Don't Get Down-Leveled or How to Tell a Good Story (From a Principal at Amazon)

Why does down-leveling happen? How can you avoid it and get the salary you deserve instead of battling for a promotion and raise later? Learn how to tell the right story and you just may re-engineer your career.
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So Good They Can't Ignore You - geni.us/SoGood
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Deep Work - geni.us/ALE-DeepWork
The most important currency you have is your undivided attention. This book shows you exactly how to spend this currency in a manner that will lead to head-turning accomplishment.
SYSTEM DESIGN
Designing Data-Intensive Applications geni.us/DataIntensive
Currently the best reference contemporary for system design.
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[@trentconley4374]

dude this channel is so underrated; I'm so glad I found this. All of the advice feels so intuitive, genuine, and logical, something that's hard to find. Thanks for making these Meta.

[@labyrinth242]

the channel got down-leveled

[@jamalsheriff1928]

no its not underrated, he ownly upload like 1 video every 5 months and getting more views than the amounth of subs he has

[@renderwood]

I think KZbin recommended this to me because I watched few Joma Techs - this isn't maybe equally funny but contains more useful information. I did notice some attempts of comedy here =) US tech life seems to differ quite a bit from Europe, but I still enjoy this content!

[@JK360noscope]

@@labyrinth242 This is the kind of quality jokes I would expect from the audience. *slow clap*

[@travis1240]

When negotiating, don't ever listen if they say they'll consider a promotion after a few months or a year. When that timeframe rolls around they will say "but you've only been here .... "

[@pedromarques9267]

I asked them to write in the contract that they give me a better contract in a year. If it's not written, they won't do it

[@duncan94065]

I just successfully passed my L6 loop and I used your videos, especially this one, to prepare. Thanks!!

[@BbB-vr9uh]

Definitely speaking to your audience with “use star as a linter” at 6:05

[@danielliebster3532]

I wish I had seen these 20 years ago :) Thank you for crystallizing concepts that had been nebulous in my mind so succinctly and practically.

[@botenjohn1752]

Wow, lower quality script / video than yours charge like $1000. You are a saint for doing this man. Thank you so much

[@jackgiunta5715]

Ex-Amazon SDE2 here, really appreciate you making these videos. Love the stress on the importance of story telling. As an interviewer I can second how much it matters

[@muhamadmarifatalhanif8345]

Had my first entry-level job interview as a junior dev at a local company in my city, and you've been my guide in understanding what helped me secure the job. It led me to the point where my interviewer and I were negotiating my salary. Thanks a lot uncle Steve😆!

[@tr9429]

Thank you so much for doing these! I'd love to hear more advice on staff and principal engineering. I find this level to be especially challenging as there is a huge shift towards "leadership without authority", operating without a team, and having much harder time defining your own success.

[@adaeinthelife]

Another hit. Thanks!

[@arvindkumar062]

Great advice. Truly appreciate the effort you have put in to simulate a real interview question. Delivered beautifully.

[@yanlang6268]

Hi Meta, super grateful I saw this great video while doing interview prep! I literally followed your U story approach! Thank you so much and hope you create more contents on SDE career path!

[@jaehoonlee1]

Thanks for sharing and coming back! Appreciate and learning a lot from your video.

[@junkyardmonkie]

Glad you made another video. It had been a while since the last one.

[@AngelAlvarado57]

Thank you Meta for sharing.

[@FaustoGBG]

I really appreciate your videos, please keep them coming! There's not enough out there for us more senior engineers.

[@iulo]

man, this is pure gold.

[@mazenkenjrawi158]

Amazing! especially the last point!

[@indrajeetnikam5301]

This content is a gold mine ❤

[@pedronascimento3491]

Dude Really Thanks!!! Each video blows up my mind

[@ishab745]

Missed you! So happy to see a great new video!✨

[@MagicFrisby]

Great video, editing, story telling. Great work, keep it up

[@skyisblue3847]

Thank you for taking your time to create this valuable video

[@pablomotta___]

Thank you for your time and generosity in sharing such valuable information!

[@thomasfgooch]

Super appreciative of this video! Thanks so much!

[@thegt]

Finally, after so many months

[@theophanerupin228]

This is by far the most helpful tips about how to nail a behavioral interview I’ve gotten so far. Very well done!

[@Aya-ms6lv]

Welcome back! Great video as usual

[@cocoarecords]

You are a really great speaker tbh. Enjoyed the no bs video

[@tarmus6908]

This, is, amazing. This channel needs more subs.

[@thorsanvil]

Thanks for the vids! Helped cool my nerves down for the interview. Your realistic approach and sensible arguments really helps keep me/the viewer level headed in our approaches. Got the amazon job, if I ever see you, I owe you a beer!

