Advice from the Top 1% of Software Engineers

Today, we go to San Francisco and ask the top 1% of software engineers for advice on life, career, and tech. These software engineers work at FAANG companies like Meta, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google. Some are junior engineers and others are senior/staff+. Collectively, the people I interviewed have over 25+ years of experience.
Follow me @ / namanhkapur
Check out Codecademy Pro here: tinyurl.com/namanhkapur
Timestamps:
0:00 - Introduction
0:21 - Interviews
5:11 - Codecademy Shoutout (Ad)
5:49 - More Interviews
7:36 - Outro
Follow me @ / namanhkapur
Here are other resources:
Python for Beginners Intro: bit.ly/python-beginner-intro
Modern Python3 Bootcamp: bit.ly/modern-python3-bootcamp
100 Days of Code: bit.ly/udemy-100-days-of-code...
Other Python Courses: bit.ly/udemy-python-search
Udemy Homepage: bit.ly/udemy-home-page
Complete Web Development Bootcamp: bit.ly/udemy-complete-web-dev...
Web Dev Bootcamp: bit.ly/udemy-web-dev-bootcamp...
Data Structures and Algos: bit.ly/udemy-dsa-search
Data Structure Interviews and Algos: bit.ly/udemy-dsa-course
My Equipment:
Main Camera: amzn.to/3HpzZ92
Main Mic: amzn.to/3Nuyfz8
Main Lens: amzn.to/3ncJUId
M1 Macbook Pro: amzn.to/3tjfkfJ
iPhone 13 Pro: amzn.to/3xwsI2r
Phopik 55'' Tripod: amzn.to/3zmL6vZ
Deity V-Mic D4 Duo: amzn.to/3zoF126
Boom Mic Stand: amzn.to/3H1IOEw
Audio Cable Extension: amzn.to/3MrBcfH
TRS to TRRS Patch Cable: amzn.to/3mvDSy6
3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter: amzn.to/3MwX0GG
Disclosure:
Some of the above links are affiliate links. Using these links is one of the best ways to support me at no cost to you!
Sub count: 217,079
#tech #softwareengineer #coding #google #programming

[@jessicqbowmaster3372]

I love how open and transparent the interviewees were. Great content as always!

[@namanhkapur]

made my heart happy, thanks!!

[@yesm4n]

Awesome interviews. You must have worked so hard to set these up, thank you Namanh and the interviewees.

[@br0ken_107]

Man I love these interviews, the advices they give really help me when I feel unconfident, sometimes you know something but you need to hear it from someone who has gone through this before and made it. Please keep doing such interviews, have a nice day.

[@namanhkapur]

more to come, thanks for watching!

[@pepperdayjackpac4521]

everywhere I look in the software engineering industry, there is an Indian

[@vulturebeast]

Yes 😂

[@jacobmorres9817]

Why did you frame that negatively

[@pepperdayjackpac4521]

@@jacobmorres9817 did I?

[@dialac1]

I have indian friends. They tell me their parents agree to pay for college in exchange for picking their major or giving them a set list of what they can study

[@Hema-desu]

Because population. From what I see, there are many employee in many companies. It's relate to indian and Chinese (or something relate east asean countries)

[@michael_adisa]

I saw a notification from this channel and I checked the vid immediately! I don't need to say I wasn't disappointed... I wasn't expecting to be 😂 The dude from Apple and the PhD lady were really interesting.. Thanks man

[@namanhkapur]

appreciate the support bro

[@allisonmarkus3208]

heyy Namanh, thankyou for these videos! One suggestion/request, I am not sure this is like asking for wayyy to much or not, but can you try getting LinkedIn profiles of these people you interview (obviously, with their consent), so that we can connect with them.

[@________.pathfinder]

Hey Namanh, Thanks bringing ray of hope is this time of recessions. Your videos helps us to work more. they are just like a Reality which shows that if you work hard then recession will not affect you!.. Thank you so much.. Still i have a question does degree matters?

[@soulysouly7253]

They forgot to mention networking and being at the right place at the right time. Source: Im considered top 1% of engineers by this guy's standard, really I just got into a well known school, got extremely good letters of recommendations, participated in conferences where I networked with industry leaders, got most of my big tech jobs (NVIDIA, AMD and Google) through referrals, two of which I didn't even need to leetcode for. I have a bunch of personal projects but never showcased any of them on my resume anyway so nobody knows about them. It's always been, and it always will be all about selling yourself and knowing the right person. Pure talent is only relevant when the applicant pool is small, but everyone and their mothers have a CS degree now so your actual skills are barely relevant.

[@user-pk3jr1ng6h]

Makes sense

[@idkidk9137]

Source: Nepo baby

[@milkandhenny]

Looool, well if you're ever looking to make new friends here I am!

[@rothbardfreedom]

How you got an Apple employee to speak about their project? My experience with Apple people (don't ask how I know) is that anything besides "I work at Apple" is beyond the boundaries for externals.

[@hmlharrison6285]

Great video. One question though, as a year one at university, when should I start thinking about creating side projects at the level they do? LIke not something basic like a calculator app, but something complex like the Apple employee's bank text bot? Any advice would be helpful

[@sergiunica6166]

Hi, i am also currently new to programming. I have done some simple projects as rock-papers-scissors, calculator, note app and now I am trying to do some scaling and creating a webscraper. I still google a lot but i feel like this project is exciting. My experience, do basic projects to understand fundamentals and then go to hard projects.

