[Part 1] Software Engineer Onboarding: Embrace Your Lack of Knowledge

Don't be afraid to NOT know something. Ask questions.

When you first join a team, there's a lot that you don't know, and that's ok!! No one expects you to know the codebase, the context, and the structure within your new role. Your goal is to gain context through your questions. 

- [Asking Questions Is NOT A Sign Of Weakness](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/YIL3iK8fmSwhWP0PASqe/asking-questions-is-not-a-sign-of-weakness/)
- [Overcoming Imposter Syndrome - You Have Much More Value Than You Realize](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/dTSdd4ozp298jH3glvnx/overcoming-imposter-syndrome-you-have-much-more-value-than-you-realize/)
- [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/)
- [Alex's Guide to Effective Communication](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/hVdLQQzfslaYarLSCmmy/)

This is part 1 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 to part 2 of the masterclass here](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/jr0iHuUCGW5lCdBndEpO/part-2-software-engineer-onboarding-learn-the-workflow/)
- 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

[Case Study] How To Become A Data Guru As An Engineer (w/ Senior Director of DS Mo Shahangian)

Mo has had a successful career at the intersection of data science and engineering at companies like Pinterest, Meta, and Epic Games.

Mo talked about the biggest data mistakes and how the job changes as you navigate seniority levels. He also shared his contrarian approach to promotion that has worked so well in his career. 

## Data knowledge for engineers:
- Data science is an overloaded term. The high-level goal for anyone working with data is to surface insights that will inform decisions. 
- Being insightful isn’t enough -- you need to surface **actionable** and **causal** relationships.

Everyone needs a reminder correlation != causation. Have some tools to remind yourself.
- Which way does the causal arrow go?
- Remember [Goodhart’s Law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law)

## Career growth
- At the most senior levels, leaders are business owners/product leaders, not functional leaders.
- At more junior levels, it’s the opposite, there needs to be order and a separation of responsibility. The best people learn how to work, not only within their lane, but across.

Career success comes from being deliberate:
- A career is a series of decisions
- These decisions come with tradeoffs
- Those best at navigating tradeoffs emerge as leaders
- "Deliberate" means that you are both intentional and calculated

Mo started out building data systems at UCLA, joined Pinterest during hypergrowth, and eventually became a Senior Director of Data Science at Meta, and recently joined Epic Games at the leadership level. Connect with Mo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-shahangian-b040188/

[Connect with Mo](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohammad-shahangian-b040188/)

More resources: 
- Another Taro Premium Session about [junior --> senior eng promos at Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/EX9563YnxcJb62cCmetg/session-5-mentoring-junior-swes-e3-to-senior-e5-in-just-25-years-at-meta/)
- [Why chasing promo could hurt you](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/qj2kX94TfFPgBLlQZBtb/why-chasing-promotion-could-hurt-you/)

Every Senior+ Engineer Must Decide: IC vs Management Track

There is one good motivation to become an engineering people manager: to help people. If that's not the priority, you should not become an EM (and you should avoid working with those types of managers).

Daniel toggled between individual contributor (IC) and manager several times in his career. His most fruitful experience was as a very senior IC engineer at Meta -- he had the influence + context of a manager, but none of the headache associated with the job. 

Connect with Daniel on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieltomko/)

Related content: 
- [Questions You Can Ask To Evaluate An Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/VOQc7vIzQ4STtw7UrB29/questions-you-can-ask-to-evaluate-an-engineering-manager/)
- [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/)

Why Chasing Promotion Could Hurt You

Daniel has never gunned for a promotion when choosing teams or projects. In fact, he's actively turned down promotions he was offered at Microsoft and Meta (Philip Su famously down-leveled himself at Meta so he was no longer a Director). 

Here's why chasing a promotion could end up causing more stress and end up hurting your career in the long run. 

