Instagram Principal Engineer (IC8) on Promotions, Breaking Prod, Tech Leading | Jake Bolam
Jake Bolam grew from Staff Eng (IC6) to Principal Eng (IC8) at Instagram. He had some hot takes about diff reviews and risk (he accepts diffs that’ll break prod). He also shared interesting stories about his promotions as well as many tips on how to have IC8 impact with a solid work life balance.We discuss:• Struggling initially at Facebook• His promotions from IC6 -> IC8• Accepting diffs that break prod• Systems for reasonable work life balance at IC8 • His note taking system in VSCode• Advice for his younger selfTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:50) His rough onboarding to Facebook product team(04:32) Switching to Instagram (06:39) What IC7 scope looks like(09:48) Thoughts on management(10:32) Why he always makes time for others(13:31) His IC7 & IC8 stories(20:54) Swapping out infra for 1000s of engs(22:37) Work life balance tips (IC6 -> IC8) (27:26) Diffs reviews & risk (36:07) Being a good tech lead (42:12) Taking notes in VSCode(47:03) Advice for his younger self(49:54) OutroWhere to find Jake:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakebolam/• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@theregularbuiltozzyWhere to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.developing.dev
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OpenAI & Meta Distinguished Engineer (IC9) On Working With Zuck, Carmack & Career Growth | Philip Su
Philip Su grew to Distinguished Engineer (IC9) at Meta and OpenAI. He has a bunch of interesting stories about working with people like Zuck and John Carmack as well as a ton of advice for software engineers. I was really looking forward to chatting with him and enjoyed this conversation a lot. I hope you find it helpful!In this conversation, we discussed:• What Distinguished Eng (IC9) expectations look like• How he got promoted to IC9• Working with impressive engineers like John Carmack• What made Zuck and Boz special as coworkers• Learnings from switching between IC and EM 6x• Why he joined OpenAI• Advice for his younger selfTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:02) Growing to Senior Staff (IC7) at Microsoft(06:38) Management vs IC transitions(17:32) Demotion from IC9 to IC7 at Meta(20:28) IC7, IC8, and IC9 expectations(28:58) IC9 promo story(31:30) Building a strong eng team culture(36:16) Working with Zuck + Meta CTO(38:57) Working with John Carmack and other impressive ICs(41:44) Buying $23000 of coffee in a day(45:35) Why leave Facebook(49:25) Joining OpenAI(55:38) Writing well as a software engineer(1:03:00) Does software eng performance decline as you age?(1:07:00) Building credibility as a young manager(1:10:25) Should you be a generalist or a specialist?(1:12:43) Advice for his younger selfWhere to find Philip:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suphilip/• Peak Salvation podcast he referenced: https://peaksalvation.com/Where to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.developing.dev
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Industry Secrets We Wish We Knew Before Graduating | Staff Eng Talk @ UCLA
Ricky (Google Engineering Manager) and I were recently invited to give a talk at UCLA for the UPE/ACM clubs. We wanted to share the industry secrets that college didn’t teach us about the tech industry, career growth, and more.Students were able to submit questions in advance that we prepared slides for. We received a bunch of interesting questions that should be helpful to any college kids looking to get into tech. You can look at the timestamps below to jump to whatever questions you’re most interested in.Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:47) Primer on SWE levels(06:12) How to succeed as an intern? (09:13) How did you get promoted quickly?(11:36) How much of success is luck?(13:32) If you had one piece of advice, what would it be?(16:11) What if I’m not a gigachad coder?(19:12) How to handle imposter syndrome?(21:36) How to advocate for yourself?(24:20) Big tech vs startups for new grads?(30:28) How do people measure impact?(32:17) Would an MBA help for eng management?(33:45) How was college recruiting?(36:10) How do you make as much money as possible?(38:00) Parting words(40:10) What are your current goals?(42:02) Thoughts on job hopping?(45:49) What Ricky works on?(46:06) Thoughts on how AI affects engineering?Thank you to Jordan Nguyen (ACM), Ashley Cheng (UPE), and Lune Chan (Videography) for hosting and helping produce this event!!Where to find Ricky:• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@findingricky • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findingrickyWhere to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.developing.dev
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21x Hackathon Winner Turned College Dropout | Jia Chen Interview
Jia Chen is a 21 year old that won 21x hackathons and co-founded her own startup, all while being a content creator. She’s worked hard to succeed in tech despite attending a non-target school, and has recently dropped out to work on her startup, Sprint.dev.We discuss:• Winning hackathon strategies• How to stand out as a college student• Content creation• Dropping out to build a startup• College reflections and adviceTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:55) Getting into hackathons(04:10) Hackathon strategy(15:20) Developing agency & time management(19:27) Standing out at a non-target school(20:19) Is college useful?(24:28) Personal brand(26:25) Dropping out to build a startup(32:32) Advice to younger selfWhere to find Jia:• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jia.seed/• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/audrey-chen-tech/• Startup (Sprint.dev): https://www.sprint.dev/Where to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.developing.dev
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Amazon Principal Engineer On Layoffs, Interviewing & Career Growth | Steve Huynh
Steve Huynh became a software engineer at Amazon with a Liberal Arts degree. He started as a Support Engineer and eventually became a Principal Engineer (top ~1% at Amazon) before starting his own career growth YouTube channel, A Life Engineered.We discuss:• Why most interview prep advice is garbage• Why most people don’t become Principal Engineers• Amazon’s performance-based layoff culture• How to avoid being laid off• Regrets & advice for his younger selfTimestamps:(00:00) Intro(00:37) Transitioning from liberal arts to tech(06:31) Becoming a software development engineer(17:37) Breaking into the tech industry today(22:56) Future of software engineering with AI(26:06) SDE1 → SDE3 promos(33:11) Perf-based Layoffs at Amazon(46:22) His Principal promotion project(59:53) Best parts of Amazon's culture(1:05:22) His best and worst managers among 20+(1:09:09) Career reflectionsWhere to find Steve:• Newsletter: https://alifeengineered.substack.com/• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ALifeEngineered• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/a-life-engineered/• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alifeengineered/Where to find Ryan:• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/• X: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/ • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ryanlpeterman• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.developing.dev
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