Tag: career

Cracking the Dress Code

Steve Jobs had it easy, he could wear a black turtle neck and blue jeans all day every day and it was hailed as genius. If that works for you, you can stop reading here. But if you feel that the “tech uniform” doesn’t allow you to be as authentic at work as you would like – this blog post is for you.

This is the outline of a talk I gave on December 2022 at the Google TLV office for a group of women in technical roles. I did not record it and I'm happy I didn't, because it enabled me and the participants to be much more open. I doubt I will ever give this talk again, it was a one time thing after being asked for it repeatedly - but I don't want it to become my thing. 
The first section covers why I think this subject is important to discuss, even if I would rather focus on strictly professional subjects. The second section has concrete tips on how to develop your own style and how to apply it.
As usual, this talk is rooted in my experience as a woman SWE, in Israeli/American tech, it might not apply to everyone. However, I believe it's an important subject that will be useful for many women in STEM and other male dominated fields, so here goes.
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Posted on by Rina Artstain

Yet another guide to tech interviews

This is probably one of the most common types of posts, though sometimes I wonder if you just have to go through it yourself to figure it out. I’m not sure. But in the hope that it helps someone out there – I’m writing up everything I’ve learned about getting ready for tech interviews, I promise these tips are tried and tested and will help you if you read and apply them carefully.

Caveats:

  • A few of the insights included in this post are most relevant for “big tech” companies, but most will be useful no matter where you apply.
  • I live and work in Israel, so it’s possible there are some culture-specific details that won’t be applicable to your work situation (e.g. like most of the world, we’ve never heard of thank-you notes). Use discretion when applying 🙂

This post is long, so I suggest bookmarking it and reading it in sections. It covers:

  1. Writing an excellent CV
  2. Coding interviews
  3. System design interviews
  4. Deep dive interviews
  5. Culture fit interviews
  6. Questions you should ask
  7. Resources
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Posted on by Rina Artstain