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>

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/)

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/>

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/)

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/)

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)

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/)

[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/)

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.

How To Find A Tech Company That's Less Likely To Do Layoffs

In a bull market like the one from 2014 - 2021, everyone's a genius. While you could work more or less anywhere before and get a couple solid years of career growth, that's not the case anymore. This video covers how you can choose a company that's less likely to do a mass layoff.

Here are the core points:
- **Prioritize profitable companies** - If the company is publicly traded, this is shared in every earnings reports and is easily Googled (i.e. "Is company X profitable?"). A good business needs more money coming in than going out, and companies with fundamentals like these will always be rewarded.
- **Make sure the company is hiring carefully** - The easiest way for a tech company to take on too many costs is by hiring people it doesn't need. If the interview process is too easy or the company is trying to 10x its headcount every year, that's generally a bad sign.
- **Leverage your network** - We all have people who are much smarter than we are within our network, and this is very prevalent in the tech industry. If the best and brightest in your network (i.e. those who really do their homework before accepting an offer) are going to specific companies, there's a good chance those companies have real legs.

Related resources:
- ["Insensitive to talk about applying to a company which has suffered from layoffs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/LH6CCgWMUAVEAHKDDUWc/insensitive-to-talk-about-applying-to-a-company-which-has-suffered-from-layoffs/)
- ["Staying motivated among lay-offs?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/EEMkoCSNPzdRToTHjuSb/staying-motivated-among-lay-offs/)

Effective Communication Guide [Part 1] - Core High-level Principles

Software engineers are notorious for their poor soft skills, often thinking that being able to write decent code while isolated in a corner is all they need to succeed. This couldn't be further from the truth. Communication in particular is crucial for software engineer career development, especially to senior and staff level. This lesson teaches you:

- **Communication is fundamentally an exercise in empathy** - The entire goal of communication is to align with or win over another human being in some way.
  - Strive to put yourself in the shoes of the person you're communicating with. Try to see the world through their eyes.
  - What are their values? What makes them happy? What are they struggling with? What do they care about? What's their background?
- **Understand others' incentives** - This is especially important in a corporate environment where every employee has some incentives they're pursuing. This will often times manifest as what are the values of the other person's org and even more concretely, *what they get rewarded for in performance review*.
- **Over-communication &gt;&gt;&gt; Under-communication** - Under-communication's downside is that people are not aligned, which usually leads to lots of thrash and wasted work. That is much, much worse than the failure mode of over-communication, which is that you're a bit annoying (and this can be easily toned down and fixed). If you're trying to get better at communication, push for the over-communication extreme: Chances are, you will never reach it. It is *very rare* for someone to be communicating too much - Most people will appreciate the increased availability of information.

Related resources:

- [The Crucial First Step To Building Relationships That Everyone Misses](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/YPniDFNQqoHEpYHC9JEq/the-crucial-first-step-to-building-relationships-that-everyone-misses/)
- [Stop Getting Ghosted With Your Reachouts - How To Write A Great Cold Message](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/eZRHXEpxdJjcxK2aQTWl/stop-getting-ghosted-with-your-reachouts-how-to-write-a-great-cold-message/)
- [I Sucked At This For 25 Years As An Engineer – 8 Tips For Communication](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/s0vZkFtwe3x4tALbdbEr/i-sucked-at-this-for-25-years-as-an-engineer-8-tips-for-communication/)

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 understand:

  - 🔥 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/)

[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)

Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer [Part 1] - How This Course Works

It doesn't matter if you have mastered 500 LeetCode problems if your resume isn't even good enough to get you the interview to begin with. Writing a stellar resume is one of the absolute highest-leverage things you can do as an engineer yet so many mess it up, making basic mistakes. With this course, you will stop making those mistakes. 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 reviewed (and rejected) 1,000+ resumes as he was extensively involved in the hiring loop of all of his prior companies.
- You'll understand why writing a stellar resume is actually quite easy, but the internet makes it hard due to misinformation
- We walk you through the course objectives. By the end of the course, you will understand:
  - 💡 Truly understand the **principles** behind a stellar resume
  - 🗑️ Avoid the common **traps** that make resumes suck
  - 💯 Get **maximum credit** by best framing your experience
  - 📊 Make the right resume based on your **level**
  - 🤔 Know what to do if your resume **isn’t enough**

What Makes A Truly Great Tech Lead - A VP of Engineering's Perspective

Former Mixpanel VP of Engineering David Pan (also ex-Twitter, ex-Amazon, ex-Microsoft) shares his wisdom on what it really means to be a tech *lead*, shipping projects effectively and leaving the team in a better place in the process.

- **Overview:** Tech leads are extremely valuable. They allow a team to multi-thread and execute on multiple projects at once, not requiring the engineering manager to babysit everything.
- **Understands the business context:** Great tech leads have strong product understanding and realize that software needs to be built in different ways based on the situation.
- **Project risk shrinks over time:** Great tech leads are constantly looking for ways to de-risk their projects over time. As things get closer to the ship date, the project actually becomes less scary!
- **Level up the team along the way:** Great tech leads figure out ways to leave the team in a better place than it was before the project.
- **If you're looking to become a great tech lead**: Get to know your PM, assess risk proactively and tackle the hardest items first, and find opportunities to level up your teammates.

