Engineering Managers Day-To-Day

In this lesson, we break down what an engineering manager’s day-to-day really looks like—why their calendars are packed with meetings, how they handle technical planning, and why the emotional side of the role is often underestimated.

- We highlight that EM calendars are dominated by 1:1s, alignment discussions, and cross-team negotiations, much of which shields us from logistical or resourcing debates.
- We explain that managers need enough technical depth to estimate project scope, evaluate dependencies, and participate meaningfully in planning without writing code themselves.
- We note that much of the real work happens outside meetings—reviewing docs, giving feedback, writing updates, and communicating progress upward to directors and VPs.
- We emphasize that people management is a huge portion of the job: coordinating collaboration, following up for junior engineers, resolving interpersonal issues, and handling performance challenges.
- We discuss the emotional burden managers carry handling compensation, performance ratings, personal struggles, and burnout and how this makes them part-time therapists as well as leaders.

How Engineering Managers Are Evaluated

In this lesson, we walk through how managers are evaluated, what “meeting” versus “exceeding” expectations looks like, and how we as ICs can help them succeed, which in turn helps us.

- We emphasize that a manager’s core responsibility is delivering team impact—not promotions, not firing—so our goal is to help them maximize that impact.
- We learn that strong managers are influential: they build relationships, earn trust, and can meaningfully sway decisions both across and above the team.
- We outline “managing down,” which includes recruiting top engineers, retaining high performers, setting priorities, enabling growth, and dealing directly with low performers through feedback, PIPs, or transitions.
- We highlight the importance of retention as a key evaluation metric—if everyone wants to leave a manager’s team, leadership sees that as a failure.
- We explore “managing up,” where managers frequently provide updates to directors/VPs, take ownership of escalations, and proactively communicate timelines, issues, and product health to leadership.

Engineering Manager Responsibilities

In this lesson, we talk about understanding incentives, especially your manager’s, as a key to navigating your career and collaborating effectively. By assuming people act in their own self-interest, we better understand how managers operate and how to work with them.

- We frame a “model of the world” where we assume people act selfishly, helping us predict behavior and align with our manager’s incentives.
- We note that understanding how an engineering manager is evaluated allows us to help them look good—and in doing so, we benefit too.
- We highlight that the EM role is challenging: they’re responsible for the team’s impact without writing code themselves, focusing instead on empowering and unblocking engineers.
- We clarify that growing engineers is only part of the role—EMs also handle hiring, firing, and performance reviews; sometimes their job is not to help us grow but to manage us out if needed.
- We describe additional responsibilities like removing cross-team blockers, resolving interpersonal issues, and creating team “synergy,” which includes a wide range of people- and process-related challenges.

Technical Bar

If you want direct interview support from Alex and Uzair, take their live Maven course with discount code **TARO10**: <https://maven.com/alex-kliotzkin/acing-em-interviews>

This lesson breaks down how **technical competence** is evaluated during engineering manager (EM) interviews. Although only 20% of the hiring criteria is based on technical skills, understanding how it's assessed is essential for preparation.

- **High-level technical evaluation:** EM interviews typically assess architecture and system-level thinking rather than deep implementation. The goal is to understand if you grasp the *impact and trade-offs* of technical decisions.
- **System design is critical:** Nearly all companies include a **system design round**, as it's a strong signal of your ability to reason about architecture, scalability, and trade-offs at a strategic level.
- **Operational excellence is a focus:** Interviewers may evaluate how you ensure **continuous product integrity** through CI/CD pipelines, quality control, monitoring systems, and delivery processes.
- **Metrics and impact measurement:** Expect questions around **KPIs and OKRs**, especially on how you track team or product success. This reflects your business awareness and leadership maturity.
- **Coding expectations vary by company:** FAANG companies often include **coding rounds** to assess whether you can "get your hands dirty" if needed. Non-FAANG companies may skip this or offer take-home assignments or lightweight coding exercises instead.

