Three Things Preventing Your Promotion to Senior Engineer (from a Principal at Amazon)

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  • Опубліковано 23 гру 2024

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  • @leefogel5195
    @leefogel5195 2 роки тому +23

    Strength
    1. Tech depth and delivery
    2. Rejects hyperbolic discounting (i.e. forward-looking)
    3. Expert time manager (e.g. limit unnecessary meetings, limit social media)
    4. Grow others around you (improving team and allowing more delegation)
    Weakness
    1. Overemphasizes delivery and tech depth
    2. Conflates management and leadership
    3. Unsustainable time management (i.e. working on nights/weekends)

  • @MapMavericks
    @MapMavericks 2 роки тому +123

    10+ years of developer, team, and management experience distilled into 12 minutes and laid out comprehensively. Thanks for sharing this gold.

  • @wayne7936
    @wayne7936 2 роки тому +6

    Ahhhhh, I've been avoiding moving up to the next level. Thanks for making this process so easy to understand that I have no excuse!

  • @fishplantfish
    @fishplantfish 2 роки тому +19

    I'm one of those lucky guys who got an incidental bump to senior - before I was ready. This video helped me validate that I'm doing ok (Ive been stressing a bit) and has helped outline where I should be focusing on improving. Thanks so much :)

  • @tllong124
    @tllong124 2 роки тому +13

    This is great. Thank you. I was recently promoted to Senior Engineer and this bolsters my confidence to continue to push back against the constant onslaught of hyperbolic discounting from the POs, PMs, and stake holders.

    • @saitaro
      @saitaro 2 роки тому

      Congrats on promotion!

  • @MusikageKira
    @MusikageKira 3 роки тому +38

    Hey there - I'm just an incoming intern at Amazon; but it's great to see content that isn't focused on entry-level! I'll keep watching your videos as I move up the ranks :)

    • @kokok488
      @kokok488 2 роки тому

      Wow! Real Musikage!

  • @luisdotespinal
    @luisdotespinal 2 роки тому +51

    This is the kind of advice I wish I had 10-12 years ago. One thing I experienced, even as I became reached the senior level, is that sometimes there's no space to provide leadership, especially when there are older or more entrenched senior developers in the organization. In situations like that, the only way to break through is through "incidental" changes (people leaving the company or changing jobs completely.)

    • @deathbombs
      @deathbombs 6 місяців тому

      More entrenched seniors have more context that junior can surpassing some hard work

  • @rdean150
    @rdean150 2 роки тому +28

    Im already a senior engineer, but man this hits close to home. I have fallen into the trap of overextending myself. Time management is a... growth area for me, and taking the "work longer hours" approach did indeed hurt my mental health. The stress lead to frustration and bitterness when given deadlines that were only possible by incurring extensive technical debt that was clear would not be resolved prior to beginning the next phase. Which would bake the poor design choices into the system so deeply that I would no longer even want my name attached to the project. The only way to avoid it (as far as I could tell) was to work long nights and weekends to ensure that things were implemented correctly without slipping the deadlines.
    I consider this sort of thing a common occupational hazard in our field, and a rite of passage to some degree. But when you realize that it is the norm rather than the exception, that is a sure sign of bad management and a recipe for burnout and an unhealthy dev team.

    • @arto00-g2n
      @arto00-g2n Рік тому

      Good point. Dealing with this daily and it’s tricky. What I decided to do is: working as much as I find enjoyable but be thoughtful of what my contribution is doing. So when I’m not super excited about a task I’ll still shoot to contribute a lot but with less. How exactly depend on the problem.

    • @deathbombs
      @deathbombs 6 місяців тому

      Thanks for share. I think solution is continue the grind BUT pick your battle. Consider ROI

  • @barcellos-pedro
    @barcellos-pedro 2 роки тому +107

    Man, you sound like a person who goes to therapy and reflect about things from your career and human behavior in a practical way beyond the tech bubble.
    You inspire me. Thumbs up for the content and thoughtful advices! 💖

    • @Neonb88
      @Neonb88 Рік тому +4

      Wait he's so wholesome, especially contrasting with a few of the tech UA-camrs, won't name any names here

  • @Zellie1994
    @Zellie1994 3 роки тому +23

    You must be a very busy man, but this content is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience. I'm about 4 years into my career and just started thinking about principle and staff roles. I feel behind but over the next year, I'll make the effort to change my mentality. Thanks again.

