Day: October 31, 2023

After conducting interviews with hundreds of engineers and engineering managers at Meta, Twitter, and other companies, I noticed common patterns in how candidates approached answering behavioral interview questions. While many candidates performed well on technical dimensions, they often struggled to articulate their work, accomplishments, and challenges in an interview setting, which led to rejections.

This article covers pointers on how to effectively use the widely known STAR format to answer behavioral questions. It addresses common pitfalls and provides illustrative examples to help candidates understand how to use the STAR format to communicate clearly and stand out. This is the framework that has helped me successfully clear Engineering leadership interviews at Databricks, Twitter, Airbnb, Plaid, Notion, Uber, and other companies.

Businesses often struggle to ensure smooth database connections during scaling and upgrades. Frustrations can surface from underused instances after scaling out, disruptions when scaling in, and potential disconnections during upgrades.

While connection pools and long-lived connections offer stability, they can cause issues in fluid environments where databases need to adapt quickly. This leads to increased overhead, wasted resources, and dissatisfied customers.

In our rapidly evolving digital age where technology underpins almost every facet of our lives, cybersecurity has never been more critical. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected with personal devices and social networks to critical infrastructure and global business operations, the digital landscape has expanded and diversified, presenting new opportunities and unknown threats, bringing cybersecurity to the forefront of the global stage. Today, data is the lifeblood of our modern society, and it flows ceaselessly through the veins of the digital realm. It's the engine that powers our businesses, our governments, and our personal lives. We entrust it with our most sensitive information, from financial records to healthcare data and private conversations. 

The interconnected world has created unparalleled convenience but has also introduced unprecedented risk. The digital realm has become a battleground where malicious actors, from cyber criminals to nation-states, continually seek to exploit vulnerabilities, steal sensitive information, disrupt critical services, and sow chaos. The consequences of a cybersecurity breach are far-reaching and can include financial loss, reputation damage, and even threats to national security. Cyber threats’ sheer volume and sophistication continue to increase daily, necessitating a proactive and comprehensive approach to safety. "Zero Trust Security" has become an effective strategy to safeguard our interconnected world. 

The rapidly evolving world of technology demands constant creativity, innovation, and adaptation from professionals in the field. At Oktane 2023, Okta's user conference, world-renowned chef and humanitarian Jose Andres delivered an inspirational keynote speech highlighting valuable lessons for developers, engineers, and architects on driving innovation in their work.

Andres is an award-winning chef and restaurateur known for his creative cuisine and trailblazing restaurants. But beyond his culinary fame, Andres is also a prominent humanitarian and founder of the non-profit World Central Kitchen, which provides nourishing meals to communities in need after disasters around the world.