Sudhanshu Pandey

If you are a senior engineer, tech lead currently pursuing opportunities and interviewing with companies? I can help by mock interviewing you (no cost). Topics are: - Data Structures - Android I will share feedback, what went well and areas of improvements. If you are not currently preparing, please share with your friends or folks who might need this. Comment for reach, or share in your network. Book a 45 mins time slot with me this week. topmate Link is in my profile bio #softwareengineering #softwareengineers #interviews

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Please Note: If you are a Recent Graduate, THIS POST IS NOT FOR YOU. Kindly checkout Amazon's Student Programs. I do not have any visibility into that. Candidates with a minimum of 4 years of SDE work experience, the following questions are for you! 1) Are you comfortable with Linux Kernel? 2) Do you understand how to develop in languages such as C, Assembly and Python in a Linux environment? 3) Do you have experience with Linux Package Management, Version Control Systems, automated build processes, and software unit testing? 4) Do you have knowledge in Linux kernel internals? 5) Do you have the understanding of and experience in contributing to open source projects??? Please Reach out to me if you have YES for the above 5 questions!!! #AWS #Amazon #Seattle #Linux #C #VersionControlSystems #SoftwareUnitTesting #OpenSourceProjects #Hiring #Assembly #Python #LinuxEnvironment #Kernel #Embedded #Firmware #AutomatedBuildProcesses #Contribute #Knowledge #Expereince #Washington

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𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠🫣 but the secret to landing an offer from Amazon starts with one crucial document: RESUME. Earlier when I started applying for jobs I used to make one general resume.That I either got rejected or no reply from the recruiter. Which was super discouraging. I knew I needed a change, so I researched and identified the mistakes holding me back. Here's what made the difference: ✅I learned to quantify my achievements. For ex. "Implemented a new data compression algorithm, reducing storage requirements by X %." Now that's impactful! ✅Removed cliches like "dynamic leader". And replaced with concrete examples. "Managed a cross-functional team and delivered 2 high-performance mobile apps on time and within budget." ✅Made look clear and concise: Fonts and bullet points to spacing, I ensured everything looked clean and professional. I aimed for a 1-2 page resume. No more stuffed resume! ✅Tailored to the role I applied for Irrelevant hobbies and high school achievements were replaced with skills and experiences directly related to SDE positions. ✅Lastly, I used spellcheck religiously and even explored tools like Grammarly to catch every mistake. Look I know you have been working on your skills and projects. But also focus on your resume it's your chance to tell your story, to show them why you're the perfect fit, not just another applicant with a "general" resume. And if you have other interviews lined up and want to level up your resume game, consider Tutort Academy. As, they have helped 1250+ professionals successfully land a job at their dream companies like Google, Microsoft, Walmart, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and more by providing the right career guidance that includes- Explore more-https://bit.ly/3R1t2zu 🤝 1:1 Personalized Mentorship from MAANG mentors 📝Mock Interviews, Resume sessions, LinkedIn profile Optimization, and more. If you want to level up your interview game, join their new batch start from 7th June Friday —your dream job could be just a few tweaks away! #resume #collab #techinterview #tutortacademy #dreamjob

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Interesting take on her when it comes to entry-level resumes 👇 But what if the job description lists 7+ languages in the required and preferred qualifications section? Nowadays, especially in this market, just meeting the required qualifications isn't enough. You also wanna have a good number of the preferred qualifications down. And to get through ATS, the more keywords and phrases the better, which is what "tailoring" your resume is really about. So if engineers shouldn't stuff their resumes with keywords, then should job descriptions be less demanding then?

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When I interviewed with Walmart for SWE-III position, I got this feedback from the interviewer after the HLD System Design round - "You are interviewing for an X-3 position. I have interviewed a lot of folks for X-4 and X-5 positions in the last couple of months. I wish everybody was as thorough as you were while explaining the systems." That was the moment when I knew I was in the right direction in my system design preparation. Before that, I didn't even know if I was even preparing the way it is supposed to be done. That was when I got to know there was no one way to go for System Design. As long as you can explain what you are doing, why you are doing and how you are doing, you cannot be wrong. I will talk about "How I prepared for the HLD round" in some other post.

