Choosing The Right Team + Company As A Software Engineer
Hey everyone 👋🏽 Today we’ll cover:
Introducing Rachel, Lee, and Seed on Taro
How to choose which company to join
Details for our live session tomorrow about team selection
Introducing Rachel, Lee, and Seed on Taro
Alex and I went to the Airbnb HQ in San Francisco to chat with Rachel Zhao on a variety of topics: the top mistakes engineers make, the importance of using English in the workplace, and how to think about staff engineer promos. Find those videos here:
We’ve also onboarded two fantastic creators in Lee McKeeman (staff eng on Google + LinkedIn famous) and Seed Zeng (staff eng at DoorDash, ex-Meta). Check out some of their responses in Taro:
(Lee) “How do you network effectively within a company?”: https://link.jointaro.com/uBCEUcqvhZt3iHBm8
(Seed) “How do I turn SWE roles descriptions into concrete actions in a startup?” https://link.jointaro.com/gMLPFjBFmKPGMwnb6
If you ask a question in Taro, you’ll get a significantly better answer compared to anywhere else on the internet :)
Choosing a company as a software engineer
Here are 2 ways you should NOT evaluate a job opportunity, especially if you're looking at Big Tech:
❌ Don't focus on how much you liked (or did not like) the people in the interview process.
The recruiter/interviewer is NOT representative of your life at the company. Instead, focus on trends of the people joining the company, rather than individual data points.
❌ Don't spend time looking at the financials of the company
Humans have a really hard time with exponential growth. If you're joining a disruptive company, or even a big tech co growing 30% y/y, it's hard / impossible to predict how the company will change in the coming years.
My most recent YouTube video covers (IMO) a better way to evaluate which company to join:
Choosing a team as a software engineer
Once you’ve committed to a company, the next step is to pick your team. Within big tech, the team you pick can impact your career + growth more than the company.
Tomorrow we have our next Tech Career Growth live session “Choosing A Great Company & Team As A Software Engineer”.
Mark yourself attending and grab the Zoom link on the LinkedIn event. In the meantime, we have existing resources + Q&A in Taro:
Free
“How do I know when it’s time to leave a team/company?” - https://link.jointaro.com/4QnYTeAwNrugmmkF9
“What’s the difference between Big Tech and startups in terms of learning and growth?” - https://link.jointaro.com/tWzx3ggRXLBshexv9
Why You Should Start Your Career At A Big Tech Company - https://link.jointaro.com/9k3HkgfJsTp1Nd2w5
Questions You Can Ask To Evaluate An Engineering Manager - https://link.jointaro.com/ByjnL1VbaePfXSUp8
“How do I factor in oncall into my team selection?” - https://link.jointaro.com/rBGgdKSwY4pSkXus9
“What’s the best way to think about a team switch?” (lots of Meta-specific advice) - https://link.jointaro.com/iQbmorDuqxm4DRuWA
Premium
Full 1.5 hour session on finding a great engineering manager who will support you: https://link.jointaro.com/r6A67w77hYobJge79
“How can you tell if a large public company is going in the right direction?” - https://link.jointaro.com/qqwNf65YZJsiU5JY9
“What does it mean to not have enough scope to be promoted?” - https://link.jointaro.com/NEqz7SCR63g4kN2eA
“What should I look for in a new team in terms of growth?” - https://link.jointaro.com/vd3HM4Zaju8Zeun57
“Things to keep in mind while switching teams and targeting promotion to Senior Level?” - https://link.jointaro.com/cuMEJS4GusQ1PmTQ6
Hope to see you tomorrow!