Tech Career Events for Software Engineers
Our events foster growth and learning on your software engineering path: drive innovation and expand your network.
Group Office Hours With Alex - Get Personalized Career Advice Privately
Wednesday November 27, 1:00amGroup Office Hours are a very simple event type with a very important goal in mind: Get you the career support you need in a safe, communal setting. This means:
- These sessions are never recorded
- All AI summary and note-taker bots will be kicked out
- If you want to ask your question 100% anonymously, just change your display name and ask it in the chat
So how does it work? Easy: Drop in whenever, raise your hand 🤚 to ask a question (or put it in chat), and leave at your own convenience. For the sake of fairness, Alex will only answer 1 question at a time per person.
Can't make the event? No worries, just ask your question anonymously in the Taro forum: https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/
DSA Mock Interview / Resume Review Group Session
Thursday November 28, 1:00amIf you don't have a Taro Premium membership, you can use Grace's special link to receive 20% off: https://www.jointaro.com/r/graceg708/
In this #job-searchers-accountability-group session, there will be breakout rooms where attendees can do DSA Mock Interviews, and also give feedback on Resumes.
It is recommended for attendees to go through these before joining, especially if you want to do mock interviews:
- [Course] Master The Data Structures And Algorithms Interview
- [Course] Get More Interviews: Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer
- [Course] Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer
We will also have a coworking breakout room if people want to do their work or studying independently but want to be kept accountable to their studying :)
![[Paper Reading] Understanding the Limitations of Mathematical Reasoning in Large Language Models event](/_next/image/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffirebasestorage.googleapis.com%2Fv0%2Fb%2Ftech-career-growth.appspot.com%2Fo%2Fevent_images%252F1731269953-1731269569995-image_generation-openai_11zon.png%3Falt%3Dmedia%26token%3D62432881-bd2e-4b82-8f73-2d48b788cac6&w=3840&q=75)
[Paper Reading] Understanding the Limitations of Mathematical Reasoning in Large Language Models
Saturday November 30, 4:00pmApple recently released a paper around new benchmark (GSM-Symbolic) for assessing Mathematical reasoning in LLMs.
The GSM8K benchmark is widely used to assess the mathematical reasoning of models on grade-school-level questions. While the performance of LLMs on GSM8K has significantly improved in recent years, it remains unclear whether their mathematical reasoning capabilities have genuinely advanced, raising questions about the reliability of the reported metrics. To address these concerns, we conduct a largescale study on several state-of-the-art open and closed models. To overcome the limitations of existing evaluations, we introduce GSM-Symbolic, an improved benchmark created from symbolic templates that allow for the generation of a diverse set of questions. GSM-Symbolic enables more controllable evaluations, providing key insights and more reliable metrics for measuring the reasoning capabilities of models.Our findings reveal that LLMs exhibit noticeable variance when responding to different instantiations of the same question
Spanner: Google’s Globally Distributed Database
Saturday November 30, 6:00pmSpanner is Google’s scalable, multi-version, globally distributed, and synchronously replicated database. It is the first system to distribute data at global scale and support externally-consistent distributed transactions. This talk will discuss a paper that describes how Spanner is structured, its feature set, the rationale underlying various design decisions, and a novel time API that exposes clock uncertainty. This API and its implementation are critical to supporting external consistency and a variety of powerful features: nonblocking reads in the past, lockfree snapshot transactions, and atomic schema changes, across all of Spanner.
Here is a link to the paper: https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-research2023-media/pubtools/1974.pdf
Singapore Taro Meetup
Sunday December 1, 4:00amI'm active in the Taro community and I'd love to meet with folks to better learn about life as a SWE in Singapore! I'd also be happy to share out how SWE life in the Silicon Valley is like & my experiences growing up in the Silicon Valley.
Taro Seattle Meetup
Sunday December 1, 6:00pmJoin us for a cozy Sunday afternoon meetup at Wunderground Cafe! Come connect with fellow Taro community members over coffee/tea in this charming Seattle cafe space.
📅 Date: Sunday, December 1, 2024 ⏰ Time: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM 📍 Location: Wunderground Cafe, Seattle
This is a casual gathering where we can:
- Get to know each other over drinks and snacks
- Share our experiences and interests
- Build connections within our Seattle community
The timing is tentative - if you're interested but the time doesn't work, please let us know your preferred timing and we'll try to accommodate everyone's schedules.
Please RSVP so we can get a headcount and Looking forward to meeting everyone!
