Efficiency Tips for Engineers (From An AI Researcher/Stanford PhD/Ex-Meta Engineer)

[**Mo Tiwari**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/motiwari/) is an AI researcher, Stanford PhD, Facebook Software Engineer, DRW finance quant, and Caltech Math + Physics major 😳 🤯

The secret to his prodigious career: **ruthless efficiency**. Mo is able to achieve more per unit time than most of his peers.

This talk covers both behaviors and tactics to improve your ability to get things done. Sample topics:

- How and when to process email to minimize disruption.
- Best practices for calendar invites and scheduling
- Keyboard shortcuts that Mo uses dozens of times/day to save time

Download the slides here: <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HET2AgDGeXA7Guhfq0IjaU53wY5AlsOE/view?usp=sharing>

Connect with Mo on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/motiwari/>

Take the productivity course: [\[Course\] Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/maximize-your-productivity-as-a-software-engineer/)

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 1] - How This Course Works

It is so easy to get completely overwhelmed as a software engineer with so many possible skills to learn. This video (and broader course) will solve that dilemma for you by explaining why *code quality* is the #1 skill for software engineers. Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Code quality is the technical foundation that helps you learn every other necessary skill as a software engineer, both the technical and non-technical ones
- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background across top companies like PayPal, Course Hero, Meta, and Robinhood, explaining how code quality was an integral part of his success (he was a Top 5% code committer + lander at Meta).
- We go through the objectives of the course. By the end of the course, you will:
  - **🔎** Understand what **good code looks like** (and *doesn’t look like*)
  - 🌱 Set up the right **growth mentality** around code quality
  - 💻 Learn how to submit a **quality pull request**
  - 🍝 Avoid common **messy code patterns** (and how to fix them)

If you want to learn how Alex built so many successful side projects with top reviews and 100,000+ users, check this out: [\[Case Study\] Building An App With 1,000,000+ Users To Get Into Facebook](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/jly45Gx6qR1kqQwBmJEy/case-study-building-an-app-with-1000000-users-to-get-into-facebook/)

Top System Design Interview Mistakes [Part 1] - Intro

Hi, [I'm Sophie Novati](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophienovati/) and welcome to [Formation.dev](https://formation.dev/partners/taro)'s system design course made in partnership with Taro!

In this video, we introduce our unique approach to preparing for system design interviews, focusing on improving interview skills rather than just technical knowledge. I talk about the components of this course like:

- Addressing common challenges like freezing up or appearing too junior during interviews
- Emphasizing the importance of problem focus, communication, engineering thinking, and design leadership
- Analyzing real mock interviews to identify and correct common mistakes
- Concentrating on interview techniques with minimal focus on technical deep dives, using well-known prompts for illustration
- Aiming to help candidates effectively apply their knowledge in high-pressure interview scenarios

If you need extra help with your system design interview, [Formation.dev](https://formation.dev/partners/taro) can provide you hands-on, personalized support. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

DSA Crash Course [Part 1] - Course Welcome

Welcome to our crash course for data structures and algorithms! This incredibly in-depth course will help you master core data structures and algorithms concepts, even if you're a complete beginner with the topic. This course is exactly for you if:

- You want to be efficient with your study time
- You don't enjoy solely grinding LeetCode because it's slow and frustrating
- You want to actually understand the concepts instead of merely memorizing patterns

This course is special because it's carefully engineered to be a smooth and effective ride:

- Problems are specifically chosen to be a progressive sequence, building on top of one another
- The overall difficulty of the problems you'll solve will gradually increase
- You will be able to visualize the underlying data structures and algorithms with animated explanations
- Learn the implementation with concrete code walkthroughs

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [Alvin's](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [Structy](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [this link to get 20% off](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

DSA Crash Course [Part 2] - Max Value Approach

In this lesson, Alvin explores the strategy to solving the following interview problem:

> Write a function, *max_value*, that takes in a list of numbers as an argument. The function should return the largest number in the list.\
> \
> Solve this without using any built-in list methods.\
> \
> You can assume that the list is non-empty.

```
max_value([4, 7, 2, 8, 10, 9]) # -> 10
```

```
max_value([10, 5, 40, 40.3]) # -> 40.3
```

```
max_value([-5, -2, -1, -11]) # -> -1
```

If you need additional support taking these DSA skills and actually applying them, take [Alvin's](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/) *complete* data structures and algorithms course on [Structy](https://structy.net/?utm_source=taro). You can try out the concepts yourself in their interactive code editor and learn advanced DSA patterns like stack exhaustive recursion.