  • @DanDascalescu-dandv
    @DanDascalescu-dandv 2 роки тому +4

    Excellent video explaining the difference between leaders and managers: leaders set direction, managers are concerned with execution.
    The summary at 10:42 lists 4 universal characteristics of senior engineers. The three things preventing promotion to senior are:
    * focusing too much on delivery and tech depth
    * conflating leadership with management
    * unsustainable time management (by putting in more hours instead of mentoring others)
    Thank you!💯

  • @3DWithLairdWT
    @3DWithLairdWT Рік тому +2

    As someone stepping up in to a mid range role, this is some very helpful content on knowing what things can help me grow as a leader, to then help my team and future teams.
    Love your channel.

  • @ryangilchrist3294
    @ryangilchrist3294 Рік тому

    What a fantastic video. I am less than one year into my software engineering journey, and feel I will look back at this video in years to come and appreciate the advice time and time again. Thanks!

  • @JoseSanchez-vv1zd
    @JoseSanchez-vv1zd 2 роки тому +1

    I just started as an entry level SDE and feel like I have struck gold by coming across your videos. Thank you for all of the insight!

  • @tobiahrex
    @tobiahrex 2 роки тому +3

    WoW this is 🔥 I feel like the matrix code was suddenly revealed to me 😎I’ve been studying full-time the last few weeks getting ready to get back in the job hunt and have been deeply curious on if I was ready for Senior, and the example dialogues while hilarious are extremely enlightening. Until now I’ve completely glazed over the behavioral questions as semi-significant but suddenly I feel like that’s EXACTLY the part I should be focusing on as the answer will clearly confess mental attributes that map to capability. “Technical Impact” has always been the Kool-Aid every other UA-camr tries to sell you, but “Team-Impact”, and “Cross-company impact” makes so much sense as a focus point. Major thanks for this.
    Steve, more behavioral scenarios I think it would be HUGE value-add.

  • @EdDaWord
    @EdDaWord 3 роки тому +42

    Hey Meta, do you have any tips for people who are Staff Engs?
    1) How do you empower others to take ownership of projects or help maintain projects that you might have initially started?
    2) How do you stop doing everything and start asking for help? (That grit and self-reliance might have gotten you there)
    3) Do you think being staff+ and having 2 or fewer reports is a good way to scale your work?
    4) Why choose the staff+ IC route over the management one?
    5) What are some things you should stop doing once you reach Staff+?
    6) Are there trade-offs you have to make the higher up you go? Does WLB have to suffer?

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому +39

      1. If the project is framed an opportunity, and not just more work, I think you'll find folks thats need to grow in the areas that the project provides easily.
      2. You need to draw boundaries and prioritize. If you are keeping something alive that requires a team of people to do well, sometimes you need to remove yourself because something more important will suffer. Let the wheel get squeaky, it's the one that gets the grease.
      3. I wouldn't know.
      4. Because people management is not what I want to do at this point.
      5. Focus on the things you want to do and ruthlessly and unapologetically prioritize. You can't do the stuff you need to do if you are doing stuff that you shouldn't.
      6. Yes but I don't let my WLB suffer. You should focus on 1-3 things during a week on top of your obligations you can't get out of. If you get efficient you can do so much more with less time with no loss of fidelity. My goal this year is to be 2x more productive without working more. It may seem impossible but I'm tracking well so far.

    • @budakhon
      @budakhon 2 роки тому +1

      @@ALifeEngineered for 6, what is your metric for productivity?

    • @SakshamSharma-tr9fk
      @SakshamSharma-tr9fk 2 роки тому

      @@ALifeEngineered
      1) How are you tracking your output / projects / investment in others for growing them?? Any video planned for this soon?
      2) If you are faced with a situation where you want others to pick something or get incorporated with something, but since official designation/authority is not there with you right now, how do you go about it?
      For a very real example, one of my friend has been working on one project for a long time, and now their manager's feedback is for them to grow in other areas as well. However, whenever they try to delegate some menial tasks of this project to others, so they also have an understanding of the project, their manager asks them to do it instead because "it'll only be 15 minutes for you", and possibly due to these kind of responses, the other team members also push back on any delegation or ideas they share. What to do in this type of situation?
      Thanks.