Hi, I’m Uzair

If you want direct interview support from Alex and Uzair, take their live Maven course with discount code **TARO10**: <https://maven.com/alex-kliotzkin/acing-em-interviews>

Uzair is an experienced engineering manager with a passion for helping other leaders grow and succeed in their careers. With a solid background in software development and extensive hiring experience, he brings deep insight into the engineering management interview process.

- Currently serves as an engineering manager at Stripe, with previous experience at Amazon
- Has over 10 years of engineering management experience across tech companies and consulting firms, and more than 20 years in software development overall
- Former Amazon bar raiser, responsible for upholding high hiring standards across 250+ interviews conducted at Amazon and over 750 total in his career
- Has trained, managed, and promoted more than 15 engineering managers
- Brings a wealth of knowledge in both leadership development and technical interviewing to support aspiring engineering managers

Your Happiness Comes First

We wrap up the discussion on working in Big Tech and end with an important philosophical reminder about career and life priorities.

- **Happiness &gt; Hype**: At the end of the day, *it's not worth it if you're not happy*. Your career is a means to a fulfilling life—not the purpose of your life. Prioritize what genuinely brings you joy and purpose.
- **Software Has Many Paths**: There isn’t just one archetype of success in tech. Whether you're a master debugger, a product-savvy tech lead, or a great communicator, there’s a path that fits your strengths and passions.
- **Find Work That Feels Effortless**: If there’s something you enjoy doing so much that it doesn’t feel like work—chase that. Use it as a compass for your long-term career direction.
- **Ignore Peer Pressure**: Just because working at Big Tech is glorified doesn’t mean it’s the best choice for everyone. Many engineers thrive and find faster growth at smaller startups or hyper-growth companies.
- **Be True to Yourself**: Use the information provided as tools—not mandates. The goal is to make **informed, authentic decisions** based on your own values, priorities, and vision for your life and career.

The main idea is to *reflect intentionally*, embrace your individuality, and chart a career path that aligns with your unique definition of success.

When To Join Big Tech

We suggest reframing the question from *"Should I join Big Tech?"* to *"When should I join Big Tech?"*, since careers are long and dynamic.

**Benefits of Joining Early in Career**:

- Helps build a strong technical foundation and network when you're still a “blank slate.”
- Younger professionals often tolerate intense work environments better and adapt more quickly.
- Early high compensation can fund future ventures, such as startups or sabbaticals.
- The prestige and connections can accelerate future career moves or entrepreneurial efforts.

**Risks of Joining Early**:

- You might get *addicted* to the high salary and lifestyle, making it hard to leave for riskier opportunities like startups.
- Over time, lifestyle creep (e.g., mortgage, luxury spending) can reduce your willingness to take professional risks.

**Benefits of Joining Later in Career**:

- Allows you to first take bold bets (e.g. startups) when personal financial obligations are low.
- You may be hired at a **higher level** based on your broader experience—potentially earning more equity than someone promoted internally.
- Helps avoid promotion bottlenecks (e.g. SD2 to SD3 at Amazon, L4 to L5 at Google) by lateral hiring into senior roles.

**Risks of Joining Later**:

- Financially, the expected value of going solo or taking high-risk paths is lower due to high startup failure rates.
- Missing out on earlier career momentum and brand-building that Big Tech can provide.

The Case AGAINST Big Tech

We discuss reasons why Big Tech may not be the right fit for everyone, especially as career goals and personal priorities evolve over time.

- **High Work-Life Balance Needs**: For those with growing personal commitments—like family, health, or other priorities—Big Tech’s demanding environment may no longer be sustainable or fulfilling.
- **Low Tolerance for Pressure**: The performance-driven, competitive nature of Big Tech can be overwhelming for those who prefer a calmer, less intense work atmosphere.
- **Preference for Independent, Heads-Down Work**: Engineers who thrive in solo coding environments without heavy documentation, collaboration, or politics may find the collaborative and process-heavy style of Big Tech frustrating.
- **Avoidance of Office Politics**: Success often requires political navigation, influence-building, and strategic communication—elements that don't appeal to everyone.
- **Desire for Simplicity**: Not everyone aspires to climb the corporate ladder; for those who just want to write good code without excessive overhead, there are better environments than Big Tech.