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It often perplexes me that Software Development Engineers (SDE-1) on platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn are offering advice on interview preparation for Senior Software Engineer positions, particularly for system design rounds. Engineers who have just been promoted from SDE-1 to SDE-2 are also guiding how the promotion system operates and how one can achieve promotion. While it is true that they have experienced promotion firsthand, I believe a more comprehensive understanding is required. This understanding comes from going through multiple promotions, observing the process extensively, and ideally, assisting team members in their promotion journey. Being involved in decision-making, providing feedback, and advocating for promotions are crucial elements to truly comprehend how the system works and how to effectively support career advancement within a team. In an environment where views are monetized, it seems that everyone feels compelled to share their opinions, even if they lack substantial experience. This only adds to the noise, and recently, my YouTube and LinkedIn feeds have been overwhelmed with this type of content. It feels reminiscent of the group discussion rounds often conducted during campus hiring drives. Pata nai par bolna hai!

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At 21, I didn’t know what request latency was. At 24, I earned my 3rd SWE promotion. Here’s my journey from Imposter Intern → Confident Contributor in 15 ups and downs: 1. Finish orientation as an intern at Wayfair. Discover that Chrome has devtools. 2. Realize I don’t have a clue what OKR, KPI, or CI/CD mean. Nod along and pretend I do anyway. 3. Suffer through learning PHP, and draw a few request flow diagrams (the only way I could understand what a REST API is). 4. Present them to a giant auditorium of 7 employees while keeping my arms down to hide the pit stains. 5. Land a return offer thanks to stellar mentorship. Start working remotely during the pandemic. 6. Have a senior dev call my PR “clean”. Smile about it for the rest of the week. 7. Get 30 PR comments from a junior dev, and feel like I wanna hide under my desk chair. 8. Script every presentation I give, so there’s no chance of messing up. Sound painfully robotic and unconfident. 9. Write a 2000 word essay for my first self review. Somehow land the L2 promotion. 10. Build an interactive coding tutorial that helps new hires onboard to our tech stack. 11. Assemble a janky demo of Wayfair’s new CMS, then nail the presentation to a handful of Associate Directors. 12. Sleep through a follow-up meeting I was supposed to lead. Worry that my reputation just took a big hit. 13. Spend months learning what “monitoring and observability” is so I can “lead” that initiative. (Yes, it took me this long to understand latency distributions.) 14. Crash the Wayfair nav bar globally for an hour because I didn’t test in dev. Send apology messages to everyone in the postmortem. 15. Receive a slack message from my manager at 5:00 PM on a Friday. I’d been promoted to L3. It’s tempting to think that your path to success will be linear. But if I learned anything from 50 physical therapy sessions mending a broken leg last year, it’s that real progress looks a lot like a ball of yarn. And that jumbled drama of good days and bad days – that’s where all the fun is.

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🌟 Let's understand the difference b/w SDE and SWE 🌟 In the dynamic world of tech, roles and titles can sometimes overlap or seem interchangeable. However, there are distinct differences between Software Development Engineers (SDEs) and Software Engineers (SWEs) that are worth clarifying. SDE (Software Development Engineer): As an SDE, the focus is primarily on the development and coding aspects of software engineering. This role often involves designing, implementing, and maintaining software systems and applications. SDEs typically have a strong foundation in algorithms, data structures, and system architecture, with a keen eye on optimizing code performance and functionality. 💻 SWE (Software Engineer): On the other hand, Software Engineers (SWEs) encompass a broader spectrum of responsibilities beyond coding. While they also develop software solutions, their role may extend to encompass requirements gathering, system design, testing, and sometimes even project management. SWEs are adept at translating user needs into technical specifications and ensuring that software products meet both functional and non-functional requirements. 🛠️ Key Takeaway: The main difference lies in the scope of responsibilities and the depth of involvement in the software development lifecycle. While SDEs are specialists in coding and system implementation, SWEs take a more holistic approach, integrating various facets of software engineering to deliver comprehensive solutions. Whether you're aiming to specialize in coding or seeking a role that encompasses broader engineering responsibilities, understanding these distinctions can help you navigate your career path effectively. Follow Nayan Kumar Jha for more. ❤️ #linkedin #softwareengineering #techCareers #sde #swe #softwaredevelopment #programminglife #coding #codinglife

