[Part 4] Meta Intern Success Series - Working With Your Intern Manager

- Meet with your intern manager (IM) at least every week for 30+ minutes. Anything less is a recipe for failure as your software engineer internship is so short.
- Treat your IM as a resource, not a boss. They are there to help you. Don't be afraid to leverage them aggressively to unblock you.
- The incentives align between you and your IM. They get rewarded substantially if you get the return offer, and it's rough for them if you don't. It's in everyone's best interests for you to get more from your IM.
- **Do not hide issues**. If you have any sort of problem, whether it's a technical one or a mental/emotional one, share it with your IM. Learn to be vulnerable.
- Ask for feedback every 2-3 weeks, don't just wait for mid-cycle. You can ask how you're trending rating-wise to get a clear picture. It is hard to course correct if you come out of mid-cycle with a poor rating.
- Ask for feedback regularly and make it clear to your IM that you treat all feedback as a gift and you act on it fast (literally within a few hours/days).

Related resources:
- [You Should Be Vulnerable With Your Manager](https://link.jointaro.com/CCLPu9Pp6pmRrn427)
- [Having The Proper Mentality For Manager 1:1s](https://link.jointaro.com/wmxxUCrHKvUH1D4b8)
- [Suppress Your Instincts And Treat All Feedback As A Gift](https://link.jointaro.com/TsJKvMLrzvveMkpS9)
- [Full In-Depth 1 Hour Masterclass On Effective 1:1s](https://link.jointaro.com/67uVtoJWBYwrqgDJ7)

[Part 3] Meta Intern Success Series - Onboarding Efficiently

- Onboarding is arguably the most important part of your internship as it sets the foundation and tone for your entire software engineer internship.
- Set up a 30 to 45 minute meeting with your intern manager (IM) ASAP, so they can explain the codebase to you at a high-level (i.e. a component level).
- Make sure you have a recurring 1:1 meeting with your IM, which should be a weekly 30 minutes. Your IM should set this up for you, but in case they don't, you can work with them to set it up.
- You will get 2-5 onboarding tasks to work on across the first ~2 weeks. The purpose of these is to familiarize yourself with the codebase.
- Aim to put out your 1st diff by the end of Week 1. If you're doing this around the end of Week 2, you're really behind.
- Ask a ton of questions and learn to ask high-quality questions. Don't be afraid of "over-asking" questions: If you're polite while asking questions and attaching great context to them, you will be fine no matter how many questions you ask.
- Use Work Chat DMs to ask for help aggressively during this period as it's vital for you to become productive within the codebase very quickly

Related resources:
- [Asking Effective Questions That Get Great Answers Quickly](https://link.jointaro.com/E8eaKmMpZcKWNGkbA)
- ["How can I learn a large codebase fast as an intern?"](https://link.jointaro.com/L8tXjWah6ycdNpNf7)
- [There Is No Such Thing As A Stupid Question](https://link.jointaro.com/F4p3fL4eHqp5GXti7)

[Part 2] Meta Intern Success Series - High-level Expectations

You can find the full playlist here: [Meta Intern Success Series](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/D4fbBZdkNhIZCyOUofBx/)

- As mentioned before, your goal is to be operating as an E3 MA (Meets All Expectations) by the end of your internship. Assuming the standard 12 week internship, you have 10 weeks to do this.
- You will be working on production code, dealing with Meta's gigantic codebase. The exception is FBU (FB University, a "pre-intern" program) where you build an app/website from scratch in isolation.
- **Every week is crucial**. A great/terrible week can make or break your internship.
- Raw coding ability is the main thing you're judged on as a SWE intern (literally ~90% of your packet). The 2 main components here are velocity and quality, which means that your goal as a SWE intern is effectively just to write a lot of very high-quality code fast.
- In a vacuum, target landing 3-4 diffs per week. Of course, this will vary based on org, stack, etc - Work with your intern manager (IM) to get a more accurate range. You can look at previously successful interns in the org to generate a baseline as well.
- Write 1-2 Workplace posts as technical writing is super important at Meta. The easiest thing to do is write about your intern project as you hit major milestones, especially when you launch it.
- You need a cast of people to vouch for you during calibrations. Target having 2+ peers on top of your IM (i.e. so 3+ people total).
- You will likely work on an internal tool as it's free from XFN thrash and dependencies. Meta has a lot of respect for quality internal tools as well.