[@rriicckkyyss]

This video is really really great advice! Thanks for sharing!

[@davidsun9026]

Your video showed up in my KZbin recommendations. I'm not even a developer, but this is great advice/insight. Thank you for sharing

[@AmanJakkani]

my friend showed me this channel, severely underrated advice! thanks so much, i really learned a lot

[@karthikreddy4083]

This is one of the most helpful videos I’ve seen on this subject, thanks for uploading!

[@hungchau]

Gold right here. Thanks Meta.

[@BrianMendoza93]

Thank you for your advices! The video catches you in an instant!

[@stevefaulkner183]

Thank you. Even after years as a Staff engineer, this was very helpful to me

[@poison99x]

I've waited 9 months to see your next video... and it did not disappoint!

[@ItsOkToDaance]

Such an amazing video, as someone currently going through interview processes it's very useful ! I've never heard of the U-shape storytelling framework before, and I love the authenticity of your explanations - Thank you

[@lokesh00xx]

You really have a unique way of narrating stories! It was really helpful. Thank you!

[@videosforketan]

For searching over months I reached to the content that helps find the missing pieces of next level. It tells not only what I have to prepare but how also. Thank you so much for posting the insightful content.

[@kjkang11]

I have only briefly met you once after a meeting some time ago when I was at Amazon. Wish I actually had someone like you around to learn from. It is really hard to come by a genuinely good advice in a sea of really bad voices out there. I am so surprised KZbin actually recommended me to a right person. I respect that you prioritize your family and your own life, and when you do get a chance I look forward to your next video.

[@Sefran12]

Probably the best channel for those of us who are trying to go from middle to senior and then some more. Thanks!

[@salmancloud]

OMG... this is your third video that I just watched. I have done a lot of prep for my AWS interview already, but, I feel like you are going to help me put an amazing polish on my answers. I have prepped over 30 stories from my experiences already, but, now after watching your videos, I realize that I seriously need to up-level many of them. Also the U method is brilliant. More examples of the U method would be really awesome. THANK YOU! - AMAZING CONTENT!

[@sagarjoglekar]

I think this was the best video I have ever seen dissecting behavioural questions for tech roles. I learn't a lot! I am super grateful you made this video!!

[@nullx2368]

I was surprised of how much your advise aligns with how I go about the interview process. Learning, Understanding situation and adapting to the vision/needs of a team is how I prepare for an interview. If in the interview I get a lot of "random" tech questions that don't relate to the project, It feels like they are doing a terrible job and funny enough even if you do bad aslong you show confidence in solving their actual problems they will still consider you.

[@yankunbigcat7925]

Thanks for sharing! This video is so good. Examples are great, and the summary part is extremely helpful.

[@KevinNaughtonJr]

really awesome video Meta! Thanks for sharing!

[@sti302man]

Boy oooh boy!! This was great .

[@user-ci4it4yp9v]

I'm preparing for an Amazon interview and found this video is very useful to me. Thank you!

[@bronsonschnitzel7493]

Ran into this scenario at Amazon. I got hired in a level lower than I should have because of the behavioral portion. My experience well exceeded the level they gave me. I ended up leaving because the promotional path was more political than I cared to deal with and the work I was given was insanely menial with little to no growth. Left to go to a company with the level I should have been.

[@laughingvampire7555]

yes, these interviewers make too much excuses about why the interview process sucks so bad.

[@patrickdee7365]

Extremely valuable channel, very glad I got here

[@TamNguyen-eg3pq]

This is really great stuff. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@snehabandekar9934]

Thanks for creating this video. This video offered genuine advice that I knew but I guess did not stitch it together. Listening from your experiences helped

[@LongForgottenOne]

Next week I have an Amazon interview, your videos have been so insightful, thank you very much.

[@bombaybhai]

This is smart , relevant and without any fluff advice. Kudos for the great video!!

[@TonInter]

Great video and advice, thank you for sharing.

[@Buchan178]

Thanks a lot Meta … this was so true and I try to give a solution while story telling. But as you said “life is too messy” now I am not trying to provide a perfect solution and my Staff level interviews are going great.

[@djetton1]

Such a golden channel!

[@Stella-se1lg]

Wow! That’s GREAT😊 I love your content❤

[@danjuarez79]

Your "stories" have taught me a bit about how I should tell mine and I thank you for that.

[@EngMohamedRamadan]

I'm happy that you are back to make videos again. Your videos are great and had many useful information. I understand that you still don't have a lot of subscribers because it still don't have many videos yet.

[@offBeatRock777]

This channel is a treasure trove

[@bfayer]

Great point about focusing on villains, similarly- when people decide to spend time describing things they hate it's pretty easy to read into that as a toxic personality trait.

