7 Levels Of Engineers Describe Software’s Most Important Skill

I asked every level of the career ladder to explain their job and the most important skill for success at their level.
Huge thanks to everyone in the video!
- Entry-Level Engineer (L3): Uriel at Slack. / uriel-sejas
- Mid-Level Engineer (L4): Dipika at Qualcomm. / dipika-tiwari
- Senior Engineer (L5): Richard at Meta. / r-x-c
- Staff Engineer (L6): Sammy at Gusto. / sam-nguyen-43519023
- Senior Staff Engineer (L7): Kaushik at Instacart. / gopalkaushik
- Principal Engineer (L8): Pong at Pinterest. / chantat-eksombatchai-2...
- Distinguished Engineer (L9): Andrew at Pinterest. / andrew-zhai-2796ab34
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Hi! I’m Rahul, a software engineer and founder with a passion for teaching.
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[@RahulPandeyrkp]

Huge props to all the engineers here for sharing their insights. It's so easy to stay in your corporate bubble, but hearing perspectives from top engineers can be so insightful. If you ever get to work with these folks, please thank them!

[@marlonmarcello]

Apart from a junior developer, which is worries about acquiring the proper skills, ALL others mentioned teamwork. It's all about TEAMWORK. You won't get far without building relationships.

[@xthaone]

I like the progression how going from lower levels leans technical changes to higher levels emphasizing soft skills.

[@williamseipp9691]

When you said "solo carry" a lightbulb went off in my head and the more I think about it, the more broadly it seems to apply.

[@emmanuelkofyagyapong6382]

Saved the video. Best content I've seen in the past month by FAR!!! Before someone laughs at my comment here, take a look at the observations that Rahul pointed out about the principal and staff engineers -- they've been there for a long time contributing on the business side also. In a hyper-growth period in their respective companies... I would never have guessed that. I thought that job hopping was the solution to get there (many people suggest it), but I was obviously **wrong**...

[@alncl9566]

This video is really valuable. I’m not a software engineer but the themes mentioned highly apply to marketing as well - high-impact value, critical analysis, and effective collaboration.

[@divyanthjayaraj8450]

Absolutely profound. This video points a classic mistake I've been making all these years i.e job hopping. I had always been terrified of staying in the same company for a long time but you showed me the value of it. Thank you.

[@splendidsequiters]

I really like the way you structured this video, and in particular, I liked the insights that you gave as the narrator. Usually when the narrator puts the camera back on themselves, they just give fluff, but your insights condensed the knowledge others gave and took it to the next level.

[@megaxzero88]

Appreciate the summaries at the end of the interviews. Really helps wrap what the interviewers are trying to say in a concise and meaningful way

[@bigteet521]

Very informative interview format and idea. Pretty cool to see how the thought process and objectives change at each level. Thanks for sharing this!

[@user-fp4dr1ne7z]

Spot on advice. Everything said here really resonates with me. As you move up, understanding the business, making impact, and leveling up others and setting good practices and culture are what really separates the staff and above to all other engineers.

[@Fido1hn]

This was a really great video for me as an engineer, seeing different senior engineers talk about the work and impact they have had boost my spirits and is really grounding. Thanks for this, great content.

[@muskaansharma8093]

I'm grateful, Rahul! Hearing from so many seasoned engineers was really informative. Hoping to see more of it.

[@mnchester]

Great format! It'd be great to see a similar video with engineers just promoted to L+1, telling us what are the main things that contributed to that promotion and things they would have done differently (eg, what things delayed their promotions, etc.)

[@patrickstephen7885]

Very good analysis at the end. There were good nuggets in there…my summary is that scope of impact is broader, skill set is more comprehensive and thinking is more strategic the higher you go

[@mytrung]

I’m not an engineer but a lot of these skills are relatable even for me as a staff ux trying too push forward. Great content!

[@rishirajasekaran6055]

You and Pong worked with Jure in the startup? Thats very cool! the Stanford Graph ML group's work is one of my biggest inspirations and Pong's respect for his work and his role is amazing.

[@0e0]

I love these types of real world discussions where people share specific aspects of their experiences.. it's informative and inspiring and very clear

[@stacksmasherninja7266]

Awesome video! Really great idea. Listening to all the senior folks was super interesting.

[@itsjustme684]

I love this. Because not so many emphasize on understanding of business strategy coupled with years of technical skills, say you start from L1-4 level perhaps . Then you are assigned to assemble, lead, manage and drive impact which is way different than one would acquire from certifications which does not have those skills. Which also means, tenure is important for you to pay attention what the business needs.