[Part 1] Meta Intern Success Series - Internship Program Overview

- The Meta software engineer internship program is very legit. It resembles the experience of working as a full-time Meta engineer as closely as possible, complete with calibrations and a formal manager.
- The program is also hard. The pass rates that got mentioned around the company were 50 to 75%. It's one of the harder software engineer internships to get a return offer from as the goal is to perform at E3 MA. If this is your first software engineer internship or you have only interned at companies weaker than Meta prior, the high bar can be overwhelming.
- However, the reward is tremendous. Meta is an incredible company to work at and amazing as a career starter. Meta is also one of the highest paying companies for the entry-level band (E3), and the signing bonus for return offer interns is sky-high (60k to 100k).
- 4 outcomes for Meta software engineer interns:
  - No offer: As mentioned before, many interns will unfortunately be here. The numbers after this correspond to the percentage of the "surviving" pool.
  - MA (70%): "Meets All Expectations", which is a regular return offer. The vast majority of successful software engineer interns get this. 
  - EE (25%): "Exceeds Expectations", which is given to very strong interns.
  - Rockstar (5%): For interns that completely crush it and are very close to functioning as a mid-level engineer (E4).
- Internship schedule (assuming standard 12 week length):
  - Weeks 1-3: Onboarding
  - Weeks 5-6: Mid-cycle review
  - Weeks 10-11: Final calibrations (return offer is decided here)
  - Weeks 11-12: Relax and have fun. Only your performance from Weeks 1 - 10 is counted towards your final review
- As a software engineer intern, you formally report to an intern manager (IM), which is shown on the org chart. On top of the IM, you will have 1-3 other peers who will review your diffs and help you. During calibrations, feedback from your IM and these peers will determine your final rating.

For more expert internship advice: [Full SWE Intern Advice Playlist](https://www.jointaro.com/topic/software-engineering-intern/)

[Case Study] Solving A Multi-Million $$ Instagram Bug

- A big part of moving from L4 (mid-level) to L5 (senior level) is being able to create your own scope. You can't just expect a perfect suite of projects to come from your manager.
- Like in this session's case study, bugs are a great source of finding your own scope!
- The bug was very slight: Instagram story ads started off on the wrong part when they were resurfaced to a user. As an Android engineer, Alex discovered this in IG Android initially. This bug had been in production *for over a year* at this point.
- How Alex expanded the scope after finding this bug:
  - Worked with iOS to see if the bug was there (it was)
  - Worked with PMMs to confirm that this violated the advertiser contract and merited a refund. This made the bug an immediate SEV.
  - Worked with a data scientist to figure out exactly how many times this bug occurred and calculate the exactly refund to advertisers ($2M+)
  - Put the fix behind an A/B test to measure impact and make sure it was working
- How you can incorporate the learnings from this case study:
  - Be detail-oriented. At Big Tech in particular, seemingly small issues can have massive impact.
  - Don't just silently fix bugs. Take the time to figure out its entire scope - It could be a SEV!
  - Understand the world outside of yours. Look for opportunities to bring in others (especially those of different roles) into what you're working on to expand scope for everyone!

Here's the [link to the slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vPtelhi5caMsZNC-XFGhy1FtRveIbNxg0k3LZctRPOs/edit?usp=sharing).

For more resources around creating scope:
- ["How do I come up with innovative, impactful ideas and bring them to my team?"](https://link.jointaro.com/uBcb5LjZiD5DasfB9)
- ["How can I come up with big initiatives, especially those at a Staff level?"](https://link.jointaro.com/6MWig3VSr3nVo81w9)

Questions You Can Ask To Evaluate An Engineering Manager

Here are some questions you can ask to engineers on a team to evaluate the engineering manager:
1. How has the manager been able to grow you? How clear is their advice? 
2. Is the team more on the stable or thrashy side? 
3. What has the team struggled with historically? 
4. What has the manager done to uphold work / life balance (WLB) and minimize burnout?

Here are some questions you can ask directly of the manager: 
1. How do you prioritize tasks and projects within your team? Can you walk me through your process for making those decisions?
2. How do you handle conflicts or disagreements among team members? Can you provide an example of a time when you successfully resolved a conflict within your team?
3. How do you ensure that your team members are growing and developing in their roles? Do you have a process for providing feedback and setting goals with team members?
4. How do you measure the success of your team and your individual team members? What metrics do you use?
5. How do you balance the needs of your team with the needs of the company? Can you provide an example of a time when you had to make a difficult decision that balanced those competing interests?
6. How do you stay up-to-date with new technologies and industry developments? Do you encourage your team members to do the same?
7. How do you foster a culture of collaboration and communication within your team? Can you provide an example of a successful collaboration within your team?
8. How do you handle failure or setbacks within your team? Can you provide an example of a time when your team faced a setback and how you supported your team through it?
9. How do you ensure that your team is delivering high-quality work on time? Do you have a process for reviewing and testing code?
10. How do you prioritize work-life balance for your team members? Do you encourage them to take breaks and disconnect from work outside of working hours?