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🎄New Blog ! Recently, I have been experimenting a lot with Istio Service Mesh. Now that Istio Ambient Mesh has been released, it was high time that I do my bit of self-exploration of the same. The long weekend seemed perfect for this :) In this blog, we setup our home Kubernetes cluster and start exploring the Istio ambient mesh. The focal point of this new dataplane mode is that it is a sidecar-less model and hence the fat cash savings we have against compute power and cloud bills. In Part 1, we explore the traffic flow via L4 ztunnel - a major component of ambient. In subsequent parts, we will explore more of L7 waypoint proxy. Blog has been stuffed with memes to enjoy the process :) Blog link: https://lnkd.in/gdXa5w5v GitHub link for manifests: https://lnkd.in/gTbQC47g #istio #kubernetes #blog #ambient #ztunnel #waypoint

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Amazon-to-Google-to-Amazon #a2g2a thought of the day: Swimming lanes (aka Ownership).  An Amazon SDE is a jack-of-all-trades. You write code, of course. But also, you wear your QA hat and test your stuff. And you wear your SRE hat and carry a pager and respond to tickets. And you wear your TPM and PMT hats too, talk to customers, decide the shape of your product, and track your progress. There’s no such thing as “staying in your lane” when you’re an Amazon SDE. You do what you need to do to make your business successful. After all, one of our Leadership Principles, Ownership, is defined as: “Leaders are owners […] beyond just their own team. They never say ‘that’s not my job.’”   I’ve always felt comfortable operating in that environment, focusing a lot more on helping my business be successful and impactful than on what is or isn’t part of my role doc.   When I joined Google in 2020, I noticed there were very clear swimming lanes for each role. Google had a massive army of thousands of Engineering Productivity engineers dedicated to creating test tools and infrastructure, although in reality they ended up doing a lot of the testing that SDEs really should have done. Google also had an army of thousands of SREs who handled operations and carried pagers. One day, one of my SDEs said he didn’t know what the customer painpoints were for our product because he didn’t have a TPM. “Why don’t you talk to customers yourself???” I asked both puzzled and frustrated. Our customers were other Google engineers. It wasn’t rocket-science to find them and ask them. But it wasn’t an SDE task.   Amazon does have all these other roles. They just don’t have the massive armies of them that Google has. They are more leveraged (eg 100:1 dev:test ratio).   If you just want to write code and not be bothered by “all the other crap” associated with software engineering, Google is paradise. Other people are hired to deal with all that crap you don’t want to deal with it. I would be willing to bet googlers spent a lot more of their day writing code.   There’s also something to be said about the benefits of specializing in a role. EngProdders were masters of test infra, SREs were masters of operations, etc. When you have a narrow job, you go deep; when you have a broad job, you don’t. For example, as an Amazon engineer, I’ve worn TPM and PMT hats a thousand times, but I’m willing to bet I’m a pretty mediocre one.   And so here lies the tension. Specialization is a Good Thing because it brings deep expertise and craftsmanship, but it creates swimming lanes and things fall between the cracks. There’s an overall lack of end-to-end Ownership. I saw that, over, and over, and over again, in my four years at Google. So much "not my problem."   That did not jive with me. I WANT to do "all the other crap." I enjoy it. It empowers me and my team to fully own our destiny and what we deliver to customers. My product sucks? It’s mine to fix. I don’t get to pass the buck. Simple as that.

