Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 29] - Don't Get Downleveled

Downleveling is something many software engineers aren't aware of when they enter the industry and immediately start idolizing FAANG. It's a brutal phenomena that absolutely needs to be accounted for during your software engineer interview job search. This lesson teaches you:

- What downleveling is and why it's so common among Big Tech companies
- How to avoid getting downleveled in the interview process, both the easy way and the hard way
- General frameworks to understand the differences between the core engineering levels of junior, mid-level, senior, and staff at Big Tech companies

To develop a much better understanding of engineering levels at top tier companies, check this out: [\[Taro Top 10\] Understanding Engineering Levels](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/e9rjATPbSyvRPsukXiHn/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 28] - How Much LeetCode Should I Grind?

If you're this deep in the course, you now know that grinding 1,000 LeetCode problems doesn't lead to a Google hiring manager magically appearing on your doorstep with a fresh offer letter in hand. This lesson teaches you:

- Why data structures and algorithms are more damaging to the overall health of a job search than software engineers realize
- Exactly how over-indexing on data structures and algorithms and LeetCode completely destroys the job search of many software engineers
- The framework you should apply on whether you should be grinding LeetCode

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 27] - Hiring Manager Round (Separate)

Congratulations, you went through the onsite loop and did well! But what's this - The engineering director behind the job you're interviewing for wants to talk? This lesson teaches you:

- When separate hiring manager rounds happen (and why that's a good thing)
- How to pass hiring manager rounds and what to expect from them

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 26] - Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)

Many programming languages are Object-Oriented Programming languages, otherwise known as OOP languages. This lesson teaches you:

- What OOP interview rounds are and when to expect it
- The optimal way to prepare for an OOP interview round
- What a good OOP diagram looks like

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 25] - Practical Coding

Practical interview coding rounds are the purest form of software engineering and what software engineers generally hope the interviews are (at least when they complain about data structures and algorithms problems online). This lesson teaches you:

- What a practical coding round is and when to expect it
- What kinds of companies give practical coding rounds
- How to prepare for practical coding rounds

To get the absolute best practice for practical coding rounds, check out our side projects playlist: [\[Taro Top 10\] Building Impressive Side Projects](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/vKUWMgmmaEvzcYUXZs4B/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 24] - System Design

System design is another common interview type, particularly among Big Tech companies. Unlike the notorious data structures and algorithms, system design is something you actually do on the job. This lesson teaches you:

- When to expect system design rounds during the interview loop
- What kinds of engineers get system design questions
- What you should be doing when getting a system design question
- What a proper system design diagram looks like

To master the system design interview, check out these resources:

- [\[Masterclass\] How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview - System Design](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/J3I9fTW9ulr6T9KjxpqY/masterclass-how-to-ace-your-big-tech-interview-system-design/)
- [\[Course\] Frontend System Design Masterclass - Building Playlists](https://www.jointaro.com/course/frontend-system-design-masterclass-building-playlists/)
- [\[Taro Top 10\] System Design](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/MFc9JT0tZSmOwbuKC2C7/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 23] - Data Structures And Algorithms (DSA)

Data structures and algorithms (otherwise known as DSA) - We've all heard of them before. For many software engineers on the job hunt, it is the bane of their existence (and for good reason). This lesson teaches you:

- When to expect DSA problems during the interview loop
- How DSA problems came to take over the software engineer interview
- Why FAANG and Big Tech companies overall use DSA interviews so aggressively (hint: it's not because they're stupid)

To master the data structures and algorithms interview, check out these resources:

- [\[Course\] Master The Data Structures And Algorithms Interview](https://www.jointaro.com/course/master-the-data-structures-and-algorithms-interview/)
- [\[Taro Top 10\] Effective Interview Prep](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/HLBYxJI7D1j8STolrwum/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 22] - Behavioral Interviews

Behavioral interviews are omnipresent across software engineer interviews. They are also excellent at filtering out problem candidates. This lesson teaches you:

- When you can see behavioral interviews
- What the purpose of behavioral interviews is
- Why software engineers often underappreciate and underrate behavioral interviews, leading to their failure
- Why behavioral interviews are the *most important interview round in any hiring loop*
- The 3 core principles you should always have in mind when answering a behavioral interview question

To master the behavioral interview, follow the resources here: [\[Taro Top 10\] Behavioral Interviews](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/IPFmEPUhAmizNe9ZUWV5/)

Alex's blog post about behavioral interviews: [Software Engineer Interview Guide - Behavioral Questions](https://www.jointaro.com/blog/software-engineer-interview-guide-part-2-behavioral-questions/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 21] - Recruiter Screen

Having a recruiter talk to you is one of the most common ways tech companies start the interview process for software engineers. Here's the thing: These recruiter screen ones can be surprisingly tricky for many software engineers. This lesson teaches you:

- When recruiter screens happen
- How difficult recruiter screens can be, how often software engineers fail them, and why many software engineers are terrible at them (when they really shouldn't be)
- What to expect in a recruiter screen so you can pass it with ease

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 20] - Automated Coding Screen

Tech companies are trying to rely more and more on robots to screen software engineer job candidates out. This lesson teaches you:

- When automated coding screens appear
- What to expect when you get an automated coding screen like HackerRank
- Whether you should do automated coding screens

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 19] - Take Home Assignments

Take home assignments are one of the most brutal screening mechanisms tech companies use to filter out software engineer job candidates. This lesson teaches you:

- Why take homes are horrible
- How to skip take homes as much as you can
- A framework you can use to figure out whether or not you should do a take home

If you have no other option but to do a take-home, follow these resources:

- ["How do I make software less overwhelming?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/YseMPDw538jhyS1MWlTs/how-do-i-make-software-less-overwhelming/)
- ["How Long to Complete Take-Home Assignment II"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/7PfT1CWSY0Dd1jiLYTou/how-long-to-complete-take-home-assignment-ii/)
- [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 18] - The 3 Core Interview Stages

So a tech company has decided to not throw your resume straight in the trash and are giving you a chance. How does the interview process work? This lesson teaches you:

- What the first round of *screeners* is
- What the second round of *phone screens* is (and the history behind the term)
- What the final round of onsites is (and the history behind the term)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 17] - Avoiding Scams

There is a lot of desperation among job seeking software engineers, and there's tragically a lot of evil people out there eager to take advantage of that. This lesson teaches you:

- The most common "job training" scam and how it works
- The relatively new fake check remote work scam and how it works
- How to keep yourself safe with the overall principle to keep in mind when it comes to identifying scams in general (not just when job searching)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 16] - FAANG Or Bust (And Why It’s Dumb)

Software engineers have a deep obsession with "FAANG" often treating it as the Holy Grail of career goals. Unfortunately, this often leads to job searching failure. This lesson teaches you:

- How software engineers greatly underestimate the difficulty of getting into Big Tech and how they should believe and act instead
- Why FAANG companies are generally averse to hiring non-senior candidates
- The many reasons why going to Big Tech later in your career is good for you
- The path most engineers have to take in order to break into FAANG (and why that's perfectly fine!)

If you want to learn more about FAANG and Big Tech:

- [\[Taro Top 10\] Breaking Into FAANG](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/roKqDHgxu4C5CioEFpJY/)
- ["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/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 15] - Cover Letters

Cover letters are one of many roadblocks predatory tech companies put in your way during the application process. They convince software engineer job candidates that they can win with gushy words, but this is almost never the case. This lesson teaches you:

- The very minimal impact cover letters have on the hiring loop
- The rare situations where cover letters can actually work
- What to do if a cover letter is required for a company you aren't genuinely ultra-passionate about

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 14] - Referrals

Having a current employee put you into their hiring pipeline via a referral is one of the most powerful ways to level up your job search. However, referrals are often misunderstood by software engineers. This lesson teaches you:

- The 2 different types of referrals and which one is better (spoiler: engineers usually struggle getting the better one)
- The massive difference between *weak referrals* and *strong referrals*
- Why you are more special than you realize and how you can leverage that to get more strong referrals
- How to approach professional networking properly to cultivate huge amounts of strong referrals over time

To help you get strong referrals, check out our networking course: [Networking Guide: Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/course/networking-guide-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/)

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 13] - Cold Messages

You're applying to tons of software engineer jobs, and it's not working out. In your desperation, you come up with a genius idea: You'll reach out to company employees directly with a cold message. That'll work right? Guess again. This lesson teaches you:

- Why cold messaging isn't as effective as software engineers think
- How a reliance on cold messages often mask a deeper personal problem for the engineer
- The necessary conditions for a cold message to have a high likelihood of working
- Why cold messages are far more effective with startups and near useless for Big Tech
- How to write an excellent cold message, demonstrated by a thorough example of a bad cold message vs. a good cold message

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 12] - Job “Requirements”

We've all seen the insane "entry-level" job postings that require 3-5 years of experience. This lesson teaches you:

- Why job postings are so ridiculous (hint: it's how capitalism works)
- How treating job requirements as a wish list feeds into the overall strategy of quantity &gt; quality
- The amount of requirements met that you need to justify applying for a job

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 11] - Struggling? Send More Applications

One of the most common reasons for a struggling software engineer job search is that they simply aren't applying enough. The good news is that this can be easily fixed with the proper behavior adjustments. This lesson teaches you:

- How you can conquer the job search with sheer math
- A healthy conversion rate for application -&gt; interview chance
- Why you should almost never spend too much time on any individual application (quantity &gt; quality)
- The framework to follow on whether you should apply a ton or apply more selectively

Here are the Big 2 job searching websites:

- <https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/>
- <https://wellfound.com/>

On top of the Big 2, we've seen engineers have success with:

- <https://otta.com/>
- <https://www.workatastartup.com/> - Jobs at Y Combinator startups specifically, the greatest incubator in the world which is behind Stripe, DoorDash, Airbnb, and many more FAANG-adjacent companies

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 10] - Order Matters

We all want to speed run our way into FAANG. The bad news is that this is almost never pans out for software engineers, and aggressively pursuing this strategy can easily lead to your downfall. This lesson teaches you:

- The true way to actually get better at interviewing and why it can't be avoided (no matter how painful it is)
- How to properly structure your job search when Big Tech is one of your goals
- The general approach you should take when it comes to applying to jobs and sequencing your interviews

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.