This video is a clip from our masterclass about how to find a good engineering manager. You can watch it here: [[Masterclass] What Software Engineers Should Look For In Their Engineering Manager](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/oeY7ncZhzJ5NO6dij5e7/masterclass-what-software-engineers-should-look-for-in-their-engineering-manager/)

What To Do If You Don’t Mesh Well With Your Manager

This clip discusses the **importance of manager-report alignment**, especially around communication preferences and expectations. A common failure mode arises when managers assume their team members operate and think the same way they do, without checking for alignment.

- **Reciprocity can backfire without context**: Managers often expect others to operate as they did when they were individual contributors—such as sending frequent updates—without recognizing that not everyone shares the same style or comfort level.
- **Avoiding mislabeling of behavior**: What feels like diligence to one person (e.g., weekly updates) might feel like micromanagement to another. This mismatch can create tension or disengagement if not addressed.
- **Meta conversations build alignment**: Discussing communication styles, feedback preferences, career goals, and working habits helps avoid misunderstandings. These conversations create a shared context for more effective collaboration.
- **Feedback delivery should be customized**: Some individuals prefer written feedback over verbal critiques. Adapting delivery style to the recipient’s comfort increases the chance that the feedback is received productively.
- **Mutual respect strengthens manager-report relationships**: Respecting differences in working style and proactively aligning on expectations can prevent unnecessary friction and improve team dynamics.

How To Figure Out If An Engineering Manager Is Good

This segment emphasizes how to make informed decisions when evaluating a potential team or engineering manager, especially in scenarios like internal transfers or team matching at large companies. Rather than relying solely on the perspectives of hiring managers, it's essential to dig deeper and gather honest insights.

- **Recognize incentive misalignment**: Engineering managers are incentivized to grow their team, so their portrayals may be overly positive. Rarely will a manager openly admit that a team has significant issues.
- **Talk to individual engineers**: Engineers, especially those who’ve been on the team for a while, tend to be more honest about both the strengths and challenges of the team. Speaking with two to three engineers—including the tech lead—can offer a well-rounded perspective.
- **Attend a team meeting if possible**: Observing how a team interacts in real-time reveals power dynamics. Red flags include a manager dominating the conversation or cutting off team members, indicating possible micromanagement.
- **Tap into your network**: For a broader view of the company or org, talk to trusted contacts about engineering culture and how managers are evaluated. These insights are rarely available through public sources.
- **Build long-term relationships for deeper intel**: Sensitive, nuanced feedback usually only surfaces when mutual trust exists. Superficial networking isn’t enough—invest in meaningful relationships to access the full truth about potential teams.

How Alex Got Into Meta With 0 Prior LeetCode Experience

[Masterclass] How To Get Promoted Faster In Tech

Related resources:
- ["How to drive my promotion discussion with my new manager?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/nbYTuVbu3dqGlPALRGbR/how-to-drive-my-promotion-discussion-with-my-new-manager/)
- ["What does it mean to not have enough scope to be promoted?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/bJuagPwOEEy5vkcXKkqh/what-does-it-mean-to-not-have-enough-scope-to-be-promoted/?playlistId=eZOEUatYEe7BBAZByuha)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1LceOHzKxQ12LCtZvNu9OIXIE18UH_ldvW4gGZQewunA/edit?usp=sharing)

[Masterclass] How To Write A Stellar Tech Resume That Gets You More Job Opportunities

Writing an effective resume is crucial for succeeding within the tech industry, especially for software engineers. It's the primary step you need to clear before getting a chance with an interview opportunity. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation around how to write a good resume: For 80%+ of junior software engineers struggling to break into tech, a poorly written resume is one of the main causes.

All that being said, here are our Top 5 points from the sessions (in no particular order):
1. *Remember that a recruiter is reading your resume and will, on average, only spend ~10 seconds on it*
    - They are almost certainly non-technical. Make things very accessible and easy to understand: Avoid jargon!
    - Be ruthlessly concise. For the vast majority of cases, your resume should only be 1 page.
2. Having a spelling or grammar mistake is the easiest way to get your resume thrown out
    - You have an effectively infinite amount of time to polish your resume. If you can't even catch basic mistakes like these, it shows that you have poor attention to detail or bad prioritization.
3. Show, don't tell
    - Don't just say that you're great, prove it
    - Example: Talking about the Android apps you've built with 100k+ users is much more effective than just saying you're a great Android engineer
4. Traps to avoid:
    - Having a summary section at the top
    - Self-rating yourself across skills
5. In the end, your resume needs to be approved by a human, not just an ATS
    - Making your resume very weird to "optimize" for the ATS is the epitome of winning a battle to lose the war. It's pointless

For an effective example + template you can use, [check out Alex's latest resume here.](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/articles%2FAlex%20Chiou%20Resume%20-%20FINAL%20FOR%20SHARING.docx?alt=media&token=3a75b8b2-09e8-4b68-b80d-22761055c3b2) You can import it into Microsoft Word online and swap out all of his content with yours.