The Case FOR Big Tech

We outline scenarios where Big Tech can be a highly advantageous career move—especially for early-career engineers or those seeking financial security and stability.

- **Ideal for Early-Career Engineers**: Big Tech provides a strong engineering foundation for those just out of college or with limited experience. Newer engineers are more adaptable to the culture and expectations.
- **Higher Workload Tolerance**: Younger professionals often have the energy and flexibility to handle the demanding pace and longer hours that come with Big Tech roles.
- **Minimal Habits to Unlearn**: Junior engineers aren’t “programmed” with habits from less rigorous environments, making it easier for them to succeed in fast-paced, high-standard teams.
- **Excellent Compensation**: For those with high financial needs—whether due to family obligations or living in expensive cities—Big Tech offers some of the most competitive compensation packages, including equity.
- **Job Stability**: These companies offer consistent employment for high performers, making them a good choice for those with lower risk tolerance who prefer predictability.

It Depends

After exploring the wide range of pros and cons of working at Big Tech companies, the speakers emphasize that choosing this career path is highly personal and should align with one's individual goals and priorities.

- **No One-Size-Fits-All Answer**: The intention isn’t to prescribe a particular path, but rather to offer transparency around what working at Big Tech is really like—information they wish they'd had early in their careers.
- **Reflect on Personal Priorities**: It's crucial to explicitly list what matters most in a career - whether that’s compensation, work-life balance, tech stack, team culture, or product space—and then align job choices accordingly.
- **Framework for Decision-Making**: By identifying top 2–3 priorities and working backward from those, engineers can better evaluate whether Big Tech aligns with their long-term goals.

Ethical Concerns

Working at Big Tech can expose engineers to ethical dilemmas and reputational challenges, especially as these companies grow in size and societal influence. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- **Ethical baggage and public scrutiny** - Every large tech company accumulates controversy over time, from privacy scandals to monopolistic behavior. Employees often face external judgment and may feel conflicted about the company’s broader impact, such as gentrification and social displacement caused by high salaries and rapid expansion.
- **Disconnect between purpose and individual contribution** - Engineers may feel demoralized realizing their role (e.g., being engineer #80,532 at Google) probably won't meaningfully contribute to making the world a better place - especially for those motivated by social impact or purpose-driven work.
- **Reputation can shift dramatically** - Facebook was once viewed positively (e.g., in the late 2000s), but public perception reversed dramatically after scandals like Cambridge Analytica. Engineers went from proudly wearing company swag to avoiding brand affiliation in public. Similar sentiment shifts can hit any big company, even well-intentioned ones.
- **Moral complexity of innovation and market power** - As companies grow in influence and value, their innovations may disrupt other industries, leading to job loss or social backlash. While sometimes justified in capitalist terms, the ethical line becomes murkier when dominance is maintained through questionable means.

Swingy Compensation

While Big Tech compensation packages can be extremely lucrative, they are also highly volatile. Much of the reward is tied to company stock, which fluctuates dramatically and is largely outside any individual engineer’s control. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- **Equity Makes Up the Majority of Pay at Senior Levels** - Compensation often includes base salary, a bonus, and a large portion in restricted stock units (RSUs), especially as engineers become more senior.
- **Stock Price Volatility Can Be Emotionally Draining** - Engineers may become fixated on stock movements - checking daily gains or losses that can translate to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in value swings.
- **Lack of Control Over Equity Value** - Company-wide factors like earnings calls or buyback announcements - rather than individual performance—drive major stock movements. A 26% drop in Meta's stock once erased $250 billion in market cap overnight.
- **Advice: Sell Regularly, Avoid Emotional Attachment** - Diversification and emotional detachment are key. Holding too much company stock creates psychological and financial vulnerability, especially in market downturns.
- **Stock-Based Wealth Is Largely Unpredictable** - Stock spikes and crashes often follow unexpected logic, making it nearly impossible for individual employees to anticipate or influence outcomes.