  • @123456789anabel
    @123456789anabel 2 роки тому

    Your way of speaking is kinda hypnotizing. I didn't even notice when these 11 minutes had passed. And stuff you talked about was really helpful

  • @carneios08
    @carneios08 2 роки тому +4

    I'm already a Senior Engineer, but I can definitely get better at promoting other developers' skills. I oftentimes will take on more tasks because I can get them done quicker, but am quickly realizing the poor scalability of that.
    Nice video!

  • @Farlid57868
    @Farlid57868 2 роки тому

    UA-cam recommendation realized I am done with entertainment and I get these kinds of video, great stuff. Thanks for your time

  • @roopamrajvanshi4724
    @roopamrajvanshi4724 3 роки тому +11

    This channel is going to blow up really fast!
    Thanks for the great advice. Reminds me of the quote, "The best things in life are almost always free."

  • @NDepth31
    @NDepth31 2 місяці тому

    What an excellent video. Clear, concise, and incredibly insightful. Outstanding.

  • @alexjames8019
    @alexjames8019 3 роки тому +118

    This is EXACTLY the kind of advise I've been looking for. Subscribed! Would love to see more content in the future about small daily steps low-level engineers can take towards building their experience and skills towards seniority/tech leadership.

  • @VinayakPanchal007
    @VinayakPanchal007 3 роки тому +1

    Your content it amazing. You are right, there aren't any videos on youtube that teach this stuff and engineers end up learning by making many mistakes which costs time.
    Please keep up the good work.

  • @fransoto7538
    @fransoto7538 2 роки тому

    Man, found you doing random search, trying to filter between all the content on cracking the interview at FAANG companies. But now inside Amazon I found super helpful this advice. I hope you can find the time to keep the content!

  • @spikeydude114
    @spikeydude114 2 роки тому +1

    Always great content! I like how you take both general recommendations AND give a concrete example of what that may look like. I think what would help even more is some visuals (I'm biased since I'm a visual learner). It would really help drive your points and examples home.

  • @christhomasism
    @christhomasism 2 роки тому +2

    I’m so close to getting to senior. Thanks for making this video, it will help me phrase some things in my 1 on 1s with my manager. Super practical, actionable advice. Thanks for not just having platitudes

  • @jirijancik2
    @jirijancik2 2 роки тому

    Its 2AM in czech republic here. And I just struck gold. This content is just out of this world. Liked. Subscribed. Added video to rewatch it later again. Great job. Please do some course or write a book :D

  • @gregferguson7737
    @gregferguson7737 2 роки тому

    Agree completely. Optimize. Rutlhless time efficiency and ensuring you grow others.

  • @kelazan
    @kelazan 2 роки тому

    I seldom engage, subscribe, like and comment. Your content's delivery and depth have been greatly appreciated. Thank you and please keep going.

  • @Palartzski
    @Palartzski 2 роки тому

    This is the first UA-cam channel I've watched where I subscribed after only watching one of their videos. This was such sound, actionable advice that I haven't seen elsewhere. Looking forward to watching your other videos @Meta.

  • @KevinNaughtonJr
    @KevinNaughtonJr 2 роки тому

    Thanks for providing such valuable info and advice Meta! Excited for more vids to come!

  • @11yoyomama
    @11yoyomama 2 роки тому

    Wow spot on with your assertion that UA-cam is chock full with advice for how to become an entry level engineer but there’s very little about how to progress once there. I’ve been a de facto senior engineer for 3 years because I’m the most senior one at my startup, but I have no guidance on how to actually become senior level at a big company. Just found your channel and videos like this are exactly what I’ve been needing to take the next step in my career.

  • @felipesantos1264
    @felipesantos1264 2 роки тому +2

    That's an golden piece of advice. High quality content, thank you for sharing this. Means so much for all of us and this is what makes the dev community awesome. Subscribed!

