Jagari Jennings

Most FAANG interview prep advice posted online feels like a movie trailer. Cinematic. Over the top, and totally disconnected from real life. "Wake up at 4am." "Do an ice plunge." "Grind 3500 Leetcode problems." "Master 50 system design patterns in 1 weekend". "Land 6 figure roles today with 0 experience by doing my exclusive course." So much nonsense... It looks impressive on a post. But it’s not how people really prepare, especially when you have a full-time job, a life, and a limited amount of energy after long day of work. Here’s one realistic way you can prepare for tech interviews in 2025 (without burning yourself out): ➤ Data Structures & Algorithms (DSA) isn't about doing 3500 questions. You just need to understand the building blocks: → Arrays → Linked Lists → Stacks & Queues → Hashmaps → Heaps → Trees → Graphs → Tries → Matrices And the key patterns: → Two Pointers → Sliding Window → Binary Search → Recursion → Basic Dynamic Programming When the patterns click, the questions stop feeling like magic tricks. Aim for 60–90 minutes/day. Consistency > intensity. ➤ System design isn't about memorising diagrams You just need to focus on these core fundamentals: → API Design: rate limiting, versioning, REST basics → Databases: SQL vs NoSQL, indexes, transactions, strong vs eventual consistency → Caching → Scalability: Horizontal vs Vertical scaling, Load balancing, CDNs → Queues & async processing → Sharding & replication → Failure handling & retries → Observability (logs, metrics, tracing) This isn't an exhaustive list, but these pillars should carry you through most rounds. Remember, your reasoning matters more than your drawing skills. ➤ Behavioural interviews aren't less important than technical interviews Prepare STAR stories about: → Ownership → Customer Obsession → Conflict → Ambiguity → Learning something quickly → Leading without authority Take a look at Amazon's leadership principles, and see how your previous experiences matches up with the LPs. Real prep is slow, steady, boring, and unbelievably effective. There are no shortcuts. It takes time. If you focus on fundamentals, stay consistent, and take care of yourself along the way...you'll be in a good position. Learn. Build. Rest. Repeat. You've got this. If you want genuinely helpful resources, do check out: → System Design One with Neo Kim → Coding Challenges with John Crickett → Taro (YC S22) for behavioural interview preparation with Alex Chiou and Rahul Pandey. → Regular tips on LinkedIn: Anton Martyniuk, Daniel Moka, Demitri Swan and saed. #softwareengineering

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I’ve been a SWE for the last 6+ years of my life. If I had to start all over again, I wouldn’t really invest in a course or resources without exploring by myself first. Here are 33 free roadmaps you can use today to start in any field in software engineering & crush it! 1. Backend Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/backend & Frontend Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dfk4-pa9 2. Full Stack Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dRjCeDde 3. JavaScript Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dA4ucqzz 4. TypeScript Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dYdd4te4 5. React Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/react 6. React Native Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dBG72tqu 7. Vue Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/vue 8. Angular Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/angular 9. Node.js Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/nodejs 10. CS Fundamentals Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/d7iDtkm6 11. GraphQL Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/graphql 12. Rust Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/rust 13. Go Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/golang 14. C++ Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/cpp 15. Java Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/java 16. Spring Boot Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dYRPibvp 17. ASP.NET Core Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dfFXSAgZ 18. Software Architect Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dDtNN-ch 19. Software Design and Architecture Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dUHYkH95 20. System Design Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/d3S79YVJ 21. PostgreSQL Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/d8aTRkBD 22. SQL Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/sql 23. MongoDB Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/mongodb 24. AI and Data Scientist Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dv7Tj4ft 25. Python Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/python 26. Prompt Engineering Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/diZ2U4dG 27. DevOps Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/devops 28. Docker Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/docker 29. Kubernetes Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dVGxcMKQ 30. Android Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/android 31. Flutter Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/flutter 32. UX Design Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dWXzZgqu 33. Design System Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dasuSJfZ