Use [this link to get 20% off](https://structy.net/purchase?promo_code=taro20) the entire Structy DSA learning experience.

Follow Alvin on LinkedIn: <https://www.linkedin.com/in/alvin-zablan-b73a92117/>

Ace Your Tech Interview As A Software Engineer [Part 1] - How This Course Works

Let's not mince words: Looking for a job as a software engineer is *brutal*. It is so easy to lose heart on the journey and stop believing in yourself. This video (and broader course) will solve that for you by giving you the tools to overcome any job search adversity and stand out from the hordes of other candidates. Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background across top companies like PayPal, Course Hero, Meta, and Robinhood, explaining how he increased his TC (total compensation) by a whopping +800% across just 7 years and led thousands of engineers to interview success at top companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon.
- You'll understand why the existing landscape about interview preparation resources fails software engineers so miserably, particularly when it comes to data structures and algorithms (DSA) and LeetCode.
- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will understand how to organize your job search, learn interview skills properly, get job opportunities effectively, follow a framework to come prepared into any interview, and understand all the common software engineer interview round types.

If you want to learn how Alex cracked the FAANG interview, you can check out his story here: [How Alex Got Into Meta With 0 Prior LeetCode Experience](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/ZYiTbN21FsqFxFdpwt5a/how-alex-got-into-meta-with-0-prior-leetcode-experience/)

Why Is Performance Review Important And How Does It Work?

- In the age of tech layoffs in particular, it is crucial to do well in performance review consistently. A lot of companies stack rank as well, where every performance review cycle, 5-15% of the lowest performing engineers are cut.
- 4 core steps of performance review:
  - Understand the yardstick (ratings)
  - Understand the process (how your rating is generated)
  - Prepare for success (come up with a plan)
  - Execute (go through the cycle and hit the calibration process at the end)

Engineer Your Ideal Tech Career [Part 1] - The 3 Step Framework

Hi, I'm [Sophie Novati](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophienovati/) and welcome to [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev)'s course on career pathing and pivotal career decisions made in partnership with Taro!

In this video, I introduce a 3-step framework for evaluating your career, making pivotal decisions, and crafting next steps in order to forge your most successful career in software engineering. This includes:

1. Reflecting on day-to-day work that excites and challenges you

2. Mapping that to long-term career goals

3. Plotting out near-term next steps to get you there

Finally, you will hear from other accomplished engineers about how they’ve made these very decisions!

Be sure to follow along at the worksheet linked to leave with an actionable plan.

Looking for mentorship from tech’s top engineers + personalized job hunt assistance and interview prep? [Formation.dev](http://Formation.dev) can provide you unlimited career coaching, technical mentorship, personalized practice, and mock interviews. Join us here: <https://formation.dev/partners/taro>

Worksheet: [Formation - Coding Your Career](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/tech-career-growth.appspot.com/o/courses%2Fslides%2FFormation%20Career%20Direction%20Worksheet.pdf?alt=media&token=f6344b78-529a-411e-a449-7a34a8d55fc8)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 1] - How This Course Works

As a software engineer, you're expected to get a lot done with very little time. The compounding problem on top of that is how incredibly easy it is to get distracted as a digital warrior. This course is here to teach you how you can move faster and waste less time. Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background across top companies like Meta and Robinhood, explaining how he was able to be a high-performing tech lead at both those companies working 30-40 hours weeks (particularly at Meta).
- You'll understand why being productive as a software engineer is so hard and why being unproductive as a software engineer is so easy.
- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will:
  - 💯 Know the **true** most important productivity booster

