense, containing more questions than every other interview type. This greatly affects how you need to talk to pass these rounds as a software engineer. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews are a marathon
- How long you should take per behavioral interview answer
- Tactics you can use to communicate more efficiently

For more advice on communicating concisely: ["How to make communication succinct and more impactful?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/QDLV5owweJveRLlspOdc/how-to-make-communication-succinct-and-more-impactful/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 7] - The #1 Behavioral Interview Question

In life, many things follow a power law where a specific group of things are far more important than all the others. This applies to behavioral interviews as well. This lesson teaches you:

- The most important behavioral interview question you absolutely must know and the many forms it can take on
- How to answer it properly, especially if the true meaning is hidden
- What a great project to talk about during a behavioral interview looks like

Go through the "Project Credit And Scope" section of the [promotion course here](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/): <https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/its-not-just-about-impact/>

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 6] - STAR

Behavioral interviews are ultimately an exercise in story-telling, something that many software engineers unfortunately struggle with. This lesson teaches you:

- The STAR format, how it works, and why it's important
- What to include with S(ituation)
- What to include with T(ask)
- What to include with A(ction)
- What to include with R(esult)
- What a stellar behavioral interview answer following the STAR format looks like

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 5] - It’s A Conversation

If you're doing it right, behavioral interviews shouldn't even feel like interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- Why behavioral interviews should feel like a conversation
- How the flow of behavior interviews are fundamentally different from all other interview types
- Why behavioral interviews are actually about far more than just the words you say
- The importance of honesty in interviews, not just in reality but with perception as well

Here is the communication course: [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 4] - Don't Memorize: Be Nimble

Too many software engineers keep thinking as if they're still in school, and this applies to how they study for interviews. Unfortunately, memorization is a terrible strategy with behavioral interviews. This lesson teaches you:

- The mindset you need to have to be a successful behavioral interviewer
- Why memorization doesn't work with behavioral interviews
- How to properly train your brain when it comes to behavioral interviews
- What good vs. bad looks like when it comes to what to remember with behavioral interviews

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 3] - The 3 Keys To Behavioral Interviews

In a behavioral interview, you can say literally anything. So what should you say? This lesson teaches you:

- The 3 keys to any effective behavioral interview answer
- How to specifically show each of the 3 keys
- What a good behavioral interview answer looks like vs. a bad one (hint: the good ones integrates the 3 keys while the bad one doesn't)

To learn how Alex built 30 side projects with 5 million+ users combined: [\[Taro Top 10\] Building Impressive Side Projects](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/vKUWMgmmaEvzcYUXZs4B/)

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 2] - You're (Probably) Sleeping On Behavioral

Grinding LeetCode endlessly makes no sense and will not get you a great software engineer job, especially in a bad market. So why does it makes no sense? Because data structures and algorithms (DSA) rounds are far from the most important. This lesson teaches you: 

- The reason why companies weigh behavioral interviews so heavily (usually more than candidates realize)
- Why behavioral interviews are actually the most important interview type
- How engineers waste the precious time they have in behavioral interviews

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 1] - How This Course Works

Let's not mince words: Most software engineers are pretty terrible at behavioral interviews. Unlike interview types like data structures & algorithms (DSA) and system design, behavioral interviews are purely open-ended. Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background across top companies like PayPal, Course Hero, Meta, and Robinhood, explaining how ultra-sharpening his behavioral interview skills played a huge part in his career success. His reward? Growing from $85k TC to $750k in just 7 years!
- How software engineers throw their careers by from over-indexing on LeetCode grinding instead of developing more balanced interview expertise, particularly with behavioral interviews
- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will have the right mentality to answer *any* behavioral question well, understand what a good behavioral answer looks like (vs. a bad one), use the right tactics to prepare, possess the skills to vet the company, and know what behavioral performances look like across different levels

To learn more about Alex's interview success journey and overall job searching tactics, check out his master job searching course: [\[Course\] 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/)

How To Influence Your Team Without Authority

Huge thanks to [Ryan Kuck](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-kuck/) for leading this session!

Have you had amazing idea with clear data to support it, but it was rejected? In this event we will talk about why that might have happened, and suggest alternate strategies for next time.

Spoiler alert: We use computers to reach millions/billions of users, but we are very different from computers ourselves. Presenting the best data to another person can actually backfire, unless it is coming from a place of shared goals/values and trust. It isn’t logical, but it is human nature. If you explain a better idea than I presented, and you even have rock solid evidence, I no longer am thinking about the user or our business impact but rather about how I just don’t want to “be wrong”.

Come to this event with your stories of challenges and successes of influencing your engineering team!

To dive deeper, check out these resources:

- [**"How do I lead without authority?"**](https://www.jointaro.com/question/BWv3hFSELbn59mXJbkNB/how-do-i-lead-without-authority/)
- [**\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers**](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

Paper Reading: MyRocks: LSM-Tree Database Storage Engine Serving Facebook's Social Graph

Session led by [Dharin Shah](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dharinshah/)

**Event description**

Facebook uses MySQL to manage tens of petabytes of data in its main database named the User Database (UDB). UDB serves social activities such as likes, comments, and shares. In the past, Facebook used InnoDB, a B+Tree based storage engine as the backend. The challenge was to find an index structure using less space and write amplification.