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99% SDE, EM want to get lucky during job hunt - in their initial months, searching jobs. They: - keep the same old wedding photo on LinkedIn - keep the banner image blank or github commits - don't update their resume with the best impact lines - just upload their resume and expect 50+ interview calls The result: - no to minimum recruiter calls. - feeling of self doubt (am I really good) - am I the only one practicing wrong questions. (wait, what? did you just say you are practicing wrong questions? isn't this supposed to be the second step?) Then, they - - either console themselves saying their time will come - or get frustrated, and stop the job hunting. (side note: i have done that in mid-2019 and then stopped searching altogether) What I learned is, first make yourself presentable. Think of job search like setting a tinder date. Make your job profile like your tinder profile. Ask yourself what you will not do for date: - photo of you sleeping - photo of you doing dishes - photo of you cleaning teeth Instead, you need your bestest photos. Same goes for job profile: (resume + linkedin) - put your best work out there - put your most impactful work - put the most impactful keywords follow these, and to never run short of interview calls. Interested in getting help? (not for date 😂) Join the waitlist with 23 other SDE, EM's (link in the comments). If you are unable to see the comment with link, sort the comments by "Most recent", and scroll to the end of comments.

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Each second, Uber handles 1 million+ user requests to find nearby drivers with almost zero crashes. 🚗💨 I recently delved into Uber’s system design and uncovered fascinating insights: 📍 Location Indexing: - Uber doesn't just rely on latitude and longitude; they utilize the H3 library, organizing Earth's surface into a hexagonal grid. - This unique approach aids in finding driver distances efficiently, compressing data in less detailed areas and expanding it in high-detail regions. 🗄️ Location Storage: - Uber tackles inconsistent GPS signals by employing map matching to convert raw GPS data into precise road segments. - Their strategy involves using Apache Cassandra for long-term location data and Redis for caching, enhancing read efficiency and supporting map matching. ⚙️ Scalability: - Uber leverages Ringpop and consistent hashing to evenly distribute service loads across servers. - Thrift Over RPC facilitates model replication and seamless communication, while idempotent services ensure availability even during data center failures. The next time you book an Uber ride, remember the intricate system that swiftly connects you with a nearby driver. 🌐🚕 #Uber #SystemDesign #Technology #Innovation

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If you are a junior software engineer / new grad, this is why you should have a one-page resume - A one-page resume forces you to showcase your most impressive achievements and relevant skills, making it easier for recruiters to see what sets you apart from the competition. A single-page format ensures your resume is clean, easy to read, and digest. It highlights your ability to prioritize essential information, a valuable trait in any professional setting. It also reflects your efficiency and attention to detail. Recruiters receive thousands of resumes daily, if not more. A one-page resume respects their time and allows them to quickly grasp your potential as the perfect fit for the job. Make a memorable first impression! One page is more than enough to include necessary metrics to showcase your impact on projects. Detailed discussions about the projects will happen in interviews, but a concise and clear resume is key to getting an interview call. Stand out from the crowd. #resume #interviewtips

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Hey everyone, after going through the resumes that were submitted, I have some general guidelines to enhance your resume -   * Keep it concise: Aim for a one-page resume whenever possible. Trim unnecessary details and focus on highlighting your most relevant experiences and skills. * Prioritize experiences/projects: If you're a fresher, showcase your projects, internships, or any relevant coursework prominently. For experienced professionals, emphasize your most recent and relevant work experiences. * Relevance is key: Avoid cluttering your resume with irrelevant information. Tailor your resume to the specific role you're applying for by including only experiences and skills that are directly related to the job. * Use a readable format: Opt for a clean and professional format that is easy to read. Use standard fonts and formatting styles to ensure your resume is visually appealing and accessible to recruiters. * Quantify achievements: Where possible, quantify your accomplishments with specific numbers or metrics. This helps to demonstrate the impact of your work and adds credibility to your resume. * Proofread carefully: Before submitting your resume, thoroughly proofread it for typos, grammatical errors, and formatting inconsistencies. A polished resume reflects positively on your attention to detail and professionalism. Attaching templated I used for creating my resumes, which got shortlisted at big tech giants like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Atlassian and others. https://lnkd.in/g-RBTDWP https://lnkd.in/g2F6d2JG Hope this is helpful, if you know more such good resume template, help others by attaching them in the comments. Thanks!! #resume #google #amazon #atlassian