  • @petter9078
    @petter9078 2 роки тому

    I didnt know that these are skills needed to become a senior. Thanks Im happy that you made this vid.

  • @tachyon7777
    @tachyon7777 2 роки тому +1

    Great video. Thanks. Follow up - how do we make sure that the effort we are putting to grow others are getting observed and credited to us?

  • @innerchoir6690
    @innerchoir6690 3 роки тому +1

    Where'd you go Meta? Best prep channel out there!

  • @felipecabreira4321
    @felipecabreira4321 2 роки тому +1

    Thanks for the amazing video and tips ! I was really needing those advice's i'm trying to pass to this next level as a engineer to senior and your thoughts helped a lot !

  • @keyone415
    @keyone415 3 роки тому

    I'm the 1000th like on this video :) Thank you for the advice, you are talking directly to me, I'm an SDE2 at Amazon, still new to the company but good to hear all the advices early on, thank you!

  • @FlightX101
    @FlightX101 2 роки тому +1

    This is awesome not just for Tech but any career in general. I should be able to accurately guesstimate your title simply by the way you carry yourself and discuss topics in a meeting; as well as the amount of positive pull you generate in the board room

  • @ethanq.8007
    @ethanq.8007 3 роки тому +5

    can you share how to be good/excellent at system design?

  • @odytrice
    @odytrice 2 роки тому

    This was super helpful, I know some of these things but I used to do more of burning more of my personal time and less of enabling others

  • @rajcasm
    @rajcasm Рік тому

    For a split second, I looked at the below section to check which premium service I bought to get this high quality content

  • @Eyenn_n
    @Eyenn_n 2 роки тому

    I am so glad I found your video. This is exactly what I need right now! Thank you!!!

  • @roberthinckley7508
    @roberthinckley7508 2 роки тому

    I'm really grateful that you're producing these videos.
    UA-cam is full of beginner level videos, but it's awesome to hear your perspective on how I can further my career and startup.

  • @EhdrianEh
    @EhdrianEh 2 роки тому

    As someone moving from Sr/Principle to Management, I can attest that this is exactly what we are looking for. Experience is another important point but maybe it shouldn't need to be said since he all but covered this in "technically deep and delivers".

  • @NigelGale1188
    @NigelGale1188 2 роки тому

    Just found this channel. Senior scientist/ director. While the discipline differs - the unspoken truths shared here are accurate. Well done and thanks

  • @sathjayaperera848
    @sathjayaperera848 3 роки тому

    The overall idea sounds reasonable, but the example at 2:59 is a bad solution imho. An asynchronous API can usually be easily implemented on top of the synchronous one as a 'wrapper' around the synchronous API. Such a solution provides a somewhat 'best of both worlds' solution without introducing additional risk into the project near the deadline. You get both APIs, clients who commited to the synchronous API can use it until they cutover to the async one at an appropriate time.

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому

      It works sometimes. If your asynchronous API always blocks on the same set of downstream synchronous calls you may just have a synchronous call with more steps.

  • @null_bite
    @null_bite 2 роки тому +14

    Absolute GEM here! Thank you for the fantastic advice. I am at a level in my career where things are taking a turn towards senior/lead territory. In fact, I am acting as Lead currently. However, there are obvious skillsets that I'm lacking .. and the main ones, you have touched upon here! I have a ton of self-reflection to do after watching this. Much appreciated 🙏

  • @RyanMuzzey
    @RyanMuzzey 3 роки тому +6

    Dude, I have been looking for this content on UA-cam forever. Thank you!

