Category Archives: Software

Posts about programming, computers, and my work at tech companies.

The Four Multipliers that Secretly Influence Your Salary (and Society)

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Sheldon "Don" Sandbekkhaug

Last year, Sundar Pichai earned 226 million dollars, which is 800 times more than the median salary of an Alphabet employee. You might ask, “How can Sundar Pichai do as much work as 800 people?” – obviously, he doesn’t. There … Continue reading →

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Get the top rating in your next performance review with this one weird trick

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Sheldon "Don" Sandbekkhaug

Google changed its performance review system, and chaos was everywhere. The new system was called GRAD (Googler Reviews and Development), and after it was announced, there was a boatload of questions. ICs asked their managers, managers asked their directors, directors … Continue reading →

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How to NOT worry about layoffs

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Sheldon "Don" Sandbekkhaug

Recently, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees. Facebook lost 11,000. Not to be outdone, Google reduced its workforce by 12,000. Overall, in the first two months of 2023, over 120,000 tech employees were laid off, including every sector and every size … Continue reading →

Posted in Psychology, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

100 Things I’ve Learned as a Software Engineer at Google

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Sheldon "Don" Sandbekkhaug

It’s amazing to look back over the past seven years. When I first stared this blog, I was a CS student at UT. 99 blog posts later, I’m a software engineer and tech lead at Google. I don’t have everything … Continue reading →

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The One Thing You Need to Understand Before You Write a Resume

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Sheldon "Don" Sandbekkhaug

Recruiters are busy. With thousands of engineers being laid off from Twitter, Amazon, and Meta, recruiters have boatloads of candidates to choose from. It’s normal for over 200 people to apply for each software development position. A recruiter has the … Continue reading →

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