Related resources:
- [[Masterclass] How To Ace Your Big Tech Interview - Data Structures And Algorithms](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/V4sTACzfOh22nMVcUV3w/masterclass-how-to-ace-your-big-tech-interview-data-structures-and-algorithms/)
- [[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/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/15eLqE_WmePLA--lYTG0ZJVcHhpEld2qNTck_w0t_E9k/edit?usp=sharing)

[Masterclass] How To Manage Your Time Optimally In Tech And Achieve More Results

Ever wondered what separates software engineers at FAANG and top startups from the rest? One of the big reasons is their ability to manage their time well to supercharge their productivity. At the end of the day, how hard you work and how naturally talented you may be aren't relevant if you aren't able to use your time efficiently.

Here are our Top 5 points from this masterclass (in no particular order):
- **Focus on just 1 thing** - Have a goal for every single work day. Make it more concrete by writing it down. Humans are naturally bad at multi-tasking; narrowing everything on your plate to a single task brings clarity which leads to action.
- **Break things down** - By decomposing big projects into smaller and smaller sub-tasks, you are making it more digestible and actionable. This is an especially important skill for more senior engineers and tech leads as they will need to take in huge problems and split them up into smaller chunks to delegate to others. How good a software engineer is at this is a key attribute of their seniority.
- **Move your phone out of arm's reach** - Modern-day smart phones are great, but they are also super-effective distraction machines. Relying on raw self-will to resist checking your phone every 5 minutes is overrated and often ineffective. Introduce that extra friction.
- **Find an accountability partner** - Humans are a social species, so we naturally don't want to let others down. Peer pressure is some of the most effective pressure there is and finding someone who you care about and is counting on you is often more powerful than any collection of time management tactics (including the ones in this masterclass).
- **Get consistent sleep and exercise** - Software engineers in particular will claim that they "don't have enough time" to do these. Sacrificing sleep and exercise is the classic mistake of getting a short-term gain with huge sacrifices in long-term value. These 2 things are activities you *make* time for. Get ~8 hours of sleep each day and do ~30 minutes of exercise 3-5 times a week. After a few weeks/month, you will see a huge boost in your energy and mental clarity from doing these.

Related resources:
- [Strategies To Stop Procrastination](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/90PJpQEWVdVK47yh6IiB/strategies-to-stop-procrastination/)
- ["How do I optimize my sacred hour at work?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/l8dzUVTu99CahofQsYAi/how-do-i-optimize-my-sacred-hour-at-work/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MCEx7X592VfvdWlFi4JrhSffiDIeNyc1FsqDJMy8hvI/edit?usp=sharing)

[Masterclass] Understanding And Optimizing Your Pay In Tech

Related resources:
- ["If my main goal is compensation, would it be wise to learn blockchain tech since it will potentially be the tech of the next couple decades?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/tyS6MzzADqBzt10802Mh/if-my-main-goal-is-compensation-would-it-be-wise-to-learn-blockchain-tech-since-it-will-potentially-be-the-tech-of-the-next-couple-decades/)
- ["How do people in Big Tech deal with constantly fluctuating Stock Prices from their company?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/JhEDkJl8AexlsL4IXBOH/how-do-people-in-big-tech-deal-with-constantly-fluctuating-stock-prices-from-their-company/)
- [[Taro Top 10] Pay Negotiation](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/uyWSc5q79zFw2Ei7w59d/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MdJrfT-wBDI6p-3z2_4rNY8IJwlvj1X7n3E5bmYajFU/edit?usp=sharing)

[Masterclass] How To Do Amazing Code Review

Code review is one of the most effective ways to learn as a software engineer, especially for those earlier-in-career. Unfortunately, way too many engineering teams get it wrong with slow review speed and low quality comments.