  • @bralabala
    @bralabala 2 роки тому

    I'm happy I found your channel just exactly when I need it the most.
    Thank you for such divergent but extremely valuable content

  • @1oussef-nw9pv
    @1oussef-nw9pv 8 місяців тому +1

    1. Leadership vs. Management: Senior developers are considered leaders, not managers. They set direction and rally their team toward a common goal. Leadership involves thinking about the long-term consequences of actions and communicating a steady state for systems that's healthy.
    2. Technical Depth: While technical expertise is crucial, it's not the only requirement. Senior engineers must also demonstrate leadership qualities, such as setting direction and making decisions that benefit the team in the long term.
    3. Time Management: Senior engineers need to find time to think about the future and make strategic decisions. This requires extracting more time from existing working hours rather than relying on nights and weekends, which can lead to burnout.
    4. Growing Others: Senior engineers should focus on growing others around them, delegating tasks, and empowering team members. This not only helps free up their own bandwidth but also prepares others to take on higher-level responsibilities.
    5. Rejecting Hyperbolic Discounting: This means resisting the temptation to prioritize immediate benefits over long-term gains. Senior engineers should think about maximizing the benefits of their team's actions over a longer time horizon.

  • @theken1499
    @theken1499 Рік тому

    this is great video for me. I think I should have break more often after 2 years super hard work with very few days off at the weekend, but my job's still bullshit.

  • @gabrielfono844
    @gabrielfono844 2 роки тому

    Thanks
    I just started at Booz Allen hamilton as backend engineer
    It is been 4 months now
    Thanks

  • @codingunconditionally
    @codingunconditionally 2 роки тому +3

    Watched (multiple times) and loved all your videos, very informative and thought provoking.
    I really hope you make more of these sharing anything about engineering, career, or life advice.

  • @skjoldgames
    @skjoldgames 2 роки тому

    Great advice, especially the growing others part. I came here ready to give a sarcastic response that the senior above me was the thing preventing me from attaining the next level lol, but this video was actually pretty solid.

  • @thedevguild7525
    @thedevguild7525 2 роки тому

    Love your videos! So thankful that I am able to come across your advices and the consequences of hyperbolic discounting!

  • @raphaelvazquez5302
    @raphaelvazquez5302 3 роки тому

    Hello Greetings from Mexico, I saw all your videos and I think you are a very intelligent and wise person, thanks for all the advice!

  • @yathi
    @yathi 2 роки тому

    This is the best senior engineer advice I have seen around!!!

  • @jhawk3686
    @jhawk3686 2 роки тому

    So happy I stumbled upon this video and your channel! Thanks for the great content!

  • @saikasam
    @saikasam 2 роки тому +1

    @A Life Engineered I have one question: What do you mean by "Communicate a steady state for systems"? Thanks for your videos!

  • @datasciyinfo5133
    @datasciyinfo5133 2 роки тому

    Great advice for all. I’m not SE but looking for a job in customer relations/sales. The job I’m looking for in mid level manager. While I had very senior manager roles before, this will be a new industry and skillset. Your videos gave me some good ideas on now I should position myself and what kind of stories I should prepare. Your content is gold and should not be compared to “Tech Lead”, whom I followed for several months before deciding he was a blowhard. 😊. Hope you will do more videos.

  • @EnterANameReal
    @EnterANameReal 3 роки тому +196

    was that a subtle Tech Lead reference 😂

    • @JinayShah
      @JinayShah 3 роки тому +31

      For someone who’s curious it’s at 8:40

    • @DaCom3AK
      @DaCom3AK 2 роки тому +3

      @@JinayShah I thought its was going to be a positive reference Lol fuck the tech lead

    • @samuelgunter
      @samuelgunter 2 роки тому +7

      @@JinayShah also 0:12

    • @samuelgunter
      @samuelgunter 2 роки тому +8

      "How to become a senior developer (as a millionaire)"

    • @TheCStrike2
      @TheCStrike2 2 роки тому +1

      It was not, obviously

  • @psursi
    @psursi 3 роки тому +1

    Really thoughtful breakdown of what it takes to be a senior. I’m not a SWE but I would say the same general principles apply to nearly all senior leadership roles. Thanks for taking time to lay this out for folks.

  • @trungung1
    @trungung1 2 роки тому +1

    What a nice content and suit my need exactly. Look forward to new videos about how senior developers approach difficult tasks.

  • @GOZES
    @GOZES 2 роки тому

    Thank you. As someone in the path to senior engineer this is really helpful

  • @plnmbjj
    @plnmbjj 2 роки тому

    Please keep on making these videos. My father has over 35 years in the software industry and you sound just like him! So rare to see someone who really have a different perspective making videos like this, all of the video that I see are just the same. One lesson learned from my old man: the technical part is NOT the most important one, learn to improve your other skills as well... awesome video :)

  • @bloody9162
    @bloody9162 2 роки тому

    There's so much wisdom in these 11 minutes. Thank you Meta.