- Connect with Daniel Tomko on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieltomko/)
- Videos from [Philip Su](https://www.jointaro.com/tagname/Philip%20Su/)

Related video: 
- [Taro Premium Session: Mentoring Meta Engineers From E3 -> E5](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/EX9563YnxcJb62cCmetg/session-5-mentoring-junior-swes-e3-to-senior-e5-in-just-25-years-at-meta/)
- [Rockstar Software Engineer Story: SW2 -> Principal In Just 4 Years](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/Lvf1TDKt1R4ZJSCr9BVv/rockstar-software-engineer-story-sw2-greater-principal-in-just-4-years/)
- ["Is there something as growing too quickly?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/o9oyCcIjWT4Xa6w1Eau5/is-there-something-as-growing-too-quickly/)

When Should You Switch Teams Or Companies? - Daniel Tomko's Perspective

Daniel Tomko spent much longer at the companies in his career compared to most engineers: 11 years at Microsoft and 8 years at Meta. Within these companies, Daniel did various team changes.

- Switching companies has a higher "transaction cost" compared to switching teams.
- At a large enough company, you have tons of interesting technical challenges and people to work with.

Connect with Daniel Tomko on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieltomko/)

Other relevant resources: 
- [How to approach a team switch conversation with my manager?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/XFQqRINGf9JvW3xmnVHa/whats-the-best-way-to-approach-a-team-switching-conversation-with-my-manager/)
- [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/)
- [What's it like working on an ads team?](https://www.jointaro.com/question/GCCIkaBVUpPxGCF4MjRL/what-is-it-like-working-on-ads-teams/)

[Masterclass] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech

Professional networking is vital for a healthy career, especially as a software engineer. However, many tech workers struggle with building relationships, especially introverts. In this masterclass, we teach you how to improve your interpersonal communication and build meaningful professional connections quickly, which might even make you some work friends along the way.

There were a ton of important points from this masterclass, so here's our Top 5 (in no particular order):

- **You're going to get burned, and that's okay** - Professional networking is just like making friends or dating: You will meet people where it just doesn't work out. Don't let that tear you down and make you cloister up. Move on from those relationships and continue investing in new people.
- **Make them feel special** - Asking someone for a huge favor with some copy-paste message isn't networking: It's begging. The classic example is cold messaging random people for referrals into their FAANG company. If you want any chance of success with a reach out, make sure to deeply explain your background and credibility alongside why you reached out to that specific person in particular - Put them on a pedestal.
- **Understand their incentives** - One of the biggest reasons people fail with networking is that they're entirely caught up in what *they're* looking for, reducing their networking to "*How can I get this other person to give me what I want?"*. Successful relationships are those where each party is able to provide lots of value to one another, and the first step to doing that is to understand what the *other* person wants and what motivates them. When it comes to networking within a company, this is usually tied to what they get rewarded for in performance review.
- **Lead with kindness** - Only helping others when they have already helped you is a recipe for weak, slow-growing professional networks. Kindness is 10x more valuable in building up a relationship when it's unexpected, making the pleasant surprise of helping someone who's never helped you before especially powerful. For a deep dive into this concept (including a story about how Taro cofounders Alex and Rahul met), check out: ["How do you network effectively within a company?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/DwT9GtdYK9nwFV3a7jrU/how-do-you-network-effectively-within-a-company/)
- **Maximize 1 on 1 meetings** - 1 on 1s are the core engine behind deepening interpersonal communication, and that includes professional ones. Schedule a recurring 1 on 1 if possible with anybody you want to build a deep relationship with, and make sure to use that time well. Embrace [the art of the "Awkward 1 on 1"](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/xjeFRpp5YHxG9TTK8wjn/1-on-1s-are-the-time-to-be-awkward/) to share honest feedback, talk about how you're feeling, and learn who they truly are as a person. To learn more about this, watch this: [\[Masterclass\] How To Have Impactful 1 on 1 Meetings](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/FEK6JZqW2Jg3rdN9yeGn/masterclass-how-to-have-impactful-1-on-1-meetings/)