Where's The Scope?

Here are the core points from the lesson:

- **Too Many Smart Engineers, Too Few Big Problems Left** - Decades of optimization have left many core products (like Facebook Home Feed) nearly maxed out, making impactful changes rare and promotions harder to earn.
- **Engineers Flee Mature Teams in Search of Scope** - Engineers often transfer to newer initiatives (e.g., Meta’s Portal) to find unclaimed problems they can own—especially critical in systems with forced promotion deadlines.
- **Forced Promotion Policies Increase Pressure** - At Meta for instance, engineers must be promoted from mid-level (E4) to senior (E5) within five years or face termination, driving a scramble for high-impact work. This is awkward when there's a profound lack of scope.
- **Promotion Bottlenecks Are Common** - Transitions like Amazon SD2 → SD3 or Google L4 → L5 are notorious for being highly competitive, political, and frustrating due to overlapping ambitions.
- **Scarcity of Senior/Staff-Level Scope** - Teams without senior-level problems to solve—or ones where existing staff already own them—make it nearly impossible for newer engineers to grow beyond a certain level.

Lack of Control

Engineers at Big Tech often experience a deep lack of control over their work, compensation, and long-term impact. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Politics and top-down decision making mean engineers can invest heavily in projects only to have leadership reject ideas or directions with no recourse
- Compensation elements like company multipliers are tied to overall corporate performance, which individual engineers have virtually no influence over
- Constant reorgs, shifting org charts, and manager reshuffling create instability and make teams feel like they’re moving for reasons that aren’t always merit-based
- Big Tech frequently kills projects, even promising or widely used ones, because they don’t meet multibillion-dollar expectations, leaving engineers demoralized and powerless over product fate

Politics

As companies scale, politics become inevitable - Big Tech companies are no exception. While these environments offer great compensation and talent density, navigating organizational complexity and interpersonal dynamics becomes a critical part of engineering success.

- **Politics Are Inevitable in Large Orgs**: As tech companies grow, layers of leadership and cross-functional dependencies make decision-making complex. Engineers must often align with numerous stakeholders, especially when aiming for senior or staff roles.
- **Shipping Requires Consensus-Building**: Even seemingly minor changes can require significant internal negotiation. One example cited involved a six-month project to enlarge a button being blocked just before launch due to last-minute leadership disagreement.
- **People Over Code**: The technical work is often less challenging than influencing and winning over colleagues who may disagree or have competing priorities.
- **Burnout from Frustrated Efforts**: Senior engineers can burn out after investing months into initiatives that get shut down due to misaligned incentives or lack of political foresight.
- **Success Requires “Playing the Game”**: Engineers who are averse to navigating internal politics may struggle, especially in high-visibility roles. Building relationships proactively is often essential for seeing projects through.

Just A Cog In The Machine

Although Big Tech offers compensation and prestige, the sheer scale of these organizations can lead engineers to feel like small cogs in an enormous machine. The work often becomes highly specialized and incremental, making it harder to find personal fulfillment or a sense of ownership.

- **Incremental Work Dominates**: Many engineers are tasked with refining already hyper-optimized features, such as tweaking a single call-to-action button on an ad format. This kind of work can feel repetitive and lacking in creative fulfillment.
- **Limited Ownership**: As teams grow larger, individual engineers may end up owning only a sliver of a product component—sometimes just one platform’s implementation of a single UI element.
- **Slower Innovation in Mature Products**: Legacy systems and products that have been around for over a decade (like Gmail) may offer fewer opportunities for impactful changes, making it harder to grow scope or gain recognition.
- **High Competition for Scope**: Even when surrounded by brilliant engineers, opportunities for meaningful ownership can be scarce. This leads to competition over small improvements and sometimes a struggle to stand out.
- **Pockets of Growth Still Exist**: Certain high-growth teams such as those working on newer initiatives like AI or experimental products can still offer dynamic, zero-to-one opportunities. Success often depends on finding and joining these pockets within the broader organization.

