By identifying learning milestones and measuring the time taken to achieve them. There are many dimensions in which engineers can learn and grow in their career. Here are some possibilities: Building good softwareDeveloping product intuitionDeveloping expertise in some area (like ML)Growing leadership skillsBecoming good communicators After identifying the dimension in which you want to grow, … Continue reading As a software engineer, how do you measure your learning rate? →

By constantly learning from the bugs that you do push to production. What if I told you that every engineer will push at least 100 bugs to production in his/her career and every bug is a learning opportunity to become a better engineer. Every time you delay pushing code fearing bugs, you are delaying some valuable learning. … Continue reading How can I get over my fear of pushing bugs into production? →

I have used the following principles to help with decision making on projects: 1. Be mindful of one-way doors In his letter to Amazon shareholders[1], Jeff Bezos talks about the concept of one-way and two-way doors: Some decisions are consequential and irreversible or nearly irreversible – one-way doors – and these decisions must be made … Continue reading What are some principles for making engineering decisions on projects? →

Here are some things I wish I had known when starting out: 1. Take ownership I have always been fascinated by the career growth of engineers around me. Most new engineers, fresh out of college, start out with roughly the same set of functional skills which helps them get them through the interview process. But … Continue reading What are some general tips for a software engineer who’s new to the industry? →

Here are some non-obvious things I have learned about mentoring new engineers: 1. Normalize failure Failure is an important part of growth since what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. As a mentor, you have a big role in shaping how your mentees approach failure. When your mentee makes his/her first mistake, the worst thing you … Continue reading What are some tips for mentoring new engineers? →