Related resources:

- [Alex's Guide To Effective Communication](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/hVdLQQzfslaYarLSCmmy/)
- ["How do I lead without authority?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/BWv3hFSELbn59mXJbkNB/how-do-i-lead-without-authority/)
- [What Makes A Truly Great Tech Lead](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/uHqZZ15SK19MatEvLSO6/what-makes-a-truly-great-tech-lead-a-vp-of-engineerings-perspective/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TDdBRQTGc66T35PzB5SwcJ3HQci_csdy8mzKxQu3law/edit?usp=sharing)

How To Properly Learn To Code As A Software Engineer - Do The Simple Thing First

Software engineers are obsessed with using the most modern framework in pursuit of the best code. Ironically, this dogma leads to them writing terrible code.

Here's the core points:

- **Do the simple thing first** - When picking up a stack, use the most basic framework. If possible, don't use a framework at all. By starting with the primitive setup, you will understand its limitations. This means that when you move up to modern frameworks and libraries, you will truly understand the problems they are trying to solve, allowing them to use them properly.
- **You can't "cheat" advanced code understanding** - You can't jump straight to the cutting-edge tech. These abstractions are powerful for a reason: They are naturally complex and require a deep understanding of the overall stack to use. When you try to "skip to the end", you will write bad code. The most terrible code comes from more junior software engineers trying to be smart prematurely with "modern architecture".

Related resources:

- [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)
- [\[Course\] System Design Masterclass: Shipping Real Features To Production](https://www.jointaro.com/course/frontend-system-design-masterclass-building-playlists/)

Use Code Review Feedback For Hypergrowth - Meta Prodigy Engineer Story

As a junior software engineer, one of the main ways you're going to grow is through feedback on your code review. Because of this, it's vital that you get the maximum value from code review feedback.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Respond quickly and with appreciation** - Be thankful of good code review feedback, and try to respond to code review comments within 1 to 4 hours. Don't be defensive when it comes to code review feedback.
- **Don't make the same mistake twice** - Take the time to really understand and absorb the feedback: Don't just make the suggested change. If you don't understand the principles behind some feedback on your code, just ask! [Here's our in-depth advice on how to really not forget code review feedback](https://link.jointaro.com/7wjo6DcDcJmxDVYB9).
- **Alex's mentee prodigy story** - Alex had a Meta mentee who was able to grow from junior [E3] to senior [E5] in just 2 years. A big part of this was their incredible code velocity:
  - This mentee really nailed learning from code review feedback. Their initial commits were a bit messy, but they quickly got to a point where they stopped making mistakes.
  - They were also very meticulous about their pull request quality. They always had very thorough summaries alongside very complete test plans. For more complicated commits, they would have up to 5 videos walking through every case.
  - After 1 half, this engineer was writing almost 500 commits a half, making them the #1 code committer in the entire organization. This was largely because their stellar code quality and code review learning allowed them to land their pull requests on the very first try 90%+ of the time.

This highlight is from our masterclass on "How To Write Better Code Faster As A Software Engineer". [Click here to watch it.](https://link.jointaro.com/v6zEgUfQTxoSj33Z7)

Related resources:
- [Quick Tips To Get Higher Quality Code Reviews Faster](https://link.jointaro.com/dE4U41RAVtZKLhxJ7)
- [Avoid These Junior Engineer Mistakes With Code Review](https://link.jointaro.com/agkYrLH8uuCv4UcPA)
- [Code Review MUST Be Fast, Otherwise The Team Is Unhealthy](https://link.jointaro.com/oxK55E1bkX8nMeNGA)