Note: Final timing and details will be confirmed based on group preferences.
DSA Mock Interview / Resume Review Group Session
Thursday December 5, 1:00amIf you don't have a Taro Premium membership, you can use Grace's special link to receive 20% off: https://www.jointaro.com/r/graceg708/
In this #job-searchers-accountability-group session, there will be breakout rooms where attendees can do DSA Mock Interviews, and also give feedback on Resumes.
It is recommended for attendees to go through these before joining, especially if you want to do mock interviews:
- [Course] Master The Data Structures And Algorithms Interview
- [Course] Get More Interviews: Write A Stellar Resume As A Software Engineer
- [Course] Ace Your Tech Interview And Get A Job As A Software Engineer
We will also have a coworking breakout room if people want to do their work or studying independently but want to be kept accountable to their studying :)
Meet Alex - Taro Fremont 🍕 Meetup
Saturday December 7, 9:30pmSince there isn't a big Palo Alto meetup for the remainder of the year due to the holidays, I'm (Jonathan) holding a smaller scale Fremont meetup to serve in its place. I heard a special guest might show up as well? 🤔
Transit
- The pizzeria is a long walk/short drive from Fremont BART
- The area around it is effectively a massive parking lot: there is lots of free parking in the area (if you can't park in the core downtown, just go a 1-2 streets over)
Dietary
- The pizzeria is 100% vegetarian with gluten free and vegan options. We will order at least 1 pizza that is both vegan and gluten-free
Group Office Hours With Alex - Get Personalized Career Advice Privately
Friday December 13, 5:30pmGroup Office Hours are a very simple event type with a very important goal in mind: Get you the career support you need in a safe, communal setting. This means:
- These sessions are never recorded
- All AI summary and note-taker bots will be kicked out
- If you want to ask your question 100% anonymously, just change your display name and ask it in the chat
So how does it work? Easy: Drop in whenever, raise your hand 🤚 to ask a question (or put it in chat), and leave at your own convenience. For the sake of fairness, Alex will only answer 1 question at a time per person.
Can't make the event? No worries, just ask your question anonymously in the Taro forum: https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/
Taro Los Angeles December Meetup
Saturday December 14, 10:00pmJoin other Los Angeles area Tarodactyles for our once-a-month meetup in Koreatown!
Up to $10 per person is on the house (Taro's house, that is).
For up to date information about this event please tune into the #g-la-socal-meetup channel on the Taro Premium Slack server. :)
This month we will be meeting at MEMORY LOOK. https://maps.app.goo.gl/y6fsy5fNHQ4Wy1bM6
There is a large free parking lot, but we cannot reserve parking. The lot is usually not full, and there is street parking available if it fills.
WHERE TO FIND US: We meet in the patio area. Look for a white guy with a lot of tattoos ;)
SAVE YOUR RECEIPT: This way I can reimburse your drink.
See you there!
By the way: +1s are welcome!
How To Build A Strong Manager Relationship (From An Ex-Amazon VP)
Wednesday January 8, 1:00amThe relationship you have with your manager is the most important one in your professional life. So why do so many tech workers make obvious mistakes when dealing with their manager?
In this session, Ethan will share strategies and tips to:
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Build trust with your manager, even if you've had challenges in the past
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Drive your professional development and earn investment
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Navigate difficult conversations and manage up effectively.
Ethan Evans managed teams of 800+ while a Vice President (VP) at Amazon. Across 15 years, he grew from manager to Vice President, providing executive leadership for multiple $500M+ businesses. In that process, he's managed hundreds of people directly across dozens of changes in his own management chain.
Ethan is now a career development expert and teacher. Watch his courses on Taro:
Learn more:
- Watch the interview series with Ethan about eng management on YouTube.
- Ethan's live cohort-based course "Stuck at Senior Manager" is open for enrollment now: https://maven.com/ethan-evans/break-through-to-executive
- Taro members get a discount to join Ethan's Level Up community
Group Office Hours With Alex - Get Personalized Career Advice Privately
Thursday January 9, 1:00amGroup Office Hours are a very simple event type with a very important goal in mind: Get you the career support you need in a safe, communal setting. This means:
- These sessions are never recorded
- All AI summary and note-taker bots will be kicked out
- If you want to ask your question 100% anonymously, just change your display name and ask it in the chat
So how does it work? Easy: Drop in whenever, raise your hand 🤚 to ask a question (or put it in chat), and leave at your own convenience. For the sake of fairness, Alex will only answer 1 question at a time per person.