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The best advice I ever received came from a senior engineer at Amazon during a code review. Early in my career, I was obsessed with writing perfect code, but I struggled to keep up with my workload. His guidance changed my approach: First, make your code work and understand why it works. Second, ensure there are no bugs—make it right. Finally, take the time to add comments and optimize. Coding can be complex, especially in large codebases, so it's crucial to keep your processes simple. This advice has become a daily practice for me. Developing good habits early on as a software development engineer is essential. #softwareengineering #softwaredevelopment

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Every year I double down on my belief that thoughtful code reviews are the single greatest act of love you can bestow upon a fellow engineer. If you're trying to elevate from "senior" to "principal" SDE, build a reputation on your team for consistently/timely/thoughtful code reviews and you're already halfway there (in my opinion). If you're already principal and tend to skirt code reviews (me, sometimes), it's quietly noticed a really great opportunity for improvement, because all it requires is your love & attention! ❤️ Guru code reviewers: feel free to tag on your tips/tricks/stories, or am I overcomplicating it?

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Believe or not, it takes a lot of energy! And it gets even harder :( When you don’t even hear out on the Interview calls! Navigating all day long - searching across sites to find them a role. The process gets much harder for the people being laid off. Mentally speaking, it’s not easy. We’ve seen good companies like Atlassian, Paytm laying off due to business conditions. Somewhere or the other this might bring a negative effect on the candidature. One needs to start up with a whole new process of, ~ Applications dropping ~ Ghosting w/o responses ~ Constant following up But you know what - @GeeksforGeeks as a platform has put their foot forward in getting you Interview calls. They’ve lined up top tech companies which demands for experienced professionals and will hire the best talents out there.. 🚀 Register in their upcoming “Hiring Contest” named Job-a-thon Exclusive where, Partnered companies like Ola, Razorpay, Dailyhunt participate hiring top tech talents. Apply now : bit.ly/4b3XCAa GFG has been successfully running this “authentic” series of hiring contests for >2 years. And has helped 1000s land their first job. 📅 Mark the date : 29th April, 2024 “There’s nothing worse than self-rejection” 💪

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My Microsoft Frontend SDE2 Interview Journey 🚀 🔍 How I landed the opportunity: Spotted a post on LinkedIn by a hiring manager, reached out, and got connected with the recruiter. The process kicked off from there! 💻 Online Assessment: Encountered a unique assessment—fixing 14-15 bugs in React. Aimed for at least 60% to move forward. Pro tip: Don’t dwell too long on a bug; either fix it or skip. Time limit: 1 hour. The issues would be simple but debugging and coding platform is difficult to do. 🔮 Round 1: Focused on DSA—tackled a binary tree and binary search problem. Required to provide functional code. Problem 1- https://lnkd.in/g9S5GA4X Problem 2- https://lnkd.in/g876WtAU 📐 Round 2: Delved into low-level design—tasked with building a table component. Clarified requirements, explained the flow, and delivered a working solution. I was asked about intersection observer API’s, infinite scrolling and react virtualisation. Asked to code some part of it too. Refer this - https://lnkd.in/gpyeP_uK Positive outcomes from both rounds, but alas, the door closed for further progression as position got closed🚪. Sometimes its good to not get selected somewhere you don’t know something better could be waiting for you💪💪. #InterviewExperience #FrontendDeveloper #TechJourney #faang #react

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Google will be #hiring a lot of #swe in India!!! 🥳🥳 Many are reaching out to me for #referrals. Due to the high volume, manually checking messages and downloading resumes is challenging. Please use the link below to fill out the referral form: https://lnkd.in/gYVtmpS2 This will allow me to view everything in a dashboard and refer you efficiently! #softwareengineering #google #leetcode #codeforces #competitiveprogramming #coding #programming #referral #resume #faang #maang

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