thank you as always Bull, forever indebted to you for changing my life
always open to feedback and questions, let me know if I am incorrect or something could be improved
(btw I'm banned on twitter til Friday for telling someone with addiction to try fasting lmao so I will be camping out here in substack comments until then)
Extremely detailed. Thanks for the rundown. I have two questions:
1) I've been learning Javascript (later React and Node) since January in order to make a transition to tech. Problem solving in any language will transfer to another language. But can JS be used to get the tech jobs you mentioned or those jobs reserved more for Python, Java and C?
2) What year did you start applying Bull's teachings?
1. The companies are language-agnostic because it expands their pool of potential candidates
Think of it this way: let's say I wanted to hire Javascript developers. I require the interview to be in Javascript. Now, there are millions of intelligent engineers who I am excluding because I only care about Javascript, which is one of the least valuable aspects of being an engineer
Why do I care about intelligent engineers? Because programming is more about problem-solving and designing systems than the actual "language." Skilled engineers can learn languages easily
Think of it this way: there isn't much of a difference between Python `x = 5` versus Javascript `var x = 5`
What's more important is knowing *how* and *when* to use `x`. This is why I keep telling people to stop getting hung up on the language and learn how to actually BUILD stuff. Because if you know how to BUILD, you can have chatGPT or Google address syntax issues. What's more important is knowing *what* to ask
If I know how to solve the problem, I can prompt/Google my way to the solution
Let me give an example. Suppose I'm trying to make an application that requires the local weather information:
An experienced engineer understands: okay, I will need to send and receive data using a weather API. I'll need to look at the API documentation and figure out how to authenticate using API keys. I may implement caching to save API responses temporarily to reduce the number of API calls. I'll need to test and optimize the API usage to stay within rate limits and reduce costs. I also want to double-check compliance and legal to make sure I'm abiding by their terms of service regarding data usage, sharing, and privacy policies
At any point, I can just Google "how to make API call in Python" or "How to make API call in Javascript." So the language doesn't matter, ESPECIALLY now with AI tools. What's more valuable is that I broke down the problem into a step-by-step solution
Contrast this with a beginner, who would get stuck in the beginning. "A weather app? I don't know. Maybe I can ask the user to input their city, then scrape a weather website?"
Do you think greater knowledge of a particular programming language such as Javascript would have helped the beginner? No. This is why I insist that people learn how to BUILD, not get hung up on the specific programming language. And this is why big tech interviewers don't care about whether you use Python or Javascript to solve the problem
2. I've been reading him for the last decade. The first and best decision I ever made based on his teachings was when I asked for advice to recruit into investment banking in one of his old articles. I told him I was a student and gave him my scores
He told me I was ridiculous for considering banking with my scores and should go into tech instead. I didn't think I could do it because I'm not an engineering autist
But I blindly followed his advice because I was young, and I didn't know what I didn't know. His prediction accuracy had been spot-on, so I trusted his advice more than myself. My reasoning was: if I wasn't successful yet, I'm better off oursourcing my brain to someone more intelligent than me
I was afraid, but I dove into tech anyway. That's when I realized it was more important to learn how to *build.* You don't need to be an engineering autist. The engineering autists have made libraries for us to piece together to build our applications
This is why so many more students are pursuing computer science degrees now. Old-school programmers made it seem like you had to have 150 IQ to even touch a programming language, but that myth is being dispelled
Am I worried about the increasing competition? No. Because they don't read. And they don't build. They are more worried about programming languages instead of complex systems. They get stuck and sit there. I continue to experiment, use the latest tools, and read from the greatest authors. And I think, a lot
Here's an example. Bull showed me that it's possible to sell myself, which I was extremely hesitant about doing. Essentially, the first time he asked me to write a guide, I wrote a handful of useless paragraphs because I made too many assumptions. I thought the reader could "figure it out" like I did using Google
He told me it was rubbish, and I was so embarassed that I wrote far more detail (like I did here). Didn't want to disappoint twice in a row, especially to someone I hold in such high regard. Thank God he had the patience to give me another shot instead of writing me off–a quality that I greatly appreciate
I thought about that interaction for a long time. I realized that my writing is the only way the reader can evaluate my competence, especially when anonymous. They can't see your university, your company, or your other credentials. This realization made a huge difference in how I approach what I say. And I opened up far more opportunities because I began explaining myself in greater detail
This is one example of the many lessons you can glean from Bull's writings if you pay *very* close attention to why he says certain things. It took me a long time to understand his lessons, but constant exposure will help you make a map and recognize the patterns
How many people sit there and dissect feedback for weeks? Months? Years? Very few.
