Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 18] - Work For Free

In this lesson, Brian discusses the value of working for free as a way to gain experience, while emphasizing that it’s not truly "free" but a trade for validation and learning.

This lesson covers:

- How free work is a way to gain experience and build credibility, but it’s essential to set clear deliverables and avoid being taken advantage of
- Approaching local businesses with well-defined projects to solve real problems, not just offering technical solutions, and using these opportunities to practice communication skills
- Sharing your experiences online, requesting recommendations, and using badges to validate your work and make yourself more attractive to future employers

If you need extra help breaking into tech, join Brian's exclusive, cohort-based bootcamp (just 10 students per batch). Use this special link for $800 off: <https://www.parsity.io/taro>

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjenney/>

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 14] - Networking Without Being Weird

In this lesson, Brian emphasizes the importance of authentic online networking and provides strategies to build genuine connections without being cringy.

This lesson covers:

- Avoiding the common mistake of sending unsolicited requests for jobs or favors and focusing on building relationships instead
- Engaging with others by commenting on their posts and asking genuine questions to foster meaningful interactions
- Curating your feed by following like-minded individuals who share valuable content, ensuring that your online experience is constructive and positive

If you need extra help breaking into tech, join Brian's exclusive, cohort-based bootcamp (just 10 students per batch). Use this special link for $800 off: <https://www.parsity.io/taro>

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjenney/>

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 12] - Pick A Platform

In this lesson, Brian emphasizes the value of choosing the right platform for writing online, with a strong recommendation for LinkedIn.

This lesson covers:

- Why LinkedIn is a great platform for building a professional presence, with less anonymity and trolling compared to platforms like X or TikTok
- The advantage of standing out on LinkedIn, where recruiters and employers are more active, making it easier to connect with professionals
- How while platforms like X and TikTok offer cutting-edge tech content, LinkedIn provides a safer environment to network with verified professionals and receive genuine feedback

If you need extra help breaking into tech, join Brian's exclusive, cohort-based bootcamp (just 10 students per batch). Use this special link for $800 off: <https://www.parsity.io/taro>

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjenney/>

Break Into Tech And Become A Software Engineer [Part 10] - Why It's Better To Share

In this lesson, Brian explains the value of building in public as a tool for personal accountability, skill development, and community building.

This lesson covers:

- How building in public holds you accountable to your goals and helps you communicate more effectively, a key skill for software development
- The importance of using public sharing to connect with like-minded people and build a supportive community
- Why building in public improves your discoverability and can lead to networking, job opportunities, and genuine collaboration

If you need extra help breaking into tech, join Brian's exclusive, cohort-based bootcamp (just 10 students per batch). Use this special link for $800 off: <https://www.parsity.io/taro>

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianjenney/>

Paper Reading: LLaMA  Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models

Session Led By: [Mike A](https://www.linkedin.com/in/malik-mike-a-32b63818b/)

Join us for the first installment of our three-part paper reading series on the LLaMA series of Large Language Models (LLMs).\
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In this session, we will explore the foundational concepts and innovations behind the initially released LLaMA models, introduced by Meta AI back in early 2023. The first series of LLaMA models, ranging from 7B to 65B parameters, and how they opened the door to efficient, open-weight LLMs that can be trained on publicly available datasets.

This event will cover the groundbreaking at the time techniques used to train LLaMA models, which outperformed previous state-of-the-art models like GPT-3 on many benchmarks, despite being significantly smaller. We'll focus on the details of their unique training approach, data mixture, and architectural enhancements. We will also discuss the impressive zero-shot and few-shot capabilities of these models on tasks, highlighting the efficiency and accessibility that made these models popular within the open-source community.

This session is a must-attend for researchers, developers, and AI enthusiasts interested in the recent history behind the latest advancements in language modeling and AI research as we build our understanding of the LLaMA models towards the latest releases from Meta AI. Whether you're keen to understand the intricacies of LLMs, explore the potential of open-source AI models, or gain insights into the future of efficient AI by reflecting on the past, this paper reading will provide valuable knowledge and stimulate thought-provoking considerations.

Mark your calendars for an enlightening hour of "LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models" and be part of the journey to explore the future of AI language models through a review of the past.

Become An Open Source Master [Part 23] - Be Like Water

It's hard to play well with others when we're very stubborn. Instead, "*be like water*":

- Adapt our contributions to fit the project's philosophy and guidelines.
- Observe and learn from other successful pull requests in the project.
- Be patient and work with the maintainers to get our changes approved.

The viral bad pull request mentioned: <https://github.com/A11yance/axobject-query/pull/354> 

The full process of making a contribution in a big, scary project: [Fixing a Bug in Google Chrome as a First-Time Contributor](https://cprimozic.net/blog/fixing-a-bug-in-google-chrome/)

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

Become An Open Source Master [Part 22] - Good Practices When Making Commits

Pay attention to the naming conventions of commits and pull requests in open source projects. We also need to make sure our commits are atomic, solving one problem at a time. Always provide a clear test plan for our changes.

References:

- [One Diff, One Thesis](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/one-diff-one-thesis/)
- [Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

Become An Open Source Master [Part 21] - Start With Something Small

- Start with small contributions to get familiar with the workflow and build our confidence. Maintainers probably won't give you the adequate time of day if you have a large code change while being unkonwn.
- Fork the project to our own account, make changes, and commit them there.
- Answer the questions in the pull request template to help the maintainers understand our changes.

Github guide to forking a repository: <https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/working-with-forks/fork-a-repo>

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

Become An Open Source Master [Part 11] - Go With The Flow

We can contribute to open source projects by either creating something new or picking up existing work. It's important to communicate with the community owner or maintainer and earn their trust. We can do this by opening discussions, being open to feedback, and starting with small, well-defined tasks.

