Asking Great Questions [Part 17] - Target Domain Experts

A big part of getting great answers quickly is to ask the right people, especially with technical questions as different engineers specialize in different things. This lesson teaches you:

- Why targeting makes it more likely for your question to be answered
- What it looks like when you target domain experts in your question, explained with an in-depth example
- How to find domain experts to tag in your questions

Asking Great Questions [Part 15] - RFC Pull Requests

As a software engineer, you're inevitably going to have to ask a lot of questions about your code. This lesson teaches you:

- A natural tactic you can use to share code context with engineers you want to help you
- What a quality RFC pull request looks like, shown with an in-depth GitHub example
- Why pull requests are so powerful and organic when it comes to attaching technical context 

Level up your code quality here: [\[Course\] Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/level-up-your-code-quality-as-a-software-engineer/)

Tech Lead Blueprint 16/17 - Chaos And Tech Debt

Connect with Lalit on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/lalitkundu/>

Tech Lead Blueprint 15/17 - Low Performers

Tech Lead Blueprint 14/17 - Scaling Yourself

Tech Lead Blueprint 13/17 - Team Culture

How To Be An Effective Tech Lead [Part 16] - Be Visible

While you need to lead with selflessness and put the team first as a tech lead, this doesn't mean that you can't be selfish at all. As a tech lead, it's critical for you to get proper credit as well. This lesson teaches you:

- The main tool you have to boost your visibility and prove your depth of contributions
- How to be visible in general

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 15] - Headline/Preview Testing

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 14] - Tips on Writing

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 13] - Importance of Process

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 10] - Story-Telling

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 8] - Bottom-Funnel Channels

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 5] - Top-Funnel Channels

Become An Engineer Influencer [Part 4] - Strategy #2: Social Media is a Sales Funnel

Learnings from SWE to Senior SWE at LinkedIn

*If you're not part of Taro Premium, join with Paras's link to receive a discount: [**https://www.jointaro.com/r/parass876/**](https://www.jointaro.com/r/parass876/)*

Jumping into Software Engineering from a non-technical background can be challenging, but it’s far from impossible. Join us for an inspiring session with [**Paras Sidhu**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/paras-sidhu/), who not only transitioned from mathematics into software engineering, but also cracked big tech in just 2 years and earned a promotion to Senior Software Engineer within another 2 years.

### **What to Expect**

1. **Actionable Tips**: Paras will share his experiences and actionable tips on his journey from Software Engineer to Senior Software Engineer, providing practical examples that you can apply to your own career path.
2. **Insightful Learnings**: Gain valuable insights into how to navigate and excel in big tech, even if you come from a non-technical background.
3. **Q&A Session**: Don’t miss the chance to ask your burning questions and get personalized advice from someone who has successfully made the transition and accelerated his career.

Mark your calendars and prepare to be inspired! Don’t miss out on this chance to learn from Paras' unique journey and gather tips that could propel your own career forward.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Taro Book Club: Designing Data Intensive Applications - Chapter 6 (Partitioning)

Topic: Chapter 6 - Replication

Session led by: [Bhavana Gannu](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavanagannu/) and [Suraj Singh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/suraj-singh-495b192b/)

In this #taro-bookclub discussion, we talked about Chapter 6 of [**"Designing Data-Intensive Applications"**](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/1449373321) by Martin Kleppmann.

Taro Book Club: Designing Data Intensive Applications - Chapter 5 (Replication)

Topic: Chapter 5 - Replication

Session led by: [Rohit Katyal](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitkatyal/)

In this #taro-bookclub discussion, we'll be talking about Chapter 5 of [**"Designing Data-Intensive Applications"**](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/1449373321) by Martin Kleppmann.

Here's the agenda:

- Let’s get to know each other with some quick introductions.
- We’ll break down and discuss the key concepts from Chapter 5.
- There will also be time for any questions and answers you might have.

Please send your questions ahead of time to [**Rohit Katyal**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitkatyal/) in the [**Taro Premium**](https://www.jointaro.com/membership/) Slack, so that they can be included in the discussion.

Get ready for another engaging and informative session!

Paper Reading: Self-supervised Vision Transformers (Foundational Model)

Session led by [Mandar Deshpande](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandardeshpande1995/)

Dino is a self-supervised learning approach for computer vision tasks. It leverages vision transformers without using any labeled data. Dino v2 introduces several improvements over its predecessor, enhancing performance and scalability. It achieves state-of-the-art results on various benchmarks. Notably, Dino v2 demonstrates strong performance on downstream tasks such as image classification and object detection.

We will be walking through

- Basics of computer vision
- Self supervised learning
- ViT (vision transformers)
- DINO
- DINO v2 model

Paper link - [**https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.07193**](https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.07193)

[Event link](https://www.jointaro.com/event/paper-reading-dino-v2-ie-foundational-model-for-computer-vision/)

Taro Book Club: Designing Data Intensive Applications - Chapter 3

Topic: Chapter 3 - Storage and Retrieval

In this #taro-bookclub discussion, we talk about Chapter 3 of [**"Designing Data-Intensive Applications"**](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/1449373321) by Martin Kleppmann.

Here's the agenda:

- Let’s get to know each other with some quick introductions.
- We’ll break down and discuss the key concepts from Chapter 3.
- There will also be time for any questions and answers you might have.

Thanks to [**Suraj Singh**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/suraj-singh-495b192b/) and [**Sangavi Pari**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sangavi-pari/) for leading this session!

Successful Disagreements for Software Engineers

[**Ryan Alexander Wiens**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-wiens/) is an experienced English communication coach who has worked with more than 70 SWEs. In this workshop, he shares the nuances of expressing disagreement in a constructive and respectful manner. With years of coaching under his belt, Ryan understands the challenges faced by engineers when English is not their first language.

**Key Takeaways:**

- Understand the phases of a diplomatic disagreement.
- Interactive exercises including breakout rooms and real-time Q&A.
- A phrase bank for participants to use in their daily communications.
- Practice scenarios on common workplace topics for SWEs.

Ryan discussed the importance of including the right words and phrases, clear thinking, defined outcomes, and effective communication frameworks. He underscored the need for skills such as active listening, presenting new ideas, building rapport, and confidence in practical application. Ryan also led a discussion on the topic of successful disagreement at work, suggesting that the level of comfort with disagreement might depend on the situation and culture of the workplace.

**Disagreement's Importance in the Workplace**

Ryan emphasized the importance of expressing disagreement in the workplace, as it leads to better decision making, avoids useless work, and creates opportunities for learning and growth. They stressed the need for disagreement to be done respectfully, keeping it impersonal and listening to others before forming a response. Additionally, they suggested picking battles wisely and staying calm and respectful. 

**Constructive Disagreement Framework**

Ryan introduced a framework for constructive disagreement that emphasized respect, evidence-based opinions, and softening disagreements. He encouraged attendees to suggest phrases to use when expressing disagreements respectfully. Instead of using the word "but" in conversations, Ryan suggests alternatives to soften disagreements. At the same time, you should own your disagreements and remove bias from the message. In situations of imbalanced authority, Ryan advised picking battles carefully and being strategic about which battles to pursue.

Ryan led a group activity aimed at fostering disagreement resolution skills. Find the [worksheet here](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G0As8QS7MZ4O0PTCeDEPeSborW9ahU_m/view?usp=sharing).

Additional resources: 

- [\[Masterclass\] How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/masterclass-how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech/)
- [\[Masterclass\] How To Work Better With Your Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/2PbJb2fuqF3iMHy57eEg/masterclass-how-to-work-better-with-your-engineering-manager/)

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.