[@beepbong]

Great channel, love the humor

[@m00semanus]

Genuinely impressed with this video. No bullshit content. Straight to the point and a thoughtful response. And the answers are better than the $700 interview prep course I took. Thank you thank you thank you.

[@SketchbookStudioo]

extremely valuable insights here my friend

[@assadullahshaikh2625]

You're the G.O.A.T. I feel so unlucky to have found your channel so late. But equally lucky that I found your channel at the time I needed it the most.

[@davidkezi6086]

Loved the content, loved the presentation.

[@frankhu5418]

Awesome. Love the concept of the u story and the lint with star.

[@pkr619]

Probably the most underrated dev focused channel on youtube, each video is a gold mine.

[@bklynkid8890]

Meta, this is seriously one of the best pieces of advice I have ever heard. I often struggled with answering “Tell me a time where X”. I recently used this video’s lessons with amazing success in my last interview loop which landed me a new job. Thanks and well done on the amazing advice and video!

[@jessiz-]

Thanks, this is really helpful! Also liked how you gave a couple of lengthy and realistic example responses. I'm trying to think about how to format my responses for upcoming interviews, and a "u-shaped" story does sound compelling - I'll keep that in mind

[@bhargavreddy6140]

I always look forward to your insights ,unique

[@yoloswaggins2161]

I like the way this guy thinks and presents.

[@xingyanglan6836]

This is phenomenal content. I might not be the intended target audience but your presentation of advice teaches me things that I feel like I can start applying.

[@jezzikah01]

Amazing advice. Thank you

[@davidde7620]

I have often thought that the popular STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method of narrating a story didn't have the same impact I was going for when I would talk about something I have done or accomplished. Thanks, A Life Engineered for this great advice. Building a story with the U-Story method and then framing it in the STAR method makes much more sense.

[@sirajali3815]

You have great advice. Thank you!

[@nigamshahmusic]

Thanks for this video (and the others). I am back to interview prep after getting laid off recently from Meta (aka FB). After 4 years as a senior eng at a big tech company, everything you are saying makes sense... But it is still hard to look at one's own experience with an objective POV, and tell the story in a concise way. My last time around, I prepared all my stories using the STAR method, and I find that I spend too much time telling the facts, and not enough telling the substance -- which is why I am telling this story in the first place. I will try thinking about it with the "U" shape. Thanks!

[@reynaldoruizflores]

Again, thank you. Very useful.

[@augustineumeagudosi5540]

Thank you so much for this insight

[@TheodoreRavindranath]

Amazing.. real eye opener!

[@jonathanmantello3974]

Wow, amazing video! Thank you!

[@quirkyquester]

amazing video, thank you so much bro! One of the best video!

[@dmitry1589]

Great video with awesome examples! Packed with golden nuggets. I am interviewing and figuring out how to present my experience in a way that it represents my skills properly. This video is better than whole course on leadership I took on one of the learning platforms.

[@aravindsarma]

Each word in this video is an actual gem and I've to watch again and again to internalize all of it. Thanks for taking time to come up with the script.

[@sandrallancherosg]

Wow! Awesome video!

[@derrickagyemang1259]

Great content. Thanks for sharing

[@vvolfbelorven7084]

I was told at the firm to develop “story telling skills” so I watched this video with purpose Thanks for the tips!

[@miralirazakhan314]

this is GOLD

[@haydendaly3542]

Great advice!

[@ssjcosty]

Very useful, thanks! I have been downleveled and downright rejected after a few interviews, but there the problem wasn't that I didn't have the skills or the experience, it was that I hadn't really prepared for the interviews (with practised answers etc.).

[@KoberTheObserver]

Amazing video! I had some experiences where I can tell a story similar to the example in the video. It is kinda hard to tell a story like that when you are in a interview, specially if you are nervous. However with this video I find it easy to tell a good story with my experience.

[@martinmassera]

Thank you, I felt your sincere desire to help

[@Neonb88]

So so so valuable and practical, all coming from real life experience. Even when we compare you to some of the other best Tech KZbinrs like TechLead, Tina Huang, etc. your advice is so practical, goal-oriented. If you started a Patreon or something like that, I'm sure some folks would pay you just from the benefit they got from these videos I also liked the cute bit at the end about narratives and struggling with the complexities of life, being trapped in your own perspective, etc. It was nice to know someone else also thinks about these things, but still has optimism and enjoys a great story.

[@subbunat4273]

This is great advice, thanks

[@ehdyn]

To anyone that comes across this.. it's actually worth your time and attention. Saving this one..

[@anshumansingh9184]

Welcome back ❤️