I used to think the most important career document was your resume. Turns out, I was wrong. There's a document that will quietly do more heavy lifting for your career than your resume ever will. It's called a brag sheet and once you start one, you're never going back. So what exactly is a brag sheet? It's a living document that tracks all the work you've done and the value you've delivered. Think of it as your resume's more detailed, always-up-to-date cousin. Here's Why You Should Have One A...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Before we dive in: Today is the final day for new members to get 25% off their subscription to The Code Room for life. Whatever price you lock in today stays with you forever. Join here. The CodeRoom_ Very early on in my career, I used to think mastering a programming language would set me apart as a software engineer. But here's what I've learned from my time at Microsoft and Netflix, and from all the interviews I've done with other companies: knowing a programming language isn't what makes...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
I want to tell you about the Meta interview where I learned one of the most important lessons about technical interviewing, one that completely transformed how I teach and approach them. This was in 2019. I was still in college. I got a DM from a recruiter on LinkedIn asking if I was interested in interning for Meta (Facebook at the time). I had a call with the recruiter, crushed that screening and got matched with a software engineer for the technical screen. It was the standard stuff: phone...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but I am all about intentional, directed focus. As we kick off 2025, I wanted to share what I'm doubling down on this year, both as a software engineer at work and as a creator. Maybe something here will resonate with where you're headed too. On the 9-5 side I'm coming up on one year in my role at Netflix, and I finally feel well rounded. I have a solid understanding of the different teams/orgs/groups, what they do, and how my team and work fits into the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Happy New Year! I hope you are feeling refreshed and your year is off to a great start. Over the holidays, I took some time to relax and put the final touches on The CodeRoom_ and I'm thrilled to announce it's officially open 🥳 The CodeRoom_ Cover Photo Quick reminder: What is The CodeRoom_ ? The CodeRoom_ is a community I've built specifically for software engineers who have been in the industry for a few years and are ready to accelerate their careers with intention. The community focuses...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Here's what I've noticed: most people who stop coding outside of work don't stop because they hate it or don't have time. They stop because the gap between having an idea and executing on the idea feels impossibly wide. Let me explain. How We All Started Remember how you got better at coding when you first started? You simply wrote more code. You built projects. A to-do list app here, a weather dashboard there, and maybe a portfolio site to showcase all the projects. Every new project exposed...
3 months ago • 4 min read
I want to tell you about the time I poured almost a year of my life into a project, only to realize it was never going anywhere. For some context, my first role as a Software Engineer was on a networking team, focused primarily on networking automation. Network engineers spend a lot of time making configuration changes to routers, switches, and other networking devices. My job was straightforward: help them build software that automated these repetitive tasks. That I could do! At the time, I...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Companies are mandating the use of AI coding agents, and honestly, it makes sense. In the corporate world, you're responsible for outcomes, not the amount of code you personally type. Whether you wrote it or an agent wrote it, they really don't care. Trust me, it hurts to say this as someone who genuinely enjoys the craft of writing code, but it's the truth. AI is here to stay, and it will be incorporated more and more into what we do as software engineers. Some companies are beginning to...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Leaving a stable, comfortable job feels counterintuitive, especially in uncertain economic times. But here's the truth: Strategically thinking about your next move should always be part of your career planning, regardless of market conditions. The economy matters. But it shouldn't be the deciding factor. So what should? Over my career, I've made several moves, some internal (different teams and charters within the same company) and one external. Here are the factors that guided my decisions....
4 months ago • 2 min read