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Google+ was wildly successful, just not as a product. I worked on infrastructure teams at Google for a long time. One of the eras I lived through was the rise and fall of Google+, their foray into social. It was not particularly successful as a product, and has since been canceled. Nevertheless, there are some surprising success stories inside what is largely viewed as a failure, and it shapes a lot of how I think about building good infrastructure. The real success of Google+ was its infrastructure. The org had a huge mandate to deliver a sleek and modern social experience across web and mobile platforms, and as they set off to do this, they realized that Google's infrastructure for building new apps was severely lacking. It was hard to spin up microservices and bring them to production. It was hard to monitor huge fleets of microservices and manage their resources. It was hard to build tests that launched a subset of your service stack and mocked the rest. It was hard just to quickly build handlers for HTTP endpoints. There were teams tasked with building a particular webapp with a particular set of functionality. Beneath that, there were teams whose primary job was to make sure that those app teams had a great developer experience, moved quickly, and had world-class tools at their disposal. The output of the first teams ultimately ended up in the trash heap. The output of the latter teams powered Google for the next decade. While the product itself was struggling, the infrastructure sparked a revolution in development velocity for a generation of internal and external apps. Some of the funding poured into the social initiative came back empty-handed, but the infrastructure investments paid long-term dividends. It's not unusual for products to end up in a trash heap. Product development is brutal, and most products fail to find product/market fit. Companies chasing this will thrash their developers around from initiative to initiative, looking for something that clicks with customers. Infrastructure, on the other hand, should have some longevity. I picture these things as a pendulum, or perhaps the tail of an enthusiastic puppy. The product work might go a thousand directions in a minute. They're at the end of the puppy's tail. Infrastructure is the part of the tail anchored to its butt. We can feel that the rest of the tail is thrashing around, but we're not changing direction nearly as fast. That's how I try to approach application infrastructure. My job is to support the development of the product, yes. But I'll also be supporting the next product idea after this one is canceled. As long as the whole company doesn't fail, the tail will live to wag another day. With great infrastructure, the next idea will be half-built on day 1, because all the fundamentals are already in place. Good infrastructure outlasts its motivating use case. I strive to build software that I won't regret building even if the product gets canceled tomorrow.

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I’ve been a SWE for the last 7+ years of my life. If I had to start all over again, I wouldn’t really invest in a course or resources without exploring by myself first. Here are 33 free roadmaps you can use today to start in any field in software engineering & crush it! 1. Backend Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/backend & Frontend Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dfk4-pa9 2. Full Stack Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dRjCeDde 3. JavaScript Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dA4ucqzz 4. TypeScript Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dYdd4te4 5. React Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/react 6. React Native Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dBG72tqu 7. Vue Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/vue 8. Angular Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/angular 9. Node.js Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/nodejs 10. CS Fundamentals Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/d7iDtkm6 11. GraphQL Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/graphql 12. Rust Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/rust 13. Go Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/golang 14. C++ Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/cpp 15. Java Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/java 16. Spring Boot Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dYRPibvp 17. ASP.NET Core Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dfFXSAgZ 18. Software Architect Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dDtNN-ch 19. Software Design and Architecture Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dUHYkH95 20. System Design Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/d3S79YVJ 21. PostgreSQL Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/d8aTRkBD 22. SQL Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/sql 23. MongoDB Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/mongodb 24. AI and Data Scientist Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dv7Tj4ft 25. Python Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/python 26. Prompt Engineering Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/diZ2U4dG 27. DevOps Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/devops 28. Docker Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/docker 29. Kubernetes Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dVGxcMKQ 30. Android Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/android 31. Flutter Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/flutter 32. UX Design Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dWXzZgqu 33. Design System Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/dasuSJfZ

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💸 Ever wondered how software engineering salaries actually break down? In this video, I cover the 4 key components of a typical SWE compensation package: 1. Base 2. Bonus 3. Equity 4. Signing Bonus It’s something I wish I had learned earlier, especially as a new grad. Salary is so much more than just your paycheck. 👉 What else would you want me to cover next? Negotiation tips? Cost of living differences? FAANG vs startups? Drop your questions below, I’ll make a follow-up! :) #TechSalaries #SoftwareEngineering #SalaryTransparency #CareerGrowth #NegotiationTips

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If you're a Senior Engineer looking to move up, the next role will likely be a Staff Engineer. And in this guide, Shruti shares tips from her own experience of getting promoted to Staff Engineer at PayPal and Slack. She talks about what Staff Engineers do (and how it's different from Seniors), why you might not be getting promoted, and how to take that next step. https://lnkd.in/g58dnFEG

