What are the pros and cons of working at big vs small tech companies? Around mid-2020 I was back at Microsoft after leaving Facebook and taking a break. I was leading the applied science team for Machine Teaching, working with a great group of people. But suddenly there was a big re-org. Teams were split, projects canceled, and I found myself under a different … [Read more...] about Working at Big (FAANG) vs Small Tech Companies
Software Industry
A Simple Guide to Money for Software Engineers
You have spent years acquiring and honing your skills as an engineer. You survived the coding interview gauntlet. It's been a long road but now you are starting to make good money in a career with lots of growth potential. How do you make the most out of it and reach your financial goals? Read on for a simple guide to money for software engineers. A career in software … [Read more...] about A Simple Guide to Money for Software Engineers
Prioritization: Rank, don’t bucket
It's the start of the sprint or milestone and everyone has come up with plenty of things to work on. The task list is long and as usual, resources are limited. So what we do? Let's have a meeting to prioritize all the work items! I've attended my fair share of these meetings and they typically take one of two approaches: Buckets A very common strategy I see used is to … [Read more...] about Prioritization: Rank, don’t bucket
Men should attend the Grace Hopper Conference
Last year (2016) I attended the Grace Hopper Conference (GHC) for the first time. In case you are not familiar with it, it’s a conference primarily for women in Computer Science. It’s a great event and quite an interesting experience to attend as a man. Back then I was still at Microsoft Research. I've always been involved in diversity efforts and one of the initiatives at … [Read more...] about Men should attend the Grace Hopper Conference
The Research Software Design Engineer – there and back
At Microsoft Research (MSR) there's a not-so-well-known role: the RSDE (Research Software Design Engineer). In this post I cover my experience going from SDE to RSDE and back to SDE, as well as the pros and cons. My path to RSDE Even before I joined Microsoft I was fascinated by a lot of the work being done at MSR. As a new college grad the idea of working there seemed like a … [Read more...] about The Research Software Design Engineer – there and back