Noob Software Engineer vs. Pro Software Engineer

The best software engineers proactively front-load the work to write clean code. They do this by planning ahead to find the best approach and taking the time to "dress up" their code review really well.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Noob Engineer** - Their goal is just to get the code to work. As soon as they get the happy flow functional, they submit the code for review. Their pull request doesn't have good context attached, and the test plan isn't thorough at all. They have to go through many revisions of teammates rejecting their code before they can finally land the commit. After it's landed, there's a high chance it breaks, and now they have to go back to their code to patch it up (or hard revert it).
- **Pro Engineer** - They come up with a plan to implement the best approach and vet it with their teammates. They make sure the code is polished and covers edge cases thoroughly before submitting the pull request. Their PR clearly explains the purpose of the code and has a very detailed test plan demonstrating what it does. Their teammates quickly and smoothly read their code and accept it on the first try. The pro engineer is able to land their commit shortly after submission, and the entire process was smooth for everyone. The pro engineer's reputation within the team grows with every masterful commit they push to production.

This highlight is from our masterclass on "How To Write Better Code Faster As A Software Engineer". [Click here to watch it.](https://link.jointaro.com/v6zEgUfQTxoSj33Z7)

Related resources:
- [One Diff, One Thesis - What Every Code Review Should Be Like](https://link.jointaro.com/5Ehehxt6jBR42ui1A)
- ["What can I do to quickly build my reputation as a junior engineer?"](https://link.jointaro.com/hxCTvumsQhUqRAbn6)

How To REALLY Level Up Your Coding Ability With Side Projects

There is no secret to getting better at coding: As a software engineer, you will become faster at coding when you write more code. This is where side projects can really come in.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Side projects are a productivity "hack"** - They allow you to write more code without overworking yourself. The self-guided, free nature of side projects essentially make them a hobby that also helps your performance at work.
- **When to consider side projects** - There are 2 factors that make this lever far more powerful:
  - You work at a startup: Startup code will be much more "vanilla" and closer to the code you find online. This means that it won't be too different from side project code.
  - You work on the front-end: If you're a web/iOS/Android developer and are working with pixels on screen, this puts you in a great position to do side projects as your work is inherently more sharable.
- **Side projects develop other important skills** - On top of raw coding, side projects also help you dabble in the skills of product managers, designers, data scientists, user researchers, and a whole lot more since you own the product entirely. These skills are also important for software engineers, especially those pursuing senior levels.

This highlight is from our masterclass about becoming a better coder. You can watch the full video here: [[Masterclass] How To Write Better Code Faster As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/iYpRj8XfyzCSaTYnce3y/masterclass-how-to-write-better-code-faster-as-a-software-engineer/)

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Come Up With 100k+ Users App Ideas You Can Build For Free](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/AI4zi759PSGn6RwIFT6f/masterclass-how-to-come-up-with-100k-users-app-ideas-you-can-build-for-free/)
- [[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/)
- ["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/)

A Powerful Tool For Software Engineer Productivity - Focus Blocks

So many junior software engineers don't manage their calendar well, and this especially hurts their ability to write code and finish tickets efficiently. Don't blindly go into every meeting, especially as a junior software engineer who is often not relevant to the meeting. Be deliberate with your calendar and establish focus blocks.

Here are the core points from the video:

- **So what is a focus block?** - It's a long, uninterrupted period of time for you to focus on a singular track of work. A true focus block should be 4+ hours, ideally an entire work day.
- **Why are focus blocks important for coding?** - Humans are naturally bad at context switching, so focus blocks are just important for productivity in general. Having a focus block allows you to enter a "flow state" where you rate of work ramps up over time and you get more and more into the groove. When it comes to coding in particular, the focus time is crucial as context switching with code is especially painful. It takes a while to deep back into a codebase when you return to a coding task, and there's also practical reasons like rebasing your local and setting up your build environment again.
- **How can I set up a focus block?** - The main "culprit" behind hurting your focus blocks is meetings. Be aggressive about shaving meetings off your calendar where you aren't a core player, especially if you're earlier-in-career. Group the remaining meetings you have onto certain days with the goal of freeing up 1-2 days entirely for coding. 1 on 1 meetings will be the easiest to move. For the meetings you do end up going to, [follow this advice to really participate and get maximum value out of them](https://www.jointaro.com/question/3E3SBCa59z5oDb7AEciw/i-struggle-to-come-up-with-things-that-add-value-to-a-meeting-what-do-i-say/).