  - 💡 Champion the right **mentality** to foster productivity

  - 🏃‍♂️ Use the right tactics to **move faster**

  - 🛡️ Have shields to prevent you from **wasting time**

  - 🤔 Learn how to **debug** a lack of productivity

If you want to learn how Alex onboarded at lightning speed at Robinhood, check out his in-depth case study here: [\[Case Study\] Becoming A Tech Lead Again In Just 1 Month After Joining Robinhood From Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/X8vpfJooDpsX915ouC00/case-study-becoming-a-tech-lead-again-in-just-1-m)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 2] - The Productivity Giant You Are Missing

When it comes to productivity, most software engineers have the completely incorrect strategy of simply working harder. This isn't sustainable and misses the forest for the trees. This lesson teaches you:

- The true highest leverage thing you can do when it comes to your productivity, explained with an example from Meta and Google
- Why working on the right things is much better than just working on your current things faster

Here's the promotion course: [\[Course\] Nail Your Promotion As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/nail-your-promotion-as-a-software-engineer/)

Become A Debugging Master [Part 1] - How This Course Works

Most software engineers groan when they get hit with a random bug task while they're in the middle of feature development. However, this is actually the completely wrong reaction reaction to have - It should be the opposite! This course is here to teach you why bugs are a deeply underrated growth opportunity and how you can become amazing at fixing them fast.

Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [**Rahul Pandey**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rpandey1234/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background with rapid career advancement, ending up as a high-performing Staff Engineer \[E6\] at Meta. Most importantly, he talks about how becoming a debugging master led to him getting to Meta E6 and boosting his total compensation to $800k+!

- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will:

  - 🧠 Learn how to **properly** **prioritize** debugging

  - 📋 Understand the **necessary prep work** before the fix

  - 💡 Develop a **mental framework** to fix any bug

  - ✅ Understand **the difference** between good and bad fixes

  - 🏆 Be able to **get maximum credit** for debugging

Joel Spolsky's wisdom: <https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-never-do-part-i/>

Master The Behavioral Interview [Part 1] - How This Course Works

Let's not mince words: Most software engineers are pretty terrible at behavioral interviews. Unlike interview types like data structures & algorithms (DSA) and system design, behavioral interviews are purely open-ended. Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background across top companies like PayPal, Course Hero, Meta, and Robinhood, explaining how ultra-sharpening his behavioral interview skills played a huge part in his career success. His reward? Growing from $85k TC to $750k in just 7 years!
- How software engineers throw their careers by from over-indexing on LeetCode grinding instead of developing more balanced interview expertise, particularly with behavioral interviews
- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will have the right mentality to answer *any* behavioral question well, understand what a good behavioral answer looks like (vs. a bad one), use the right tactics to prepare, possess the skills to vet the company, and know what behavioral performances look like across different levels

To learn more about Alex's interview success journey and overall job searching tactics, check out his master job searching course: [\[Course\] Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/)

Become An Open Source Master [Part 1] - Course + James Intro

This course is a methodical guide to get you involved in open source. The course is led by James Pearce, a former engineering director at Meta. While mastery might be a lifelong journey, we'll cover the basics to get started.

- Gain insights from James's experience running one of the world's largest open source programs.
- The course will focus on individual involvement in open source (not running a program).
- Meta/Facebook has a strong open-source culture, using and creating software like React, Cassandra, and PyTorch. Here's the talk James gave at OSCON 2015: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBbDAk5WYEo>
- James has built his own open-source project called [tinybase](https://github.com/tinyplex/tinybase), a data store for local-first apps. Watch this course so you can contribute!

Connect with James: 

- GitHub: <https://github.com/jamesgpearce>
- Twitter (X): <https://twitter.com/jamespearce>

The #1 Thing To Remember With Meetings

Which is the core principle you have to remember with meetings?

True or false: It is safer to just keep attending a meeting series, even if you are not clear exactly what value you are getting from it.

You have a meeting series where there is always action, but there is usually an awkward portion at the end where people run out of topics. What should you do?

True or false: When in doubt of a meeting's value prop, just delete it. You can always bring it back later.

You have a 1 on 1 meeting series, and by the time of the meeting, you feel like there are a lot of issues that you two are getting to too late. What should you do?

Software engineering is a inherently collaborative exercise, so every tech company is going to have meetings. The tricky part as a engineer is figuring out how to use them effectively: Navigating meetings incorrectly leads to mountains of wasted time.