Poor Work-Life Balance

Working in Big Tech offers prestige and high pay, but it often comes at the cost of personal time and mental well-being. The demanding environment, peer pressure, and ambiguous policies can lead to overwork and burnout.

- **Competitive Culture Fuels Overwork**: The intense stack ranking and peer comparison systems push employees to work beyond normal hours to maintain high performance ratings and avoid being ranked at the bottom.
- **On-Call Stress and Burnout**: At scale, systems often encounter issues, and engineers may feel pressured to respond even during vacations, especially if they are domain experts.
- **Peer Pressure to Match Hours**: Engineers often feel compelled to match their teammates’ late-night work habits, contributing to a cycle of poor boundaries and collective burnout.
- **Unlimited PTO Backfires**: Policies like “unlimited vacation” often discourage time off, especially when company leadership sends contradictory messages about taking breaks.
- **Regional Differences Exist**: The culture of overwork is more intense in Silicon Valley compared to other parts of the world, such as Europe, where vacations are taken more seriously and work-life boundaries are better respected.

Peer Pressure

Working in Big Tech often means operating in a highly competitive environment filled with extremely talented peers. This creates both motivation and significant pressure, especially due to how performance systems are designed.

- Big Tech companies commonly use forms of stack ranking, where engineers are compared against peers and the bottom 5–15% may face probation (PIP) or termination each review cycle.
- Being surrounded by exceptionally strong coworkers can lead to intense pressure, imposter syndrome, and constant anxiety about staying out of the bottom cohort.
- High performers are often rewarded well, but lower performers may struggle, making the environment feel “dog-eat-dog.”
- Talent density can create problems with limited scope and many strong engineers competing for meaningful work, which can impact evaluations and career growth.
- Some teams have abundant scope and are great for growth, while others (like highly mature products) may have minimal impactful work, worsening peer pressure.

High Expectations

Expectations at Big Tech companies are extremely high and that pressure really shapes the engineer experience. Here are the core points from the lesson:

- Big Tech roles pay top-of-market compensation, and in return companies expect top-tier productivity, output, and code quality
- Many engineers coming from non–Big Tech backgrounds experience culture shock due to stricter standards, faster pace, and more rigorous release processes
- Performance reviews are a major source of stress, heavily peer-comparative, and central to promotions and job security
- Past eras of “rest and vest” are largely gone; in today’s leaner, more competitive tech environment, expectations - especially for newer and more junior engineers - are higher than ever

You'll Learn Proper Engineering Skills

Working at Big Tech companies offers a unique opportunity to develop strong engineering foundations by being immersed in mature processes, robust tools, and a culture of high standards.

- **Access to top-tier engineers and tooling**: Employees are surrounded by highly skilled engineers and comprehensive internal tools that streamline development. Many of these tools address needs engineers didn’t even know they had until using them.
- **High-quality code review culture**: Rigorous code reviews from experienced peers serve as a fast-track for learning. Early feedback can be intense but leads to rapid growth in code quality, scalability awareness, and best practices.
- **Exposure to mature engineering systems**: Engineers learn the full lifecycle of software deployment with components like dogfooding, alpha/beta testing, stage rollouts, A/B testing, monitoring, and alerting, many of which are often missing or underdeveloped in smaller companies.
- **Longevity drives technical evolution**: Companies like Meta and Google have evolved with the industry, migrating through major tech stack changes over decades. This adaptability teaches engineers how to future-proof their systems and processes.
- **Cultural emphasis on continuous learning**: The engineering culture encourages innovation, resilience, and cross-pollination of ideas, making it ideal for those looking to grow as adaptable and forward-thinking software engineers.

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