  • @stingrae789
    @stingrae789 2 роки тому

    There are a lot of things I can't do so I often think I can't get to senior...but you hit something on the head, the way you carry yourself and how you work is more important than what you can or can't do technically. I have guys who would probably be inclined to say they'd have thought I was senior, despite an admin error that caused my assigned level to be incorrect. This week I got a little low and decided to pull back on doing what I do best but I see that was to my own detriment. I think your video saved me from looking worse overall but also made me realise my goals aren't as far off as I think...

  • @survivor48
    @survivor48 2 роки тому

    This video is spot on. I would force all Senior devs at Microsoft to watch this....

  • @telvinnguyen1262
    @telvinnguyen1262 2 роки тому

    Thank you. Your video teaches me a lot for the senior level

  • @De1n1ol
    @De1n1ol 2 роки тому +2

    As an ordinary non lead, non principle non senior engineer I am expected to work on tickets that I was assigned to. How can I make more time for deep analysis in this case? I don’t have any direct reports. I can’t just delegate my tickets to another ordinary developer because that would result
    in me not doing what is expected of me

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому +2

      Deep analysis of a ticket should lead addressing the root-cause of a large set of issues. If you are closing tickets that just pop up again in a slightly different form are you really working on a ticket? If you don't have time to do the deep dive that will drive the issue to ground, talk to your manager to let them know you are trying to solve the bigger problem. You shouldn't delegate this work, writing code that eliminates a large set of pernicious tickets is a really strong data point that you are really are operating at the senior engineer level.

  • @billmoney1
    @billmoney1 2 роки тому +1

    Sde stands for someone who does everything. Leadership and project planning is a big part of being a senior.

  • @BayesianBrain
    @BayesianBrain 3 роки тому +13

    Super glad I found your channel early in my software engineering career. Thank you for doing this Meta! What are your thoughts on creating models of your team’s code base as a new member to increase visibility?

  • @ruihanshan4904
    @ruihanshan4904 3 роки тому

    Dude, thanks so much for the content! That’s exactly what Ive been searching for in the last couple months.

  • @SebastianSastre
    @SebastianSastre 2 роки тому

    The things you put light on are tremendously important for a developer career. Some times is painful to hear some of the truth bombs you drop tho. Please keep doing it.

  • @sompamalakar
    @sompamalakar 2 роки тому

    Thank you so much for this informational and to the point video. Its really going to help me and many other folks who look forward to growing in life professionally. Subscribed as well.

  • @orlybriceno
    @orlybriceno 2 роки тому

    Very nice wall of Whisky, I see a few bottle from The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, Sláinte!

  • @donaldstrubler3870
    @donaldstrubler3870 2 роки тому

    Literally priceless channel.

  • @Fanaro
    @Fanaro 3 роки тому

    Dang it, this video is a must-have. This channel will become gold/big soon.

  • @gardnersj
    @gardnersj 3 роки тому

    Wow the advice on making more time by making others better is gold!

  • @theonlinezone6904
    @theonlinezone6904 2 роки тому

    wow, all this advices are gold, thanks for sharing, it helps me understand my team a lot

  • @kiarashazarnia
    @kiarashazarnia 2 роки тому

    Love your content Steve, I hope you have peace. You know I feel that the challenges inside a tech company are too different from those outside in the wild society. Engineers often get locked in that culture and situation and their social and financial skills do not grow as well as their technical and professional skills. I will be happy to listen to this type of concept too.

  • @jorgegonzaloalfaro5378
    @jorgegonzaloalfaro5378 2 роки тому

    amazing content, thank you so much man. I’m on my first year as a junior dev. Looking forward to more videos from you!

  • @Truthseeker013
    @Truthseeker013 2 роки тому

    Much needed and scarce content for new software developers

  • @Pietr01337
    @Pietr01337 2 роки тому

    Thanks! Such a good advice. :) Will be promoted to a lead engineer position shortly.

