Amanda Falke

“There’s no jobs for Jr Software Engineers out there!” NOT TRUE…But there are some major issues in today’s hiring market. 1. MISALIGNED FOUNDATIONAL EXPERIENCE: The majority of aspiring SEs are either: Recent CS grads (less hands-on exp); OR, Bootcamp grads (less theory). Meanwhile...Most enterprise companies who hire a ton of SEs are looking for CS grads that ALSO have hands-on experience already. 2. MISALIGNED TECH STACKS: The majority of aspiring SEs are only experienced in NodeJS and/or Python. Meanwhile…Most of the companies who hire a ton of SEs are using Java or C# backends. Companies using NodeJS or Python backends are often smaller and can't hire as many SEs. That’s why our Enterprise Accelerator is making a difference. We identify diverse CS grads who are hungry, and we teach them the hands-on Java skills that companies are using in the real world over 3 months. Best of both worlds 😎 If you're interested in seeing some of this kind of talent--send me a DM and we'll get you connected. Want to join our next Enterprise Accelerator cohort? Stay tuned for the next webinar in early August.

77

7 Comments

This is how I am mentoring my son his CompSci classes... I just keep repeating it over and over. I should hire my daughter to do the same thing as it's pretty common. READ THE REQUIREMENTS! That's all. That's every point he's missed on every project. Just read until you understand and ask questions if you still do not. His prof makes everything seem so simple, if you read and follow the requirements. But that seems to be the hardest part, the lesson the prof is trying to convey. He even lists the crash and burn rules. "If you support grammar that was not given then -100" etc. There is no room for misinterpretation. Therefore my help is just me reading the assignments back to him and making sure he has done what they say. Then again, maybe it's not a good lesson as requirements are rarely this in depth. Perhaps it's just 20 years of giving the same requirements that leads to this level of detail. I'll keep that to myself for now, he doesn't need to know that 🤫

1

“Most engineers will hate this,” a Staff SWE told me the other day. “But the quickest path to Senior+ is documentation.” I thought he was crazy. Documents fall out of date the moment they’re written. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “Because every doc is a snapshot of someone’s thought process while solving a difficult problem.” I still wasn’t sold. “But here’s the real hack.” My ears perked up. “If you update that documentation, you’ll earn a chance to pick the author’s brain. Then YOU can get credit for distilling THEIR wisdom. And become an expert yourself.” It clicked. Code scales systems. Writing scales knowledge. All the expertise we need to get to Senior+ is readily available. We just have to go find it.

1,455

136 Comments

This is such a valuable insight! Documenting and updating technical processes not only scales knowledge but also creates opportunities for deep learning and expertise sharing. 📚💡 I've shared various articles that dive into effective documentation practices, coding tips, and more. If you're interested in more tips and insights on engineering and coding, check out my blogs on Medium and Dev.to. Medium -> https://lnkd.in/eJxunUNV dev.to -> https://dev.to/aneeqakhan 

2

In between hunting for JR SWE roles I've been grinding the NeetCode Blind 75. Here are a few problems from the the last week. 1. Stacks: Valid Parenthesis: https://lnkd.in/epBvBiJm 2. Trees: Invert Binary Tree: https://lnkd.in/ehxynE2J 3. Linked Lists: Reverse Linked List: https://lnkd.in/euEfNhUp 4. Bit Manipulation: Number of 1 Bits: https://lnkd.in/eK53Y_Fe 5. Sliding Window: Best Time to Buy Stock: https://lnkd.in/e4sNu8D3 ⚡ ⚡ ⚡ My resume is good, my internships are good, my projects are good. The only thing left that will bite me in the ass are DSA questions during technical interviews. NeetCode has compiled 75 of the most popular types of questions that you might see in interviews. I'm playing the statistics and assuming that 80% of the questions I will see will be Arrays or Two Pointers. I'm not going crazy as I don't care about big tech. So this is what I'm doing. Check NeetCode for yourself here --> https://lnkd.in/eyuHH354 Picture is me in my office. 😆 #software #halifax #softwaredeveloper #blockchain

14

1 Comment

Observation: 9/10 SWE's quit at “reading the docs”. Cut through the BS with this easy trick: Take action and build. Writing code is 100x easier than the docs make it sound. “Reading the docs” gave me crazy imposter syndrome: -Git -WPF -Kafka -OAuth -Angular -GraphQL -RabbitMQ -Kubernetes In ALL cases, I conquered my fears by building. Except for WPF. I gave up on that. And Kafka, that's for another day. Forcing yourself to build/code/deploy melts analysis paralysis. Then you'll say "oh that was pretty easy". Trust me, we aren't building rockets. Practice AND Study build true mastery.