[@ahmadmims8852]

I'm a current software dev with about 3.5 years of experience and graduated college in 2021. I would heavy suggest building an app from scratch - scratch ish. I didn't really think about projects and improving my skills until I got my internship my junior year and I felt so behind. Luckily I was able to get the full time and learn better on the job, but projects would have been very helpful both in getting a job and understanding software engineering

[@ahmadmims8852]

And when I say app. That could be a web app, a desktop app etc. Whatever you prefer

[@datboi1861]

There's a small issue with your line of thinking. A calculator app seems basic when you consider only two numbers: Just perform some basic arithmetic on the two values and return the answer, right? But what happens when you want to solve entire expressions. Unless you have a near-infinite amount of time at your disposal, coding every single arrangement of operators and operands is impossible. So how do you handle something like '2 + 5 - 6 / 4' as opposed to something like '2 * (1 / 3) ^ 5 - 2'? What about the order of precedence? Invalid expressions that have no defined answer? Other edge cases? The sooner you realize that no project you dedicate your time to is 'basic', the closer you are to understanding what you need to start tackling much higher level projects. My advice to you: Just do whatever right now. No matter how basic it seems, there's always something to learn. And every new skill or technique learned or acquired is something you can use to consider your approach for a harder project. Sorry if this was too long, but it's just something I learned after a while that I felt like sharing. Good luck dude.

[@madanrao5745]

How are you defining top 1% ? Most of them seem to have no more than 2 years of work experience. Genuinely curious…

[@pH7Programming]

clickbait 🙃

[@egg2296]

because they seem to work at the top 1% software companies! idk if you have any tech background but people usually consider a job from MAANG or Microsoft as a dream job. and since they work there, its safe to assume that they are in the top 1%

[@ghdshds1899]

@@egg2296 MAANG is hardly top 1%. You want top 1%, go to the research or trading firms. MAANG developers are just average developers who went to a good school and did Leetcode.

[@636DavidT]

How and where can I go get an internship lol I’m doing a bootcamp right now and I’m trying to look for internships 😢😢

[@zacmuturi4522]

That "Free Food" answer was wholesome😅

[@mihir5381]

where did they go to school

[@RocketRift]

ok but what skills do i need

[@kingchamp0076]

Muchh Needed💜

[@namanhkapur]

beast

[@chillhomie7]

just applied for university of waterloo CS, wish me luck guys.

[@tutohowto5345]

hey, how'd it go?

[@quincypitsi8256]

Intern at apple paying as much as some senior positions at other companies

[@sammyiboi]

Did you take down the Codecademy link from the description? :(

[@sammyiboi]

Nvm, found it!

[@SweepAndZone]

Good job debugging 🙏

[@PepeRMSA]

You got to love how KZbin is trying to push us to buying premium

[@Harish-rz4gv]

You are kind of looking like ThePrimeagen

[@arjitshrivastava5017]

Why u have music in background its very distracting

[@streetchronicles5693]

5:55 for title

[@videosformridul]

Good

[@ServantOfLordKrishna.]

Indians contribute a lot to IT industries

[@namanhkapur]

we are the 🐐

[@Ishan555]

That apple engineer 🥵🥵🥵

[@venkatasivavarmasirivuri231]

Apple one looks like South Indian.

[@arpanmandal7244]

Majority of them are indian

[@surojsarkar6054]

He can be any part of India expect northeast( exclude Assam) and Kashmir

[@iskhak20]

dear friend, I advise you to process your audio track. Like 4 video:)

[@TuxBearlux]

A.I and OutSourced coming soon 🤫

[@vikastiwari6780]

Hume advice nhi chahiye Hume 1% me nhi jana

[@CheeseStickzZ]

Virgins for life y'all, let gooo

[@guntherzecena]

The Apple engineer is insanely hot. I could watch him talk for hours haha

[@vmidhunreddy7150]

that apple guy is handsome as hell.. can we have his insta id

[@noormubin199]

First

[@namanhkapur]

let's gooooooo

[@streetchronicles5693]

half way through the video and its pure trash information...

[@cesargladiador6334]

construct criticism, I don't like that in every questions you are changing persons. I kind of like the theme of the videos, but the constant changing make dizzy because I cannot concentrate in one single person. This happens to a lot of your videos and make me quit the video.

[@namanhkapur]

would you rather one person respond to all the questions and then switch to another person?

[@trumpisgod2535]

@@namanhkapurthis guy doesn’t want a real solution he just enjoys complaining.

[@cesargladiador6334]

yes!! 100%, or do a survey. Because maybe I'm the only one that likes one person to respond all the questions.@@namanhkapur

[@LifeUnion]

I agree!!

[@cesargladiador6334]

yes!! or do a survey. Because maybe I am the only one that likes a person to respond all the questions.@@namanhkapur

[@stevesutton772]

Please don't poop in our rivers tho

[@july9566]

Omg I was thinking the same lol

[@davedavedave4]

You should have included more diversity, like black ppl as well.

[@akialter]

Huh?

[@davedavedave4]

@@akialter he racist, i am black and i got offended

[@akialter]

@@davedavedave4 idk, I feel like it's weird for him to specifically target a specific group for interview

[@retishe7660]

@@davedavedave4 No he simply picked at random nothing racist , even whites are under-represented, i work at big tech and there are a lot of Nigerians i have meet . Trust me am black too and skin colour doesnt really matter even whites struggle as much as we blacks to land a job just focus on refining ur skills if u work at big tech then everyone will respect u regardless of ur race trust me .

[@davedavedave4]

@@akialter he should interview every race, its because of him blacks are under represented

[@Dekutard]

honestly i feel like these videos are always useless. nothing new or interesting

[@noormubin199]

First

[@namanhkapur]

twice