Example strong pull request (PR) from TinyBase: <https://github.com/tinyplex/tinybase/issues/130>

Connect with James:

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

Become An Open Source Master [Part 9] - Solve A Need

When choosing an open-source project to contribute to, we should:

- **Focus on solving a need:** Choose a project that you'll benefit from and have a passion for working on.
- **Assess the project's health:** Look for signs of active maintenance, such as merged pull requests and recent activity.
- **Seek insights from others:** Talk to people who have worked on the project to get their perspectives on the community and development process.

Connect with James: 

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

Grow From Junior To Mid-Level Engineer [Part 7] - Code Review

As a mid-level engineer, it's not enough to write good code yourself - You need to help others write good code as well. This lesson teaches you:

- How junior and mid-level engineers differ when it comes to code review quantity, shown with concrete Meta numbers
- The difference between a junior engineer code review comment vs. a mid-level engineer code review comment, explained with an in-depth example

Get better at code review with our masterclass: [\[Masterclass\] How To Do Amazing Code Review](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/rhRFh49oouaUDhWUvkQb/masterclass-how-to-do-amazing-code-review/)

Clear Communication For SWEs [Part 13] - Effective Communication In Meetings

In this video, I discuss strategies for clear communication in team meetings, focusing on different types of meetings like stand-ups, sprint planning, technical design, and client meetings. I emphasize the importance of preparation, concise communication, and active listening during Q&A sessions.

**Action requested:** Implement these strategies in your next team meeting for better communication and collaboration.

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

Clear Communication For SWEs [Part 9] - Problem-Solution-Benefit

In this video, I explain the Problem-Solution-Benefit framework, focusing on identifying a problem, proposing a solution, and highlighting the benefits. This framework is crucial for gaining stakeholder buy-in. I provide examples and steps on how to apply it effectively.

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

Clear Communication For SWEs [Part 3] - Core Elements Of Communication

In this video, I delve into the core elements of effective communication - empathy, purpose, and responsibility. Understanding and mastering these elements are crucial for successful team interactions and project outcomes. I emphasize the importance of tailoring messages to the audience, defining clear purposes, and ensuring mutual understanding. Viewers are encouraged to adopt a mindset shift towards intentional and thoughtful communication.

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

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 16] - Specialist

When you grow your junior to senior, it's best to [pick something, focus on it, and go deep](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/wUl3hc2wr1ms493bd23b/this-is-how-software-engineers-should-initially-learn/?playlistId=iBKHYpkjd0BRWWLKQG2j). You can actually continue this trajectory all the way to staff. This lesson teaches you:

- What the specialist staff engineer archetype is
- What it takes for a technical domain to be worthy of staff scope
- Examples of staff-level specialist domains

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 15] - Why Have Archetypes?

Growing from junior (L3) to senior (L5) is largely foundational. This stops being the case when you get to staff. This lesson teaches you:

- What staff engineer archetypes are and how they help conceptualize the path to staff
- How to quickly and easily understand what each staff engineer archetype does
- A framework you can use to learn from the staff engineers in your team, particularly with what archetype they embody

Learn more about Talk & Observe: 

- Rahul's dedicated YouTube video: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VV0nvusnqT4> 
- From the onboarding course: <https://www.jointaro.com/course/the-complete-onboarding-guide-for-software-engineers-succeeding-when-youre-new/the-talk-and-observe-framework/>

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 14] - Raise Leaders

As a senior engineer, you are expected to make the engineers around you better. As a staff engineer, this expectation is amplified by another degree. This lesson teaches you:

- The difference in the levels of engineers that senior and staff engineers mentor
- The difference in mentorship depth between senior and staff engineers
- How to raise senior engineers
- What it looks like to give staff engineer level mentorship compared to senior engineer mentorship, explained with an in-depth example

Dive deeper into mentorship with this case study: [\[Case Study\] Mentoring Junior SWEs \[E3\] to Senior \[E5\] In Just 2.5 Years At Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/EX9563YnxcJb62cCmetg/case-study-mentoring-junior-swes-e3-to-senior-e5-in-just-25-years-at-meta/)

Grow From Senior To Staff Engineer [Part 9] - Build Technical Systems

As a staff engineer, it simply isn't enough to write standard product code. You need to write code that helps other engineers write code. This lesson teaches you:

- The mindset shift that staff engineers have made with regard to technical systems that junior to senior engineers haven't
- Why technical systems work is so impactful and deserving of staff engineer scope
- Exactly what it means to demonstrate staff level behavior with technical systems instead of senior level behavior, shown with an in-depth examples
- Common technical systems within a team that staff+ engineers are responsible for building and maintaining

Asking Great Questions [Part 21] - Follow The Golden Rule

There is no free lunch, and this is certainly the case when it comes to asking favors. Favors in the tech industry are often harder to get as well given that they're higher leverage: A strong referral or a 1 on 1 meeting could easily be worth +$100. This lesson teaches you:

- What it means to follow the golden rule with your favor request question, explained with an in-depth example
- How to share equivalent value with 3 common favors that software engineers ask for
- A simple 3-step process you can use to add value to anyone and make them want to help you more, particularly when you can't return equivalent value

Asking Great Questions [Part 18] - Put Them On A Pedestal

If you are asking someone for a favor, they are almost certainly special in some way. This means that they're probably getting asked for favors from many, many people besides you. So how can you stand out? This lesson teaches you:

- An easy and free way to make your favor request stand out
- Why putting someone on a pedestal is so powerful
- What it means to put someone on a pedestal in your question, explained with an in-depth example

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.