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A friend of mine was making $75k annually as a SWE till last year, In 2024 he decided he will double his income in 2025 and he actually did. He recently joined Adobe as a SWE. I asked him how he managed to prepare for Interviews with a job, and he said this: 1. Know your strengths and weaknesses Map your strengths and weaknesses. Strong topics? Brush up occasionally. Decent ones? Practice till they shine. Weak spots? Hit them hard first. Goal: Everything decent, a few standouts. 2. Pick Smart Fights Time’s tight, so skip random LeetCode. He stuck to 1 Easy, 3 Mediums, 1 Hard daily — Company-focused. Trend-based. Goal: To solve 75% medium problems and 50% hard problems in a week without a hint. 3. Practice like you are in Interview Interviews are all about conveying your thought process in time constraints. So, he timed himself: 20 mins for Mediums, 40 for Hards, plus a weekly mock run. Goal: Performing your best in the limited time. 4. Document Everything Grinding without notes is pointless. He kept a cheat sheet of tricky problems, edge cases, key concepts—in Notion. Reviewed weekly, built flashcards. Goal: A go-to doc for revising whole DSA in a week 5. Talk the Walk DSA skills aren’t enough if you can’t explain them. He practiced out loud, recorded himself, and joined mock groups. Goal: Confident, structured answers. Strategic prep beats blind hustle. You can change the course of your career in 2025. It's only the matter of when you decide to make a change. Follow Suresh G. for more content around System Design, Interview Prep & SW Engineering

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There have been a lot of layoffs lately—and it’s tough on everyone. But I want to take a moment to talk about how especially hard it is for software engineers. When most people get laid off, they can focus 100% of their time and energy on applying to new jobs. For software engineers? It’s a different kind of grind. Not only do we have to apply and network—we also have to study. LeetCode. System design. Technical interviews. Coding challenges. It’s like prepping for an exam while trying to find a job, often under intense financial and emotional pressure. So if you know an engineer who was recently laid off—check in on them. Send them a referral. Offer a mock interview. Even just a word of encouragement goes a long way. It’s rough out there. Let’s support each other however we can.

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I started my career in 2006 as an SWE when there were no resources or LinkedIn. If I had to start all over again, these are the 34 free roadmaps I will refer: 1. Backend Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/backend 2. Frontend Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gWzPYqan 3. React Native Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/g5KFwD_7 4. Vue Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/vue 5. Angular Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/angular 6. Full Stack Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gx53jng6 7. JavaScript Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/g6chBn8X 8. TypeScript Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gdMjKESw 9. React Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/react 10. UX Design Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gDeHfwRS 11. DevOps Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/devops 12. Docker Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/docker 13. System Design Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gBmp8sUV 14. Go Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/golang 15. Spring Boot Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gwm5UJgT 16. Node.js Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/nodejs 17. CS Fundamentals Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gKBifusS 18. Software Architect Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gXbpPjE5 19. AI and Data Scientist Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gAYvUWt6 20. Python Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/python 21. Software Design and Architecture Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gBEE6AVz 22. System Design Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gRv_gujy 23. Prompt Engineering Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/g-HaNpzB 24. SQL Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/sql 25. MongoDB Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/mongodb 26. Kubernetes Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gMRmBjUu 27. Android Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/android 28. Flutter Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/flutter 29. GraphQL Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/graphql 30. Rust Roadmap: https://roadmap.sh/rust P.S.: Save it for later and spread the value through resharing :D Raman Walia

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Once you’ve worked long enough as an SWE (spent 8 years like me), facing every disaster you can imagine and been humbled by every sort of problem at companies like Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and Amazon. As a Software Engineer, I want to tell you that your fundamentals set the tone for your career. It’s never about how many frameworks you know. → It has and always will be about how quickly you adapt to new ones. It’s never about writing the most lines of code. → It has and always will be about writing code that’s easy to read, debug, and maintain. It’s never about building the fanciest system from day one. → It has and always will be about solving the actual problem and scaling only when needed. It’s never about acing every interview or online test. → It has and always will be about solving problems nobody saw coming—while under pressure. It’s never about holding a prestigious job title. → It has and always will be about the impact you create for your team and customers. It’s never about being the smartest person in the room. → It has and always will be about helping others get better alongside you. It’s never about knowing every tool out there. → It has and always will be about picking the right tool for the job, even if it’s not trendy. It’s never about chasing 100% code coverage. → It has and always will be about understanding what’s truly critical to test. It’s never about running after every shiny new technology. → It has and always will be about mastering the basics that never go out of style. It’s never about perfection on the first try. → It has and always will be about getting feedback, iterating, and learning as you go. No matter where you work or how senior you get, the engineers who last are the ones who stay grounded in the basics, solve real problems, and help others win. That’s what sets you apart.