LSM-tree has the potential to greatly improve these two bottlenecks. RocksDB, an LSM tree-based key/value store was already widely used in variety of applications but had a very low-level key-value interface. To overcome these limitations, MyRocks, a new MySQL storage engine, was built on top of RocksDB by adding relational capabilities. With MyRocks, using the RocksDB API, significant efficiency gains were achieved while still benefiting from all the MySQL features and tools. The transition was mostly transparent to client applications.

The paper was published at the **International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB)**: [**https://research.facebook.com/publications/myrocks-lsm-tree-database-storage-engine-serving-facebooks-social-graph/**](https://research.facebook.com/publications/myrocks-lsm-tree-database-storage-engine-serving-facebooks-social-graph/).

Paper authors:

- [**Yoshinori Matsunobu**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoshinorimatsunobu/)
- [**Siying Dong**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/siyingdong/)
- Herman Lee

Taro Book Club: Designing Data Intensive Applications - Chapter 7 (Transactions)

Topic: Chapter 7 - Transactions

Session lead by [**Raj Shah**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/therajshah/), [**Raghu Kalyan**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/graghukalyan/), and [**Kevin Wu**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/wkevn/) 

In this #taro-bookclub discussion, we're having a session about Chapter 7 of [**"Designing Data-Intensive Applications"**](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/1449373321) by Martin Kleppmann.

Here's the agenda:

- We’ll break down and discuss the key concepts from Chapter 7
- There will also be time for any questions and answers you might have

Get ready for another engaging and informative session!

Negotiation Course: Help Us Help You

Congratulations, you made it to the end of the course, **The Insider's Guide To Negotiating Your Tech Salary And Compensation**! Here are the major takeaways we covered: 

- Negotiation is extremely high leverage
- Negotiate the whole compensation package
- Don’t share information that can hurt you (e.g. salary)
- Negotiate when you have an offer

If you're isolated, you're much more likely to be taken advantage of. The antidote is to engage with the community. Then we can anonymously share your feedback and result to benefit everyone. Together, we'll all succeed 😇

If you netted a meaningful compensation delta from this course ($10K), I'd love to hear from you! Email me at [rahul@jointaro.com](mailto:rahul@jointaro.com). 

Next steps:

- Share + get support: [**joinTaro.com/questions/create/**](http://joinTaro.com/questions/create/)
  - 🧠 Get 10x better advice than anything on Blind or Reddit
- Find community: [**joinTaro.com/events/**](http://joinTaro.com/events/)
  - 🧑‍🏫 Join me for Group Office Hours!

Send me feedback at [**team+negotiation@jointaro.com**](mailto:team+negotiation@jointaro.com)

Negotiation Course: Life After Joining

Our careers are long and the real hard work begins once we join a company. Beyond negotiation and compensation, there are many other factors that go into a fulfilling career, such as technology, network, and company culture. Compensation is one part of the job, but there are intangibles that are hard to measure. Don’t feel like you need to go for the highest number.

Once you join a company, learn how performance is evaluated and what makes up compensation. Prioritize people, learning, and culture for long-term career success.

Negotiation Course: Helpful Phrases During Negotiations

The phrases covered here are applicable in various scenarios as you go through the interview process.

Negotiations require a deliberate choice of words, avoiding apologies, and showcasing your value beyond just compensation. By using these phrases, you can confidently navigate negotiations and achieve your desired outcomes.

> Interesting.

> Compensation is definitely important for me, but I care a lot about the people I work with and what I’m working on.
>
> I want to do my best work in a company that values me.

> *At this time, I’m more interested in understanding the company and people rather than the compensation.*

> *I’m sure we can work out the compensation if we think this is a mutual fit.*

> *I have a few other opportunities I’m in the process for, but if this is compelling enough I’m ready to commit.*

> That role wasn’t a great fit, so I’m exploring adjacent opportunities.

> My focus is to have tons of impact at the company and I want to take part in the success.

> This is a large decision and I want to commit fully to the job I end up choosing.
>
> I want to do right by the company I join and build the next part of my career there.

> *If you could send over the offer, I’d love to take a look in more detail.*

> *I’m chatting with my partner about the job stuff so I should be able to give you an update after that.*

Negotiation Course: Reneging An Offer

Backing out after accepting an offer (*"reneging on the offer"*) is unfortunate but happens more frequently than you think. Imagine that you accepted a job offer, but two weeks later, you finally get an offer from another company that is better in every way. What do you do?

First, prevention is the best cure: try to get all the offers around the same time.

If the timing mismatch is unavoidable, you should do what’s best for you: don’t worry too much about the company.

In the US, employment is at-will, so there’s nothing legally preventing you from joining. Of course, you may have to give back any kind of signing bonus.

There may be reputational damage: talk about why the opportunity is incredibly unique and you hope to work with them again. Reneging on a large company is not as big a deal compared to a startup.

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.