Here are the key points from the video:

- Meetings are *extremely* expensive as it's the most valuable resource people have: Time.
  - This is why you need to be very aware of how productive meetings are for you. Don't just go to them blindly because you are on the meeting invite - This is a common failure mode for earlier-in-career engineers.
- If a meeting has value but isn't fully efficient, consider lowering the frequency or length of the meeting.
- Reflect on the value of every meeting, especially team meetings since they suck up the most time.
- *Lean towards deleting meetings or not attending them* - If you're unsure what value you got from a meeting, there's a good chance the meeting isn't actually helping you.
  - You can always run an "experiment" here. Remove the meeting from your calendar for a week and see if anything breaks - If the lack of alignment gets bad, you can put the meeting back.

Related resources:

- [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)
- ["How can I be more active in meetings and earn the respect of senior engineers?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/RtISfsqipLWBhZxvyl69/how-can-i-be-more-active-in-meetings-and-earn-the-respect-of-senior-engineers/)
- ["I have anxiety when speaking up in meetings - how do I overcome this?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/T1eEbbVZo1fuvbhCDXST/i-have-anxiety-when-speaking-up-in-meetings-how-do-i-overcome-this/)

Level Up Your Code Quality As A Software Engineer [Part 2] - Code Quality = Engineer Quality

Want to make a ton of money as a software engineer? Get incredibly good at writing stellar, high-quality code. This lesson will teach you:

- Why software engineers who write the best code get paid more than everyone else, especially at Big Tech
- The most common trait of low-performing engineers and high-performing engineers (hint: It's about code quality)
- The incredible benefits of striving to write high-quality code and the toxic downsides of writing mediocre code

To dive deeper into the differences between high and low performing software engineers, check this out: ["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/)

Master The DSA Interview [Part 1] - How This Course Works

Hate data structures and algorithms? We do too, which is why we're here to help! Here are the core parts of the lesson:

- Your instructor [Alex Chiou](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-chiou/) walks you through his extensive 10+ year Silicon Valley background with rapid career advancement, ending up as a high-performing tech lead making $750k at Robinhood. More importantly, he goes through how he gave \~100 data structures and algorithms interviews at Meta (codenamed the "Ninja" round) and rejected 80% of candidates

- You'll understand the high-level reasons why engineers struggle with data structures and algorithms problems, particularly with top-level interviews

- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will:

  - 🔥 Be **motivated** to grind DSA

  - 💡 Understand how to **truly learn** DSA concepts

  - 🗣️ Know how to navigate DSA in a **live** interview

  - 🏔️ See how DSA is proctored at **top companies** (FAANG)

  - 🧠 Set up a proper DSA **studying regimen**

If you haven't already, we recommend taking the overall job searching course here: [Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/course/ace-your-tech-interview-and-get-a-job-as-a-software-engineer/)

[Case Study] Building A Meta Internal Tool To Empower An Entire Org: Staff Promotion Story

- Debugging was a huge pain point for the Facebook Portal org.
- To fix this, Rahul built a tool that made it far easier to debug tricky Android issues (Portal runs a fork of Android). It took all the crazy dump files from Android bugs and extracted the insights.
- Rahul started off the tool with an *extremely* simple interface: Upload the massive dump file and it would extract insights. He would improve it later by making it so the user only needed the bug ID.
- The tool started off with around 100 engineers using it and then grew to 250+! This massive scope was enough to get Rahul AE (additional equity) and a promotion to E6 (Staff at Meta).
- How you can incorporate these learnings into your work:
  - Look internally for opportunity. There are ways to have impact besides shipping flashy products, and in Big Tech in particular, improving engineering efficiency can be a *huge* win given how many engineers there are!
  - Understand the pain of your peers. Not only is this just a kind, empathetic thing to do that builds relationships, pain often comes with opportunity.
  - Think outside your stack. Instead of working forward from your stack of choice and what you can do with that, zoom out and holistically look at problems across your org in general. It's cheap to learn other stacks to build solutions - The main thing to do is identify problems.
- Here's [a link to the slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Scxll_pApdPLXk42jSHcrZ4LaTE8_7BUjvB14z9-SgU/edit?usp=sharing).