You can connect with David here: [David Pan's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/davepan/)

If you want to learn more about becoming a great tech lead, check out the following resources:

- [\[Course\] Tech Lead Blueprint: Role, Skills, and Strategies](https://www.jointaro.com/course/tech-lead-blueprint-role-skills-and-strategies/)
- [Becoming A Tech Lead Again In Just 1 Month After Joining Robinhood From Meta - Case Study From Alex](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/X8vpfJooDpsX915ouC00/case-study-becoming-a-tech-lead-again-in-just-1-month-after-joining-robinhood-from-meta/)
- ["How do I lead without authority?" - Staff Software Engineer \[E6\] at Meta](https://www.jointaro.com/question/BWv3hFSELbn59mXJbkNB/how-do-i-lead-without-authority/)
- ["How can I hit the ground running as a tech lead?" - Senior Software Engineer \[SDE 3\] at Amazon](https://www.jointaro.com/question/MiEPhSkzr8TRRSMRkrNQ/how-can-i-hit-the-ground-running-as-a-tech-lead/)

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/)

Effectively Learning Data Structures And Algorithms (DSA) For Software Engineer Interviews

Which of these is the core building block of data structures and algorithms problems?

True or false: The most effective way to be prepared for data structures and algorithms interview problems is to memorize the code of each problem's solution line by line.

Why should you comment your solutions to data structures and algorithms problems?

True or false: When you are completely stuck, you should just look at the entire solution in order to learn it.

Why is it healthy to struggle on data structures and algorithms problems?

**Data Structure and Algorithm (DSA)** questions are a core part of the interview for most software engineering roles. These questions, sometimes called "Leetcode problems", are essential to master if you want a reasonable pass rate in your interviews. 

However, so many engineering candidates struggle to truly understand these questions, resulting in lower confidence and worse performance. Here are the best tips when it comes to passing these types of interviews:

- The key to mastering DSA is to learn patterns and not memorize code. The "drill and kill" style of studying is really badly suited for DSA.
- 80% of asked DSA problems will use 1 of ~15 different patterns. So rather than focusing on individual problems, your goal should be to connect the problem to a broader, recurring pattern.
- Examples of patterns: binary search, graph traversal, sliding window, tail recursion. Being able to understand problems of the same type is essential. Being able to *name the pattern* is even better. 
- Extensively comment your solutions, primarily with the key pattern behind the problem. When you get started, it will be painstakingly slow to understand each line of code, and potentially comment it. That's ok! You will feel frustrated, but your goal is to deeply understand the problem and solution, instead of simply solving as many problems as you can.
- When you can't figure out a problem, read 10-20% of the solution and see if you can come up with the entire solution from there. Build the muscle of converting high-level points into fleshed out solutions

Related resources:
- ["Mock Interviews vs. Leetcode?"](https://www.jointaro.com/question/U4kohSE8g5LR7GD9cqYH/mock-interviews-vs-leetcode/)
- [[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/)
- [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/)

How Neetcode Got Promoted From L3 to L4 (Mid-Level) Engineer At Google - Tips + Insights

Neetcode struggled with unemployment as a fresh college graduate in 2020. To prepare for interviews, he started the (now massive) [Neetcode YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/neetcode) and landed a job a year later at [Google](https://www.jointaro.com/topic/google/) as an entry-level (L3) software engineer. 

As his first full-time job, Neetcode was unsure if he'd succeed within Big Tech, but he was able to get promoted to mid-level engineer (L4) quickly.

Neetcode attributes his success within Google to 3 elements: 
- **Working independently**: Don't be afraid to try things on your own. You should take advantage of the smart people around you, but you need an attitude of self-sufficiency. That means you should be willing to dive into the code, try out experiments, and read documentation as needed.
- **Soft skills**: Break down the work you're doing to discuss the parts that people care about and be proactive with giving status updates. If you feel like a project may get delayed, be very honest about that with your manager -- communicate what happened and what you're doing to fix it. 
- **Some luck**: Neetcode had a great manager and his starter project turned out to have a larger scope than initially planned. This set him up for the L4 promotion.

Neetcode's (self-assessed) coding skills were average, but he performed better than most L3s due to his ability to work independently and superior soft skills.

**If you'd like a discount on Neetcode Pro, checkout the [Taro Perks](https://www.jointaro.com/perks/) page.**

Related resources: 
- [Learn how Google does performance review](https://www.promotions.fyi/company/google/performance-review)
- [How to work more independently? from an Amazon engineer](https://www.jointaro.com/question/vyIAC3hCmRpiWzzL6SjP/how-to-work-more-independently/)
- [Why You Should Start Your Career At A Big Tech Company](https://www.jointaro.com/lesson/OcWRqQcx31VwIEV6tfWK/why-you-should-start-your-career-at-a-big-tech-company/)

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.