22

1 Comment

Well said. The alarmism around AI replacing software engineers often overlooks the complexity of our role. While AI tools like Devin are impressive, they are assistants, not replacements. 𝟏. 𝐂𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝟐. 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝟑. 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬. 𝟒. 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧-𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. AI will definitely reshape our workflows, but it won't replace the need for skilled engineers. Instead, it may allow us to focus more on high-level problem-solving and innovation. Arvind Telharkar 👏

7

1 Comment

If you think that the Trump assassination attempt somehow only affects Republicans, know that for some reason Bernie Sanders also cancelled his rally in Portland, ME for this Friday. The problem isn't that there aren't other candidates with better ideas--there are. The problem isn't that people are dumb and don't want a better future for the planet--I think they do. The best candidates are seldom the ones on the ballot. The higher you go in politics this is true: it is often the richest and oldest that are eligible for Presidency, and those with archaic ideas and that support the status quo, and those that serve for self gain. So once again, I'll be voting for the US Presidential candidate, whichever one is on the ballot whose ideas are more progressive. I will vote for the candidate not trying to topple government as we know it, or shake the hands of the Dictators whose hands snuff out the life of dissent. It was a Historic Meeting when Donald Trump shook the hands of Kim Jong Un, because he shook the hand of a despot that murders his own people for consuming the culture of other people, like the 30 teens North Korea recently executed for watching South Korean shows. Similarly, we must express our outrage at China's treatment of the Uyghur population. The Chinese government has detained hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of Uyghurs in what they call "re-education camps." These camps are nothing short of modern-day concentration camps, where people are held without trial, subjected to political indoctrination, forced labor, and even torture. The world cannot stand idly by as an entire ethnic group is systematically oppressed and their culture erased. I get that some folks think we should just respect their Vote, but look, even Hitler and Putin were elected and that's just shit to think someone would vote for that, yet alone enough to normalize it. So this November, Let's Vote! Let's vote not to become America the Scared and Punished; lets not vote for camps; Lets not roll back the clocks of social progress when the hands of the Science clock will not be turned back by such rhetoric. No, we must work together to accomplish the impossible, if we want a future for our Grandchildren and their children on this planet.

5

I don’t think L9 engineers at FAANG are paid $2mm a year because they know how to get an A+. I think L9 engineers at FAANG are paid $2mm a year because they know when to shoot for a C+ instead of an A+. And then task people underneath to get the minimum grade necessary to achieve the objective. It’s the perfect blend of business savvy and technical skill.

7

1 Comment

Software engineers don't need a keyboard to type code anymore. Meta says f**k you to all tech companies and creates a wrist-brain interface. Can you imagine controlling the TV channel by swooning your fingers? No f**k that. Buy the wrist-brain interface and type with your fingers in the air. The wrist-neural interface + Meta Quest will convert your air-borne keywords into words. The future of computing is literally in the cloud, cause keyboards and mice will become old-school, And TBH who needs the haggle of carrying all the hardware? Type Python code and code websites in Javascript by hitting those keys with your finger and I'm not making this shit up. Would you buy this wrist interface if you could do anything with just a swoosh of your fingers? I'd buy it and write novels from literally anywhere without having to lag around my big-ass laptop. What would you do?

2

Distinguished engineers (E9) at Meta make $3,251,000+ per year. Among tens of thousands of strong engineers at Meta, <<1% of them are E9. They are so rare that most people don't work with them directly, but their work is highly visible. One thing I've seen common among all of them is that they are world-class writers. Every diff description, launch post, or directional doc is crystal clear. I don't need to work in their domain to understand what they are saying. This makes sense given that a lot of their impact comes through leverage. They have extraordinary levels of influence through their writing. This skill helps them grow/unblock/direct others at scale. Take writing seriously if you want to have leveraged impact as an engineer.

