Want to get hired? Avoid these answers at all costs
Being a developer these days is both good and bad. There are a lot of jobs available out there, but there is a lot of competition too. If a company is known for looking after their developers well, a lot of developers naturally want to work for that company. So as a developer, you want to make sure you not only have the right skills, but you also make a really good impression at every interview. And this includes not saying things that are arrogant, ignorant, or inconsiderate.
In my role as an engineering manager, hiring manager, and interviewer of more than 100 developers in the past two years alone, these are the things I have witnessed developers say in their interviews that make them less appealing — even if their resume looks good and they did well on technical and coding tests. …
From new to seasoned engineering managers
I’ve been answering career questions on platforms like Quora and Reddit and wanted to share the top 10 Career Questions for Engineering Managers. The answers are bite-sized to give you just what you need to know, without overwhelming you with additional information.
As we are in the first month of the new year, I hope this summary provides you with a clear direction that you’re looking for in your management career.
Becoming an engineering manager
1. How should I prepare for a Software Engineering Manager interview at a large company like Google, Facebook, Amazon, or Netflix?
Firstly, understand the interview process at a tech company. There are usually 4–8 interview rounds and at each interview, the interviewer(s) is looking for different competencies. For example, the technical interviewer may be looking for your understanding of tech stack and architecture, whereas cultural interviewers are looking for how you’ll fit in and what is the value-add you’ll bring to the company. …
A practical guide for engineering managers at tech companies
The Engineering Manager’s How-To Guide is written by an engineering manager (yours truly) for engineering managers.
When I first became an engineering manager, I wasn’t as effective as I could have been. I’ve always been an avid reader, I’ve read many leadership books, I could recite paragraphs from Simon Sinek’s famous book, Start With Why and I could retell all the stories from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Don’t get me wrong, those books were totally amazing, and they helped me in being a great people manager but I wasn’t a very effective engineering manager. Looking back, I realised it was because I was missing pieces of the puzzle in engineering leadership; processes and products. …
Polish up your resume and go get that new job
One of the biggest transformations in the tech industry in 2020 was the rise of remote work. There are both good and bad sides to this transformation. Let’s start with the good. With remote work becoming a norm in the industry, your chance of getting a tech job has increased exponentially, as you’re no longer constrained by your physical place of residence. Gone are the days when you had to be living a few miles away from Silicon Valley in the San Francisco area, Silicon Hills in Austin, or Sydney CBD to get a tech job with a well-known tech company in the country. …
In the age of work-life integration and remote work
2020 was the year of burnout. It’s true, burnout was the topic of the year and unfortunately, it looks like the trend is going to continue in 2021. Most of us have now been working from home for the last six months or more, and instead of getting used to the situation, and enjoying the time we save by not having to commute, we are feeling overwhelmed. Whether you have accidentally become a remote manager or a remote worker, your day seems to be filled with back to back zoom meetings, with no time to do actual work or think strategically. …
Tips to help you decide between working for a startup and a public tech company
Every single day, we are faced with a number of choices — from simple choices like what to have for breakfast to bigger and more complicated choices that affect our lifestyles and career, such as making a decision on whether to accept one job offer over another job offer. Choosing between multiple job offers is a high-stakes decision since an average person spends 90,000 hours in their lifetime at work. Therefore, it is in our best interest to be able to objectively decide between multiple job offers.
Let me share with you five tips for making a decision like a boss when you have multiple job offers. …
My personal story of how I got into tech
Technology industry is one of the fastest growing industries today. Even with global pandemic and economic pressures, tech companies are hiring as they are scaling for growth. Therefore, it’s no brainer that if you’re looking for a job in a growing industry, tech industry is the answer. And contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have a Computer Science degree to break into the tech industry. …
Hey my Medium Community,
It’s Thanksgiving week and I’ve been feeling grateful for what I have. Also with the pandemic, stress and burnout that many of you are experiencing, I truly want to help you, ambitious and driven professionals in tech, grow your career by having clarity on your goal and going after them with ease and momentum in the new year.
Here’s a concise roadmap for your career success:
1️⃣ Explore options and understand what’s possible
2️⃣ Perform self-assessment and put together a Personal Development Plan with milestones for the next 6–12 months
3️⃣ Execute on your plan and gain momentum
4️⃣ Smash your career goal!
To help you with your career journey, I’ve put together five resources as a bundle. …
What to do when you’ve failed a job interview
Dear {Name},
We are sorry to inform you that the decision has been made not to progress with your application for the {role}. I’m sorry it isn’t better news.
Signed,
Recruiter/Hiring Manager
We have all seen this kind of messages. Unfortunately though, it doesn’t get easier no matter how many times you have seen it.
As someone who has been on the other side of the table many times as an interviewer and have had a good track record when it comes to nailing interviews as an interviewee, I still can’t completely escaped from such rejection messages.
In this article, I’d like to share with you four steps that you can take to still walk away as a winner even after being rejected at an interview. …
3 steps to take before moving into your new engineering management role
Today, I am not going to go into why you might want to become an engineering manager but I am going to share with you how you can approach this career transition.
Note that I use the word “transition” quite intentionally here. The path to engineering management is not as simple as you may have hoped. In fact, it’s not even a career progression, hence the usage of the word “transition.”
Some tech companies put senior engineers on the same level as their engineering managers for this very reason. …
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