Therefore: there is no competition
Make your map, experiment, do volume, and it'll be a question of "when," not "if"
hey fox ! Apologies if this was covered in your article, but does your advice also apply to IT roles, such as AWS contract jobs or DevOps, since I'm in the UK where software jobs are extremely underpaid compare to US jobs ? currently going through the MIT recommendation videos and plan to finish them before continuing with the article. Additionally, how does one secure these positions without experience? As you mentioned, it seems there's no point in strictly adhering to the "rules" anymore. Thanks!
It's all the same. You need to show that you have the requisite skills in order to provide value to the company. I would use the hybrid strategy outlined in the article. slyapply.com also works for contract roles. I can hope on a call with you to go over details and get you a discount to slyapply if you join the mentorship skool.com/bowtiedfox
Great post, very informative and kinda got me feeling FOMO. I sold a first biz for around 100k total, have most of that still but no current income. I'm considering getting into tech and am 27 - is it too late to do so or should I focus on a new biz?
Interesting I didn’t even know that was an option. How would you put that on your CV? Your were CEO or what? I am U.K. based I’m not sure if that changes the answer
As a Senior Software Engineer at a VC-funded startup, this is an excellent post. I can't evaluate the sales aspects, but the engineering part was spot on.
Hey, I am Dev manager (50%)/PO (50%). I was mostly on database side (oracle). I am looking to make a transition may be to data engineer side of stuff. What would you advise for late 30s for making that transition? Asking because I am kind of lost where to transition while also build side income.
Hey Fox. Thanks for your thorough and insightful article. Do you have any recommendations on how to quickly determine if this is a direction a professional from a completely different and specialized sector should pursue? I am naturally a systems thinker as well as a creative problem solver with 5, maybe even all 6 of the traits under your section regarding algorithm interviews being an IQ test. Any insight is appreciated.
thank you as always Bull, forever indebted to you for changing my life
always open to feedback and questions, let me know if I am incorrect or something could be improved
(btw I'm banned on twitter til Friday for telling someone with addiction to try fasting lmao so I will be camping out here in substack comments until then)
Extremely detailed. Thanks for the rundown. I have two questions:
1) I've been learning Javascript (later React and Node) since January in order to make a transition to tech. Problem solving in any language will transfer to another language. But can JS be used to get the tech jobs you mentioned or those jobs reserved more for Python, Java and C?
2) What year did you start applying Bull's teachings?
1. The companies are language-agnostic because it expands their pool of potential candidates
Think of it this way: let's say I wanted to hire Javascript developers. I require the interview to be in Javascript. Now, there are millions of intelligent engineers who I am excluding because I only care about Javascript, which is one of the least valuable aspects of being an engineer
Why do I care about intelligent engineers? Because programming is more about problem-solving and designing systems than the actual "language." Skilled engineers can learn languages easily
Think of it this way: there isn't much of a difference between Python `x = 5` versus Javascript `var x = 5`
What's more important is knowing *how* and *when* to use `x`. This is why I keep telling people to stop getting hung up on the language and learn how to actually BUILD stuff. Because if you know how to BUILD, you can have chatGPT or Google address syntax issues. What's more important is knowing *what* to ask
If I know how to solve the problem, I can prompt/Google my way to the solution
Let me give an example. Suppose I'm trying to make an application that requires the local weather information:
An experienced engineer understands: okay, I will need to send and receive data using a weather API. I'll need to look at the API documentation and figure out how to authenticate using API keys. I may implement caching to save API responses temporarily to reduce the number of API calls. I'll need to test and optimize the API usage to stay within rate limits and reduce costs. I also want to double-check compliance and legal to make sure I'm abiding by their terms of service regarding data usage, sharing, and privacy policies
At any point, I can just Google "how to make API call in Python" or "How to make API call in Javascript." So the language doesn't matter, ESPECIALLY now with AI tools. What's more valuable is that I broke down the problem into a step-by-step solution
Contrast this with a beginner, who would get stuck in the beginning. "A weather app? I don't know. Maybe I can ask the user to input their city, then scrape a weather website?"