Related resources:

- [\[Masterclass\] How To Manage Your Time Optimally In Tech And Achieve More Results](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/rnX9EKpzc43TgGW9MozG/masterclass-how-to-manage-your-time-optimally-in-tech-and-achieve-more-results/)
- ["How do I optimize my sacred hour at work?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/l8dzUVTu99CahofQsYAi/how-do-i-optimize-my-sacred-hour-at-work/)

What Software Engineers Don't Get About Clean Code

Back at Instagram, Alex was able to grow very quickly. This was largely due to his coding ability. In his 1st half at Instagram, he pushed \~125 commits to production. In his 2nd half, he pushed \~185 commits to production. In his 3rd half, he pushed \~275 commits to production, making him a Top 5 code committer within his org of 50+ software engineers.

Here are the core points from the video:

- **You don't need to sacrifice quality for velocity** - This is one of the biggest misconceptions about code. You can both write a lot of code while keeping the polish high. In fact, high code quality and velocity naturally go hand-in-hand.
- **Messy code is a defining trait of a weak SWE** - 99% of bad software engineers have poor code quality, and conversely, you will rarely meet a high-performing software engineer that puts out messy code. Optimizing your code quality is one of the most powerful ways to avoid being a low performer, especially if you work at FAANG or Big Tech in general where the scale and stakes are much higher for code.
- **80/20 rule applies to code quality** - It usually doesn't make sense to cover 100% of edge cases, but you can generally cover \~80% of them with \~20% of the maximum effort, even if you're a tiny startup. Don't make excuses for broken, unreadable code by saying "We have to move fast"; strive to find that 80/20 path.

Related resources:

- ["What's the difference between a low performer software engineer and a high performer?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/nMxx2EMVIlJbl1oK4SGu/whats-the-difference-between-a-low-performer-software-engineer-and-a-high-performer/)
- ["How can I write great code faster?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ciE9a2TZ7rZNyYP8HbeJ/how-can-i-write-great-code-faster/)

How To Build Work Relationships Faster - Giving Deeper Thanks

If you want to build work relationships efficiently and effectively network in general, it's vital to master the art of giving thanks and showing gratitude.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Giving thanks is a skill** - Don't just send a cookie-cutter 1 sentence thanks over DM after someone helps you: It's very soulless and takes you almost 0 time to write. Helping someone out with their work performance is one of the most high-impact ways you can add value to their lives; you should respond in kind when you receive this help. Some basic tactics to "level up" your thanks is to send a heartfelt paragraph and to thank them in person, either through a video call or actually in-person if you're physically coworking.
- **Thank teammates via their manager** - This is especially true at a high-performance tech company like FAANG where so much of the engineering culture revolves around performance review. If someone goes above and beyond helping you, make sure to let their manager know. If they're a recurring helper, you can even tell their manager that you deeply believe that this altruistic behavior should be rewarded in their performance review: When the helper hears this from their manager, they will *really* value you as a teammate and know that their efforts have truly been rewarded.
- **Thank publicly** - This adds more weight to your gratitude and also acts as an artifact to help out the other person during performance review.
- **Recurring thanks** - There's no reason why you can't thank someone multiple times for the same thing. Alex had a mentee who was really good at doing this: They would be very thankful on the initial unblock, and after the full project finished, they would thank the helper again (i.e. *"I just shipped this project, and it wouldn't have been possible if you didn't help me on X"*).