  • @6957-c5k
    @6957-c5k 2 роки тому

    I could listen to this guy forever.

  • @PD-ce6nl
    @PD-ce6nl 2 роки тому

    You are much needed. Thank you for this.

  • @oscarmvl
    @oscarmvl 2 роки тому +1

    Great advice! Really puts into perspective what it takes to get to get to a senior position, I particularly liked the discussion about the pitfalls.

  • @FatherPhi
    @FatherPhi 3 роки тому +1

    Love your content man!! Great new channel to binge. I already know you're gonna blow up 🚀

  • @kejunyu768
    @kejunyu768 2 роки тому +2

    2nd question - Do you have advice on how to sell your ideas to leadership? I know they care about different things from developers, but I find it hard to hit their sweet point. Maybe I'm missing their perspectives? A video would be great ☺️

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому +3

      First rule of selling is understanding what the buyer needs. What do your leaders care about and tailor your message to that. If you don’t know what they want then start there. I’ve found often engineering management will have a simple set of desires - lowering costs, delivering on time, staffing (hiring, attrition), etc. They often aren’t interested in big projects unless the benefits are absolutely clear. If you are having problems getting buy-in make sure you are upfront about what the benefits are and why it’s worth the expense, opportunity costs are real and the numbers are big.

  • @kejunyu768
    @kejunyu768 2 роки тому +2

    Incredibly practical and helpful content, thanks for sharing the advice! I especially love how you carry yourself as you talk and the crispiness you articulate. Do you have advice on how to be a more concise and sharper communicator like you? I often find myself going too lengthy and not as organized when I talk as I think, e.g. dumping too many details at once, attempting to immediately elaborate what I said with detailed examples. What's a good balance between making my points strong vs. making sure the points are accurately conveyed? Thanks in advance!

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому +10

      It is a skill you learn over time. Step one is realizing you have an issue. Second is to understand you are forcing the listener to do a lot of work filtering the noise from the signal. This trains people to not seek your opinion because it’s too much work. Practice writing TL;DRs and trust if more details are necessary you can provide them on demand.

  • @rickisyourbro
    @rickisyourbro 3 роки тому

    This video is so awesome because I don’t see that many managers / coaches or seniors can tell me what exactly to do

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому +1

      The reason managers don't is because their incentives don't always line up with yours. If you had to choose between a good senior engineer and a good front-line manager (obviously nobody has this choice) I would always choose the dev because they can lead a team AND build things.

  • @IfeanyiNnamdiOkagbue
    @IfeanyiNnamdiOkagbue 2 роки тому

    Thanks a lot. Please can you share a video on a popular question. How do you scale a software with 1k users to 1m users

  • @daeshavvn
    @daeshavvn 3 роки тому

    I recently found out just how much leadership it takes! Great content

  • @Fracpen
    @Fracpen 3 роки тому +1

    Could you do a video on what skills generally junior engineer need to improve on or pay attention to get promoted to a midlevel? Or maybe a breakdown of the skills needed at each engineering level (junior, midlevel, senior, principal, management)?

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому +4

      For junior engineers just focus on the quality of your work. Every pull request or check-in is sacred and should represent the best you can do.

  • @AbhijithVMohan
    @AbhijithVMohan 3 роки тому +3

    Isn't the advice on hyperbolic discounting tailored for those working on established projects? I'd imagine senior engineers working in startups would have different views on that?

    • @ALifeEngineered
      @ALifeEngineered  2 роки тому

      Absolutely, no need to think about the future if the company won't survive in for 6 months without a release.

  • @alfkonee
    @alfkonee 2 роки тому

    The one time youtube has recommended something life changing to me thanks @Meta for your brilliant insights

  • @sunnypatel1045
    @sunnypatel1045 2 роки тому

    Wonderful advice would you mind doing a video from SSE to SSE level two.

  • @alexmadera8323
    @alexmadera8323 5 місяців тому

    This video was extremely helpful! Thank you 🙏

  • @diehardfighter
    @diehardfighter 2 роки тому

    This is what we badly needed. God bless UA-cam algorithm for suggesting your channel to me