11,136

236 Comments

Are you a software engineer? You're probably not getting promoted this year. I'm sorry to tell you this, but with ZIRP times over, you're more likely to get laid off than promoted. Unless you can convince your manager of your value. Do you think your commits on GitHub will speak for themselves? Well, not really. Companies care about your measurable impact, not the number of hours you put into work. With the performance review season on the horizon, that's not going to save you. You won't remember everything you did. Your manager won't remember everything you did. Even if your manager does remember, you might get assigned to a new one. Then you're in trouble. You need to be able to advocate for yourself. Be your own marketing and sales team. Present yourself so well that your skip-level manager will say, "We're keeping this guy/gal" when your whole department is being slashed. Here's the tactic: you need a promodoc, also known as "the list of awesome stuff I did." In a promodoc, you write a list of your goals, accomplishments, achievements, and company impact. Update it regularly, and when the promotion season starts, you'll be prepared. Share it with your manager. Your manager barely remembers what you did, and this is not what you want the promotion committee to base their decisions on. But with a promodoc, you control the narrative. You decide how to best present yourself. Now the manager will advocate for your promotion based on your impressive numbers, not some vague ideas. You can even share it in every 1:1 to spread awareness about yourself and keep the important people in the loop. Share it with your peers. When promotion season begins, your colleagues will likely be asked to provide feedback on you. People tend to be forgetful, so by proactively sharing your accomplishments, you're making it easier for them to write feedback. Now you control the narrative again. So how do you write a promodoc? I think there are many ways. Usually it is good to start with your goals, then continue with projects and impact. Sometimes you want to highlight your engineering excellence too. If you're aiming for senior and higher roles, don't forget to add a section about your leadership skills. Finally, you want to be perceived as someone who plays well with other, so include that too. A personal note: I'm making a side project that uses AI to help you create promodocs. Here's how it works: 1. You input information about your professional goals, projects, engineering achievements, leadership, and people skills. I have a nice guide for that. 2. The AI transforms this into a professionally crafted promotion package that showcases your value to your organization. 3. You can download the result as a markdown file and make final edits before presenting it to your manager. If you're interested in early access and free credits to generate promodocs when I launch (expected in the next week or two), please send me a direct message or leave a comment below.

20

1 Comment

Is this valid TypeScript? Why or why not? I 💖 type safety. I recently gave an engineering talk on it at Stay AI and this line of code helps explains the differences between values and types in TypeScript quite succinctly.

6

A software engineer recently commented to me in frustration that their skip-level manager added regular 1:1s to their calendar. (punctuated by a dramatic eye roll) I said, “That’s a gift! Don’t waste it.” I’ve managed engineers, UX designers, QA tests, product managers, and more over the years. Very few maximized their one-on-one meetings. I’m not immune; I’ve squandered countless 1:1s with leaders over the years. 1:1s with any leadership level are an excellent opportunity to build relationships, highlight your contribution, and articulate your career goals. Here’s my number one tip for transforming your 1:1s from don’t-have-anything-can-we-skip to the most impactful meeting of the week. Send an agenda a day ahead of the meeting. 🥇 [gasp] Send an agenda to my leader!? Absolutely! Include two key things: 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞-𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 — Provide crisp updates with links to details (not what you did, what was the impact). This eliminates wasting time on status during the meeting. They’ll naturally bring questions as needed. 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 — Suggest a few talking points. If you don’t know what to discuss, think about this leader’s unique context and ask them about it (e.g., business strategy, market dynamics, inter-departmental insights, or your performance). Keep the message brief. Like, read it in 42 seconds brief. Block time for this in your calendar, or it will slip through the cracks. Your leader may have a different agenda at the meeting. That’s fine. You’ve communicated the status of key initiatives, highlighted what you’re thinking about, and shown that you care about their time. Are you doing this? Why not?

57

5 Comments

Math is important in all of software engineering, and the reliability engineering specialty is no exception. Things like calculating error budget burn rate, long and short windows and how they affect you can get complicated quickly. Understanding the equations (and I mean *really* understanding them, not just memorizing them) is the first big step to being able to reproducibly calculate your targets and adjust them when needed. #sre #sitereliabilityengineering

18

1 Comment

I'm seeing a lot of these "expert answers" about frontend development and what does HTML, CSS, and Javascript do. So many of them over complicate it: HTML is content authoring. You are writing a document and should use the tools and formatting available to make it as clearly understood as possible. Most people should be able to write some HTML much like most people can post dross on social networks. However there is a big difference between a coherent, semantically correct HTML doc and some div/span catastrophe. The latter is more like the local racists latest rant with no punctuation, swimming with spelling mistakes, and they've tied themselves in knots over the fact there was once a rainbow flag in Morrisons. CSS is not just about making things "look nice". Yeah it'll make things look better but it's main purpose should be to improve usability, legibility and make your content more understandable. Finally Javascript - Javascript is usually unnecessary and I reckon 90% of the internet could do without it. A lot of the things that Javascript has introduced has made the internet worse, less stable, and less accessible. It's main purpose has been to make frontend development more like a programming discipline, rather than the design discipline it originally was. This is coming from someone who has built their career around frontend development 🤷‍♂️

17

2 Comments