Do you think greater knowledge of a particular programming language such as Javascript would have helped the beginner? No. This is why I insist that people learn how to BUILD, not get hung up on the specific programming language. And this is why big tech interviewers don't care about whether you use Python or Javascript to solve the problem
https://twitter.com/BowTiedFox/status/1769059244337181155
2. I've been reading him for the last decade. The first and best decision I ever made based on his teachings was when I asked for advice to recruit into investment banking in one of his old articles. I told him I was a student and gave him my scores
He told me I was ridiculous for considering banking with my scores and should go into tech instead. I didn't think I could do it because I'm not an engineering autist
But I blindly followed his advice because I was young, and I didn't know what I didn't know. His prediction accuracy had been spot-on, so I trusted his advice more than myself. My reasoning was: if I wasn't successful yet, I'm better off oursourcing my brain to someone more intelligent than me
I was afraid, but I dove into tech anyway. That's when I realized it was more important to learn how to *build.* You don't need to be an engineering autist. The engineering autists have made libraries for us to piece together to build our applications
This is why so many more students are pursuing computer science degrees now. Old-school programmers made it seem like you had to have 150 IQ to even touch a programming language, but that myth is being dispelled
Am I worried about the increasing competition? No. Because they don't read. And they don't build. They are more worried about programming languages instead of complex systems. They get stuck and sit there. I continue to experiment, use the latest tools, and read from the greatest authors. And I think, a lot
Here's an example. Bull showed me that it's possible to sell myself, which I was extremely hesitant about doing. Essentially, the first time he asked me to write a guide, I wrote a handful of useless paragraphs because I made too many assumptions. I thought the reader could "figure it out" like I did using Google
He told me it was rubbish, and I was so embarassed that I wrote far more detail (like I did here). Didn't want to disappoint twice in a row, especially to someone I hold in such high regard. Thank God he had the patience to give me another shot instead of writing me off–a quality that I greatly appreciate
I thought about that interaction for a long time. I realized that my writing is the only way the reader can evaluate my competence, especially when anonymous. They can't see your university, your company, or your other credentials. This realization made a huge difference in how I approach what I say. And I opened up far more opportunities because I began explaining myself in greater detail
This is one example of the many lessons you can glean from Bull's writings if you pay *very* close attention to why he says certain things. It took me a long time to understand his lessons, but constant exposure will help you make a map and recognize the patterns
How many people sit there and dissect feedback for weeks? Months? Years? Very few.
Therefore: there is no competition
Make your map, experiment, do volume, and it'll be a question of "when," not "if"
Cheers
hey fox ! Apologies if this was covered in your article, but does your advice also apply to IT roles, such as AWS contract jobs or DevOps, since I'm in the UK where software jobs are extremely underpaid compare to US jobs ? currently going through the MIT recommendation videos and plan to finish them before continuing with the article. Additionally, how does one secure these positions without experience? As you mentioned, it seems there's no point in strictly adhering to the "rules" anymore. Thanks!
It's all the same. You need to show that you have the requisite skills in order to provide value to the company. I would use the hybrid strategy outlined in the article. slyapply.com also works for contract roles. I can hope on a call with you to go over details and get you a discount to slyapply if you join the mentorship skool.com/bowtiedfox
I've hired a few data scientists at our quant shop.
this is pretty bang on, and works great for data engineers & Machine Learning Engineers too
What the hell, is this free? STEM graduate turned (research) software engineer here, this is good advice.
Great post, very informative and kinda got me feeling FOMO. I sold a first biz for around 100k total, have most of that still but no current income. I'm considering getting into tech and am 27 - is it too late to do so or should I focus on a new biz?
Apply for leadership roles at a startup. You have an exit under your belt, you don’t need to say how much it was for. Every startup wants to exit
Interesting I didn’t even know that was an option. How would you put that on your CV? Your were CEO or what? I am U.K. based I’m not sure if that changes the answer
What’s your Twitter? I’ll DM you
thanks man @itsyaboylofti
Awesome post. Interviewing for SaaS sales jobs now. Going to use a lot of this.
Thanks, excellent write-up. Will check out your mentorship group
- FAANG alumnus / staff eng
Amazing!!!!
As a Senior Software Engineer at a VC-funded startup, this is an excellent post. I can't evaluate the sales aspects, but the engineering part was spot on.
Hey, I am Dev manager (50%)/PO (50%). I was mostly on database side (oracle). I am looking to make a transition may be to data engineer side of stuff. What would you advise for late 30s for making that transition? Asking because I am kind of lost where to transition while also build side income.
I'd follow this guy he's very good https://blog.dataengineer.io/p/how-to-learn-data-engineering-more
Hey Fox. Thanks for your thorough and insightful article. Do you have any recommendations on how to quickly determine if this is a direction a professional from a completely different and specialized sector should pursue? I am naturally a systems thinker as well as a creative problem solver with 5, maybe even all 6 of the traits under your section regarding algorithm interviews being an IQ test. Any insight is appreciated.