Related resources:
- [Effective Communication Guide [Part 3.1] - The Power Of Thanks](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/noWZaoGWlrYQxX2Vhigd/effective-communication-guide-part-31-the-power-of-thanks/)
- [Don't Waste Your 1 on 1s. Build The Relationship](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/wcFrGc53iHzbWh0Ssw1j/dont-waste-your-1-on-1s-build-the-relationship/)

How To Earn Respect Fast - Senior Engineer Onboarding Story

Even if you're onboarding, you can earn respect amongst your team. In fact, you should feel empowered to earn this respect despite being new, especially if you're a senior software engineer.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Help junior engineers** - This is one of the most effective ways to earn respect on a team as a more experienced engineer. The junior engineers may be more fluent in the code than you are, but if you're a senior+ engineer, there is a reason you have this level: You have certain fundamentals and instincts that are applicable everywhere that junior engineers don't really have.
- **Show your depth** - You won't win with velocity and output when you're new. However, you can win with depth and quality as that's largely a function of your effort and time. If you're a more experienced engineer, think about how you can go deeper into something than everyone else on the team.
- **Alex's senior engineer onboarding story** - Here's how a senior Android engineer quickly made a splash after joining Alex's team back at Instagram.
  - They saw a junior engineer struggling with a very complex text layout bug with the Instagram Android app.
  - They volunteered to help with this bug, even though they didn't have to.
  - After many failed debugging attempts, *they slowly extracted the relevant code line by line into an entirely separate Android app to identify the breaking line*. This was a brilliant tactic that nobody else on the team even remotely considered.
  - This combination of goodwill and extreme software engineering depth earned them a mountain of respect pretty much immediately.

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:
- ["How can I quickly gain respect among my team as a senior engineer?"](https://link.jointaro.com/i9j4dtohx2bXc2Sq8)
- ["How do you network effectively within a company?"](https://link.jointaro.com/Hr1nr53D7sfQAEv3A)

This Is How You Get Feedback - Making The Process Smooth

The best way to improve as a software engineer is to get feedback, especially when you're new to a team or company. However, this is much easier said than done - Simply having the mentality of being open to feedback isn't enough.

Here's the core points from the video:

- **Don't just ask "Do you have any feedback for me?"** - The cognitive load for the person you're seeking feedback from is simply too high: They need to mentally comb through everything you're doing and then think through every aspect of it to find feedback to give you. Instead of doing this, they'll often default to the "lazy" response of "Nope, you're doing great!". Lazy inputs result in lazy outputs, and you definitely shouldn't be lazy when asking for feedback.
- **Reduce feedback requests to yes/no questions** - Regularly retrospect on your own and use that to craft more pointed questions when asking for feedback. Let's say you're not happy with how clean your code is, evidenced by a lot of pushback when you submit it for review. Using this, you can ask something like, *"I feel like I could do a better job polishing my code; my PRs get a lot of thrash. Do you think I can improve here?"* If they say "Yes", you can then ask for tactics you can apply to get better here.
- **Core areas for onboarding feedback**
  - Overall velocity and output
  - Code quality
  - How good your questions are

Related resources:

- [Suppress Your Instincts And Treat All Feedback As A Gift](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/dpTu1KBbXJdnHdrQLxsG/suppress-your-instincts-and-treat-all-feedback-as-a-gift/)
- [How To Get Real Feedback So You Can Actually Improve](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/srTbalkn0HMwEH7HoOpY/how-to-get-real-feedback-so-you-can-actually-improve/)
- ["How can I find more opportunities to grow when I'm getting very little real feedback?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/7nrslKZuiFdYeutpeX5k/how-can-i-find-more-opportunities-to-grow-when-im-getting-very-little-real-feedback/)

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)

Asking Questions Is NOT A Sign Of Weakness

Believing that asking questions and requesting help is a sign of weakness is easily one of the biggest misconceptions among onboarding software engineers and just people in general. If you believe this, you are simply holding back your career.