There is a mountain of information in this presentation, so here's our 5 favorite points (in no particular order):
- **Code review is NOT for catching bugs** - Of course, if you find a bug in a PR (pull request), you should call it out, but that's not the primary purpose of code review. The core benefit of code review is to build up engineering culture, propagating best practices amongst the team and growing newer and more junior engineers.
- **Add deep context to your PRs** - Explain what your pull request does and the reasoning behind your approach. Also, *include a test plan.* A test plan is a demo showcasing what your code changes do; try to make it a video/gif, which is especially powerful if you work on front-end (Android/iOS/web). If you can't do a video, try attaching a screenshot or a set of commands to run tests.
- **One diff, one thesis** - Every PR should be focused and atomic: Don't jam the entire new feature you just coded up in a single 1,000+ line PR. Huge commits are hard to review, and your teammates will hate you for it. For the vast majority of cases, you can break down your PRs to 25-250 lines of code.
- **Read others' code reviews** - Similar to so many other things in tech, stand on the shoulders of giants where you can. With code review, this means looking at how senior+ engineers on your team comment on reviews. Try to find patterns in the issues they're finding and incorporate it into how you review code. Revisions that have been rejected with changes requested are a gold mine for this learning.
- **Code review MUST be fast** - When we say fast, we mean that feedback should arrive in <24 hours. What a lot of engineers don't realize is that code review delay is multiplicative: Sometimes commit will need 3-5 revisions before they're able to be merged. If turnaround is 2+ days, this can easily lead to commits taking weeks to land, which is far too slow.

A lot of the terminology in this video is Meta specific. If you're more used to GitHub:
- Diff review = Pull request
- Diff = Commit

Related resources:
- ["How to give better code reviews without full business context?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/vio35mw1SYWM8AYojB2w/how-to-give-better-code-reviews-without-full-business-context/)
- ["How to review code in another language/ from another team?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/B79W3aWc8xMB8cCULFdJ/how-to-review-code-in-another-language-from-another-team/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1koyIR9K_CtESD7Vnh3GQOE-svFW-ngrQeEAduSAoH0w/edit)

[Masterclass] What Software Engineers Should Look For In Their Engineering Manager

Related resources:
- [Voicing Your Problems And Frustrations Productively](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/elIKuK5Ody0xzVNmdnsR/voicing-your-problems-and-frustrations-productively/)
- ["My manager and I don't see eye-to-eye. How can I improve this relationship?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/WWuU0HRpNu90J638iJPs/my-manager-and-i-dont-see-eye-to-eye-how-can-i-improve-this-relationship/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Hk6oEtLAKBKI3jF5SvB7bPGZHZMoxx79VJIoA3N3Bk4/edit?usp=sharing)

[Masterclass] How To Have Impactful 1 on 1 Meetings

Related resources:
- [[Taro Top 10] Communicating Effectively As An Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/yJ6oybePeu93sDSZ1GiQ/)
- [How To Effectively Leverage Skip Level 1:1s](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/TToehFEc738PBhJcALwL/how-to-effectively-leverage-skip-level-11s/)
- ["Coffee Chat Questions With a Tech Lead - What to ask?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/jGNZthqhvzYPiMckPEl1/coffee-chat-questions-with-a-tech-lead-what-to-ask/)
- [Presentation Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1O1bUrK1NgyfYoMkIqCFJ0SvXv-IQlPhP1gYzBp95abU/edit?usp=sharing)

How To Decide To Leave A Company: Generalist to Specialist shift

Philip spent many years at Microsoft, followed by many years at Facebook (Meta). What led him to finally decide to leave each company? 

More to explore: 
- Our masterclass on [How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/tyaPFMXPoz2pmzB7OVzt/how-to-build-deep-relationships-quickly-in-tech-12172022/)
- Connect with [Philip Su](https://www.linkedin.com/in/suphilip/)
- [Why Slack Sucks for Team Communication](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/yurIkW9cyU9lkG3FjYnU/what-gets-communicated-gets-done-why-slack-sucks/)

Philip's Biggest Concern: The Future Of Work

Why IN PERSON Meetings Are Important for Building Culture


  How can you build relationships and team culture in a hybrid or remote team? 

Unfortunately, the physical connection you get from being in an office is much harder to emulate online. If you are in a remote environment, having some sort of in-person meetup can create a substantially healthier and bonded team.

Philip also talks about how to best evaluate a company culture: talking to senior individual contributors (ICs). Managers may provide less value since they have something to sell.

More to explore: 
- Our masterclass on [How To Build Deep Relationships Quickly In Tech](https://link.jointaro.com/MvHfGDSzxwboGqBB8)
- [Why Slack Sucks for Team Communication](https://link.jointaro.com/JmHCagUPAFPSCtt99)
- Connect with [Philip Su](https://www.linkedin.com/in/suphilip/) 

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.