Related resources:
- [[Case Study] Effective Communication: Leading A Multi-Org Re-architecture At Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/Rovw6IfITXGr55NdftFw/case-study-effective-communication-leading-a-multi-org-re-architecture-at-meta/)
- [What's the Difference Between A Senior And Staff Engineer?](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/FzvHLUprcYonudsxnJc2/whats-the-difference-between-a-senior-and-staff-engineer/)
- ["I would like to get more clarity on what a Staff-level project and execution look like."](https://www.jointaro.com/question/RQa5tsnXnZr6Xg1ziv0X/i-would-like-to-get-more-clarity-on-what-a-staff-level-project-and-execution-look-like/)

Having The Proper Mentality For Manager 1 on 1s

True or false: Your manager is your superior, so it is on them to ask the right questions and figure out what you need in your 1 on 1 meetings. You just need to show up on time.

Why is the burden on you to set the agenda and overall plan with your manager 1 on 1s?

True or false: It is better for your career growth to view your manager as being a resource for you instead of you being a resource for your manager.

True or false: A good manager 1 on 1 involves you giving status updates and then waiting for instruction on what to do next.

- *Your manager is a resource for you.*
- Don't just see your manager as a source of authority that gives you work. While this is true to some extent, having this mentality really holds back your growth.
- Go into your manager 1 on 1s with a plan on how you can extract the most value from them.
  - This onus is on you to set the agenda for this meeting, so you can get insights from your manager on how to best improve yourself. Let them know about this agenda beforehand, so they can think about how to best help you with each point.
  - Another way of seeing this is how can you make your manager's life easier. By setting the stage for your manager, you lower the barrier for them helping you as they don't need to figure out exactly what your work life looks like and what problems you have.
- A common failure mode for earlier-in-career engineers going into manager 1 on 1s is they go in, give a status update on what they're doing, and wait for more work to be given to them.

Related resources:

- [\[Masterclass\] How To Have Impactful 1 on 1 Meetings](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/FEK6JZqW2Jg3rdN9yeGn/masterclass-how-to-have-impactful-1-on-1-meetings/)
- [\[Course\] Effective Communication For Engineers](https://www.jointaro.com/course/effective-communication-for-engineers/)

Maximize Your Productivity As A Software Engineer [Part 3] - Finding The Best Things To Work On

If you have gone through this course in order, you now know that working on the right things is far more important than merely working on things faster. So how do yo figure out the best things to work on in your organization? This lesson teaches you:

- How to identify the optimal opportunities within your space
- A formula to classify tasks and projects by quality and stack rank them
- What you need to do with your prioritized tasks, particularly with your manager

To dive even deeper into this topic: ["How to figure out what the most important projects are?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/CgCPA60bDDHoOteN7Lmb/how-to-figure-out-what-the-most-important-projects-are/)

System Design Series: Taro Playlists [Part 1] - What REAL System Design Looks Like

This video is the introduction to our system design series, a vital skill for senior software engineers to succeed, especially at FAANG and Big Tech in general.

**Update:** Playlist are now shipped within Taro! Try it out and see how the system design in this video brought this feature to life by visiting the full playlist for the series here: [System Design Masterclass: Taro Playlists](https://www.jointaro.com/playlist/dChIyTQcu2Ct5VC70lki/)

Core points from the video:

- System design interviews are more analogous to your actual job than data structures and algorithms, but there are two big gaps:
  - **Overly grandiose exercises** - You will never get a technical problem on the scale of "Build all of Netflix", especially if you work at a Big Tech where you will get something much more local. Most of the biggest problems at these companies are already solved due to their maturity and plethora of software engineering talent.
  - **Time constraint** - Because interviews are time-boxed to 45 to 60 minutes, you have to do very broad strokes. In real life, system design should be much more thorough and has more steps and technical writing.
- To make this series as authentic as possible, we are going to be breaking down an actual upcoming feature within Taro: Playlists! On top of this:
  - This system design is exactly how Alex would design a system if he were still at Meta/Robinhood as a tech lead. While Taro doesn't need something this granular as a startup, this series simulates many aspects of a more mature company.
  - Alex has made a very thorough 9-page system design doc going through every aspect of the system.

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.