Here are the core points from the video:

- **Nobody knows everything** - And because of this, asking questions is a fundamentally human experience. There will always be some corner of the ecosystem that you don't know, and this is especially true when you work at FAANG / Big Tech, even if you're very tenured there.
- **Liberally pursue support** - This is especially true when you're earlier-in-career or new to a team or company. As long as you're polite, humble, and empathetic when seeking help, you'll be surprised at how much support you can get and how happy your team is to give it to you. Follow the advice here to learn how to ask questions in this way: ["How do you overcome the fear of asking stupid questions / bothering people when you need help?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/vNE8kgpx2zdI1wACg9jA/how-do-you-overcome-the-fear-of-asking-stupid-questions-bothering-people-when-you-need-help/)
- **Minimize the time that you're a n00b** - Let's say perception is a problem and people think you're annoying when you're asking for help as a new team member. It's much better to ask a *bunch* of questions in a short period of time and become very independent afterwards instead of asking a few questions here and there and prolonging the period where you're an inefficient newbie for 3-6 months and dragging down the team. The latter would be *much* more annoying.

Related resources:

- ["How do I not bother people when asking for help?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/0Im1Kcgso1fJ8eAX3oOO/how-do-i-not-bother-people-when-asking-for-help/)
- ["How do I balance being more independent and asking questions?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/cLsgiARaD5kVmV1BvdUi/how-do-i-balance-being-more-independent-and-asking-questions/)

[Masterclass] How To Write Better Code Faster As A Software Engineer

Code: It's the main thing software engineers care about. However, as we all know, writing code quickly while keeping it clean can be extremely difficult. This is what this masterclass will help you with: We want to empower you to not only write more code, but write higher-quality code as well.

There were a ton of important points from this masterclass, so here's our Top 5 (in no particular order):
- **Go deep, not wide** - One of the most common mistakes junior software engineers make is not focusing on just 1 stack, often captured by being a "full-stack engineer". When you go ultra-deep on just 1 stack, you will start developing software engineering fundamentals and "muscle memory" that allows you to write code a lot faster. It will generally take 2-4 years of focus on just 1 stack to start getting really good at it. For more information about this point, check out this video: [This Is How Software Engineers Should Initially Learn](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/wUl3hc2wr1ms493bd23b/this-is-how-software-engineers-should-initially-learn/)
- **Build side projects** - There's no magic to getting better at coding: The more you do it, the stronger your skill. This is why side projects are so powerful: They allow you to write more code without overworking yourself as we talk about in this discussion: ["How will side projects enhance my skills as a software engineer on the job?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/KORArGLRW6mNn47ddC1S/how-will-side-projects-enhance-my-skills-as-a-software-engineer-on-the-job/)
- **Submit polished pull requests** - There's more to code than the raw lines you put into commits; how you submit it for review is a huge factor as well. If you take the time to make atomic PRs, add context, and attach a thorough test plan, your code will be landed much faster (and your team will love you for it). For concrete examples on what this looks like, watch this: [One Diff, One Thesis - What Every Code Review Should Be Like](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/3NAbmgiaY3IpvayNIoVl/one-diff-one-thesis-what-every-code-review-should-be-like/)
- **Really absorb code review feedback** - The main way you will learn as a junior engineer or as an onboarding team member is by getting feedback on your code. Make sure to respond to code review feedback in a timely manner (<4 hours) and really soak it in: Strive to never make the same code quality mistake twice. If you're having trouble getting your code reviewed fast, follow the advice here: [Quick Tips To Get Higher Quality Code Reviews Faster](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/QgDk2yWlfWzgLjh56bSq/quick-tips-to-get-higher-quality-code-reviews-faster/)
- **Modularize your code** - Split your code up into focused components with single responsibilities and thoughtful names. When you do this, your code will be much more flexible, reusable, and easier to read. Here's our advice on how to break down large projects into more digestible chunks: ["How can I be better at executing on my work when it comes to coding and breaking down ambiguity?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/6lfyIKgkoclcDNKWq9o3/how-can-i-be-better-at-executing-on-my-work-when-it-comes-to-coding-and-breaking-down-ambiguity/)