Can't make the event? No worries, just ask your question anonymously in the Taro forum: https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/
Taro Book Club: The Pragmatic Programmer - Session 6
Saturday January 11, 5:00pmIn this #taro-bookclub discussion, we'll go over "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hund & David Thomas
Here's the agenda:
- Design by Contract
- Dead Programs Tell No Lies
- Assertive Programming
- How to Balance Resources
- Don't Outrun Your Headlights
Please send your questions ahead of time to Bikram Kashyap in the Taro Premium Slack, so that they can be included in the discussion. If you don't have the book or want more details on how this all works, check out the #taro-bookclub channel in the Taro Premium Slack as well!
Get ready for another engaging and informative session!
Group Office Hours With Rahul - Get Personalized Career Advice Privately
Tuesday January 14, 5:00pmGroup Office Hours are a very simple event type with a very important goal in mind: Get you the career support you need in a safe, communal setting. This means:
- These sessions are never recorded
- All AI summary and note-taker bots will be kicked out
- If you want to ask your question 100% anonymously, just change your display name and ask it in the chat
So how does it work? Easy: Drop in whenever, raise your hand 🤚 to ask a question (or put it in chat), and leave at your own convenience. Rahul will answer 1 question at a time per person.
Can't make the event? No worries, just ask your question anonymously in the Taro forum: https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/
Group Office Hours With Alex - Get Personalized Career Advice Privately
Friday January 17, 5:30pmGroup Office Hours are a very simple event type with a very important goal in mind: Get you the career support you need in a safe, communal setting. This means:
- These sessions are never recorded
- All AI summary and note-taker bots will be kicked out
- If you want to ask your question 100% anonymously, just change your display name and ask it in the chat
So how does it work? Easy: Drop in whenever, raise your hand 🤚 to ask a question (or put it in chat), and leave at your own convenience. For the sake of fairness, Alex will only answer 1 question at a time per person.
Can't make the event? No worries, just ask your question anonymously in the Taro forum: https://www.jointaro.com/questions/create/
Beyond 'Cracking the Coding Interview': 10+ Years Of Tech Interview Evolution
Wednesday January 22, 1:00amFor over a decade, Cracking the Coding Interview has been hailed as the "bible" of interview prep. Now, its high-anticipated sequel, Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview, is out. While the original delved deeply into coding problems, the sequel shifts its focus to teaching you how to think—both in the context of technical interviews and throughout the job search process.
In this event, the authors of Beyond Cracking the Coding Interview will share how tech hiring has changed in the last decade. Ask them anything about interview prep, job stuff, negotiation, or algorithms and data structures. The authors are:
- Gayle Laakmann McDowell, the original author of CtCI
- Michael Mroczka, Google engineer and top interview coach on interviewing.io
- Aline Lerner, founder of interviewing.io
- Nil Mamano, Google engineer and algorithm researcher
Get $100 credit toward a mock interview using the link https://interviewing.io/?c=taroama
TAO: Facebook’s Distributed Data Store for the Social Graph
Saturday January 25, 6:00pmHere is an abstract of the paper:
We introduce a simple data model and API tailored for serving the social graph, and TAO, an implementation of this model. TAO is a geographically distributed data store that provides efficient and timely access to the social graph for Facebook’s demanding workload using a fixed set of queries. It is deployed at Facebook, replacing memcache for many data types that fit its model. The system runs on thousands of machines, is widely distributed, and provides access to many petabytes of data. TAO can process a billion reads and millions of writes each second.
Link to the paper: https://www.usenix.org/conference/atc13/technical-sessions/presentation/bronson
đź’° Finances Community Discussion
Wednesday February 19, 1:00amIf you don't have a Taro Premium membership, you can use Grace's special link to receive 20% off: https://www.jointaro.com/r/graceg708/
Grace's Robinhood Gold referral code: https://robinhood.com/creditcard?referral_code=25b67f20 (3% cashback on all purchases, 5$ monthly fee)
Join us for an interactive session where community members share their personal finance journeys and money management strategies! We'll explore various aspects of financial literacy through real experiences and practical insights.
đź’ˇ What to Expect:
- Open discussions about personal finance strategies
- Real stories from community members
- Candid conversations about money management
- Supportive environment for financial learning
⚠️ Remember: While we're here to learn from each other's experiences, this discussion is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Each person's financial journey is unique!
Come ready to share, learn, and connect with others who are passionate about building financial literacy! 🌟