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𝗜𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝟮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁. Here’s exactly how I did it (and what I’d do differently today).  ---  This happened in 2022. The job market was 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 different.  Companies were hiring like crazy. Tech layoffs weren’t a daily headline. And demand for engineers was sky-high.  Fast forward to today?  It’s a whole different world.  That’s why every time a job seeker asks me for tips, I preface my answer with this:  𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. If I were searching for a SWE role now, here’s what I’d prioritize (that I didn’t back then):  1️⃣ 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 - Cold applications worked well in 2022. Today? Not so much.   - I’d be DMing engineers, hiring managers, and recruiters daily.   - Not necessarily outright asking for jobs, but 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.  2️⃣ 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 - Resumes don’t stand out anymore. Projects do.   - I’d showcase relevant, 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 on GitHub and LinkedIn.   - Hiring managers don’t just want to see skills; they want proof of execution.  3️⃣ 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆  - No more “spray and pray” applications.   - I’d 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗲 every resume and cover letter to match the job description.   - The 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 you are, the 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 you have.  4️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀  - AI wasn’t a hiring filter in 2022. Now? It is.   - I’d 𝘂𝗽𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗜-assisted coding, prompt engineering, and automation.   - Companies want engineers who 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁, not just those who can code.  The hiring landscape has changed. But the core strategy remains:  Be 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. Be 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲. Be 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. If you’re job searching in tech right now, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲?  P.S. If this helped, consider resharing ♻️ so more job seekers see it.

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Over the past couple months, a bunch of friends and connections asked me how I switched into software engineering without a CS degree. Instead of repeating the story over and over again, I decided to write it all down. It covers how I went from struggling in Electrical Engineering to teaching myself to code during lockdown — and eventually getting 5 job offers (including Google and Amazon) before graduation. The post isn’t just about my journey though — I also included the exact steps, resources, and mindset shifts that helped me along the way. Hopefully it’ll be useful for anyone thinking about making a similar career change. Here’s the article: https://lnkd.in/ehRY7Wg2

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In 9 months, the best tool in my toolkit as a software engineer went from singleline autocomplete to multiline autocomplete to CLI-based coding agents to Slack-based coding agents. The creative destruction in this space is one hell of a rollercoaster! Recently, I have gone full throttle on agentic coding. That is, putting an LLM in the driver’s seat when writing code while I navigate in the passenger’s seat. And I think there is no going back. Here are 9 miscellaneous observations over the past 9 months: 1) Expect your productivity to decrease at first. The best way to learn how to work with LLMs is to work with LLMs but they are really not good at some things. You will only know to avoid the agentic traps like it infinitely fixing its own errors by first falling into the traps. 2) Don’t buy an annual subscription. I’ve moved more time from Windsurf to Claude Code but I’m still stuck with 6 months left of a 12 month Cursor subscription I don’t touch anymore. 3) Pick a tool that is token unconstrained. I can really tell the difference between tools that charge by month and tools that charge by token. If your employeer values your time, the cost doesn't matter. 4) LLMs love context, so give it to them. An early mistake I made was writing one sentence and expecting my bugs to be squashed. Now, I write paragraphs and pages. 5) The fastest way to give context is to ramble using a dictation tool. But if you work in an office, you will look crazy. 6) Improvements to your docs are now multiplied. LLMs never learn and always make the same mistakes unless you write your lessons down somewhere. 7) Improvements to your developer experience are now multiplied. Previously, I would manually run a linter to stop LLMs spending too long fixing linting errors line-by-by. Now, I get a PR that passes CI. 8) An under-discussed skill is knowing when to go back to artisanally writing code by hand. 9) Everyone who raves about agentic coding always writes their blog posts by hand. I hope the last 2 points give hope to anyone who fears LLMs will take everyone’s jobs.

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