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Manage Your Time Optimally In Tech And Achieve More Results](https://link.jointaro.com/8D6Y6BnYm8696RtC9)
- [[Masterclass] How To Do Amazing Code Review](https://link.jointaro.com/8D6Y6BnYm8696RtC9)
- ["What can I do to quickly build my reputation as a junior engineer?"](https://link.jointaro.com/hxCTvumsQhUqRAbn6)
- [Presentation slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17o6XlEjiYbkV1FMrhOoFwcM1O59NmdAOfZ3AXol7daY/edit?usp=sharing)

Don't Learn Code In This Way - How Software Engineers Waste Time

So many software engineers mess up when they're trying to learn code by bringing over a bad habit from school: Studying. This is simply not how software works, and this video's here to explain why.

Here are the core points:
- **Reading code and documentation is ineffective** - You can't purely read your way towards a good understanding of a codebase; it will get you 10-15% of the way tops. Software is fundamentally about doing - The actual learning begins when you jump in and start playing with the code. On top of all this, it's much better to get a high-level understanding of the codebase by asking your teammates for it instead of trying to infer it yourself from raw reading.
- **Documentation gets worse the better the company is** - Good software companies are fast-moving. This is a big reason why FAANG is successful: They are able to still move quickly despite their immense size. Because of this, documentation is rarely kept up to date due to how fast the codebase evolves. In fact, excessive reading of documentation may actively harm you if it contains legacy patterns that aren't accepted at your company anymore.

This clip is from our masterclass on how to succeed at a new team or company as a software engineer. You can watch it here: [[Masterclass] How To Succeed At A New Team Or Company As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/n384HdJuDgulSHbHQLnf/masterclass-how-to-succeed-at-a-new-team-or-company-as-a-software-engineer/)

So now that you know how NOT to learn a codebase, here's some resources on how to actually learn a codebase:
- [How To Learn A New Codebase Fast](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/DX27hiXPJ4G7Czk2mwLL/how-to-learn-a-new-codebase-fast/)
- [Learning A New Codebase? Here's How To Figure Out What Matters](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/dQXKZNqivtoByEHV9V17/learning-a-new-codebase-heres-how-to-figure-out-what-matters/)
- ["How can I learn a large codebase fast as an intern?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/F2rJZgdUBxdGZilFTR6k/how-can-i-learn-a-large-codebase-fast-as-an-intern/)

Onboarding Gives You Special Powers: Make Sure To Use Them

Most people view onboarding as a position of weakness: They don't know anything while the team knows everything, and now they need to bridge that gap. While that's somewhat true, onboarding is *not* a position of weakness, and thinking this will only make your onboarding slower and less effective.

Here are the core points from the video:
- **Nobody wants to be mean to the newbie** - This means that you have extra slack to ask questions and request help more aggressively than the average team member. However, this "aura" doesn't last forever - Make sure to really use it while you have it! The first month in particular is when the team will be extra accommodating of you.
- **You will never have fresh eyes again** - Being new gives you a perspective that tenured members of your team simply can't have. Use this to share new ideas and suggestions to the team: Tactically, you are very well equipped to improve the onboarding process. Don't only view onboarding as a state where you need to be dependent on others and consume help - Feel empowered to bring about positive change as well.

Related resources:
- ["How do you overcome the fear of asking stupid questions / bothering people when you need help?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/vNE8kgpx2zdI1wACg9jA/how-do-you-overcome-the-fear-of-asking-stupid-questions-bothering-people-when-you-need-help/)
- ["What does it mean to not require handholding anymore?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/5vEWajcZlSi7nlohTGtJ/what-does-it-mean-to-not-require-handholding-anymore/)
- ["I'm afraid of asking questions when I don't know how to start a new ticket - How to get over the fear?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/ReLSgQGmVGlXkwrupN5T/im-afraid-of-asking-questions-when-i-dont-know-how-to-start-a-new-ticket-how-to-get-over-the-fear/)

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.