Cohort 1

Break past the senior level. Implement the frameworks and tactics to optimize your promotion to Staff Engineer. 

Rahul Pandey

Founder at Taro, ex-Staff Eng/Manager at Meta

Senior to Staff - Land Your Promotion As An Engineer

Pinterest

Stanford University

Y Combinator

Taro

As the first terminal level in your career, senior engineers independently solve problems and deliver business value. Many engineers are stuck for years as senior engineers, often receiving feedback like this about their promotion: - "You don't have enough scope"- "You're not working strategically enough"- "You need to drive problems with more technical complexity" It's easy to hear this and feel stuck. How can I translate this into action? The promotion beyond Senior Engineer (generally called Staff or Principal Engineer) is not about working faster or longer -- it's about behavior change that enables you to tackle more difficult problems. Across my 4.5 years working at Meta, I experienced the frustration of failing and then finally achieving the Staff Eng (E6) promotion. This course distills years of my own career experience as an IC, transitioning to management, and talking to 500+ engineers directly to observe patterns that hold engineers back at this critical inflection point. Course content (6 hours of live class, June 15/16): - How to know where you stand on the path to promotion.- How to get (or create) scope on a team with many talented engineers.- How managers and directors perceive very senior IC roles.- How to apply frameworks to identify impact that is commensurate with a Staff+ promotion.&nbsp;- How to overcome failure modes of attempted Staff promotions. This course is intended to have value for much longer than the 2 days of live sessions. Each student will receive a complementary Taro Premium membership ($400 value) to expand your network and stay connected to course members. (If you're already in Taro Premium, you'll get a discount in lieu of the 1 year of membership.)

Don't leave your growth to chance

You're a senior engineer in Big Tech looking to get promoted, but struggling to find scope and influence. e.g. Google L5, Amazon SDE 3

You're an engineering manager or director and want to provide concrete guidance for your engineers to achieve career growth.

You're an engineer who wants to validate your career direction by learning how very senior engineers are evaluated at larger companies.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

Promotion comes down to two axes: impact and scope. We'll dive into the Talk &amp; Observe framework to methodically understand the role of L6+ ICs and what behaviors they exhibit.

Define the Staff Engineer role and what that means for you

We'll identify the 6 archetypes of Staff Engineers: (1) Generalist (2) Specialist (3) Coding Machine (4) Tech Lead (5) Fixer (6) Product Hybrid. Promotion requires both an understanding of your strengths as an engineer and the needs of your organization.

Chart a path to Staff Engineer

Grasp the mental model of the managers who sponsor (or block) Staff level promotions. We'll also dive into how your manager relationship should change as you become increasingly senior.

Deconstruct how managers and directors at top companies approve promotions

Promotions are not random: judgments are made with people and data as inputs. We'll walk through how to understand what matters, and how to use that information to increase your promotion chances.

Gain confidence in the promotion process

Your network is your most valuable career asset. All students receive complimentary access to <a href="https://www.jointaro.com/membership/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Taro Premium</a>. Through this course, you will connect with other high-caliber engineers and learn from their success and struggles.

Join our engineering community

<ul><li>What makes the Staff Engineer promotion difficult?</li><li>How does the manager relationship evolve at very senior levels?</li><li>How to learn from Staff Engineers within your organization.</li><li>Connect with 3 others in the course and contrast your roles</li></ul> Takeaway: Articulate common promotion failure modes, and how to think about growth to the Staff level.

Deconstruct the Staff Engineer role

What got you here won't get you there: the skills that got you to Senior Engineer won't get you to Staff Engineer. A Staff Engineer is a leadership position within the company. That means you need to identify problems and advocate for a direction. Takeaway: Get rid of the naive senior engineer mindsets holding you back.

Core mindset shifts for Staff Engineers

Staff Engineers represent engineering leadership at the company, and will often have an associated brand: <ul><li>Generalist </li><li>Specialist</li><li>Coding Machine </li><li>Tech Lead</li><li>Fixer </li><li>Product Hybrid. </li></ul> We'll apply the Talk &amp; Observe framework to learn from Staff Engineers and spark ideas. Takeaway: Describe major pain points and blind spots for your organization.

What type of Staff Engineer are you?

Hear from seasoned engineering leaders revealing what happens during performance reviews. They'll share common reasons that engineers fall short in the promotion to Staff Engineer. Takeaway: Understand what actually matters in calibration, and how that should change your work prioritization.

Behind the scenes of calibration during performance review

Course syllabus (starts Jan 22)

"I landed a promotion in just 7 months." — What students are saying

Meet your instructor

We'll have lectures, discussions, and guest speakers for the 2 core days of the class. This time will be high-density and filled with active learning.

Saturday and Sunday

After each live session concludes, Rahul will stay with the class for an additional 30 minutes to answer any and all questions.

Bonus Office Hours

Unlock recorded stories from other engineers who landed the promotion to Staff Engineer, with tactical advice from their journey. Accessible via your Taro membership.

Curated Case Studies

All students will get a free year of Taro Premium membership. Use this to access masterclasses, vetted discussions with other engineers, local meetups, and job-searching workshops.

Taro Premium Membership

Course schedule

This course focuses on live workshops, AMAs with industry leaders who have been in your shoes, and applied exercises so you leave with new friends and a working system.

Active hands-on learning

Can't make a class? They're all recorded and available. Need help cracking a problem? Hop into our exclusive Taro forum and get help from me and the broader community.

Insights when you need them

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Course completed by

About this course

Get notified about the next cohort

Learn from live sessions