Engineering Management: Interviews & Hiring ft. Google Engineering Director

We sit down with Dave Rensin, former Google Engineering Director and Pendo VP of Engineering to ask him how he thinks about hiring engineering managers and what makes a great engineering manager.

Chapters -
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:43 Difference between a great engineering manager and a good or a bad engineering manager?
00:02:36 How do you assess and identify great engineering manager?
00:04:27 Favorite question you like asking engineering management candidates?
00:06:46 How do you cultivate the culture of growth and learning?
00:08:18 Other criteria you're thinking about when evaluating an engineering manager?
00:09:58 How do you talk about your biggest failure?
00:11:16 What are the important frameworks that engineering manager should know about?
00:12:49 Engineering managers most important qualities?
00:16:48 Tips for people in the midst of an engineering management interview?
00:17:31 Tips for people who are considering transitioning to engineering management?

ABOUT US:
Did you enjoy this interview question and answer? Want to land your dream career? Exponent is an online community, course, and coaching platform to help you ace your upcoming interview. Exponent has helped people land their dream careers at companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and high-growth startups. Exponent is currently licensed by Stanford, Yale, UW, and others.

Our courses include interview lessons, questions, and complete answers with video walkthroughs. Access hours of real interview videos, where we analyze what went right or wrong, and our 1000+ community of expert coaches and industry professionals, to help you get your dream job and more!

#engineeringmanagement #google #tech #eminterview #entrepreneurship #director #software #exponent

[razvanalinbalan]

That's the composure of a man who knows that he knows how to do his job. Thank you from a fresh EM!

[mrace]

every single word that comes out his mouth is pure gold honestly.

It seems to boil down to be HONEST, conscientious, & intelligent

[dlodeprojuicer]

Please do more content with Dave. Theres so much more we can learn from him.

[rajeevrp]

So much clarity on his thoughts. This was a really good conversation.

[davidv]

Great interview. This was very helpful. I love it when people can be crisp and on-point about sharing real-world knowledge. Thank you for taking the time to do this!

[hassansyed]

Dave seems very grounded in his ideologies behind what a good manager is and we all can take a page from his book.
What raised my eyebrows was when he said "the sin isn't the failure, it's failing to notice the failure"
Awareness is key when you're managing people whose happiness stems from you.
If someone has a shitty manager who power trips constantly, you'll know about it because that's all they'll talk about.

[eliegakuba]

I enjoyed listening to Dave so much that I hoped the interview would last longer. He has such clear and calm thoughts that make you trust his words. I am currently exploring my career options as I feel I have reached the top of my role as a technical lead in MLE. The engineering manager position aligns with my vision. I appreciate Dave for sharing his wisdom with us.

[ishan]

This is one of the best interviews I've heard in sometime, anywhere actually.

[dikan]

Dave thank you for sharing, it's excellent to see seniors likes you come and share .

[gameplayer]

That advice on "raising your hand first" when you're wrong is critical. Directs follow your example as well. You want people to take credit for their contributions but also take blame for the incorrect decisions they make.

[kalmurza]

Bookmarked. One of the best videos on engineering management out of hundreds of them on YouTube

[careya]

I’m surprised he didn’t focus more on quality. As a software development manager, my focus was always on trying to level up the skills of the team and the overall quality of the software. Also, meeting deadlines is incredibly important.

[yossarian]

Wow this guy is like a Zen.. on top of his game... learnt a lot from this video.. not just for my upcoming interview, but also things to apply in my career

[IvayloKabakov]

Gees, this conversation was great!
I love this guy! Zero noise, pure signal.
Just brilliant!

[abhilashb]

This is Brilliant . So much learning
And the best part is he is so much honest and expects completes honesty

[anniephan]

I'm watching this right now thinking about which direction I want to grow my career. My is heart beating so fast hearing some of these points because I resonate with them on a personal level as I'm pausing to reflect on the past years of my career. Thank you so much for sharing your invaluable thoughts.

[innovation-in-motion]

The guest is an amazing professional! Loved his thought process.

Would have been better if there was more follow-up conversations on the points Dave mentioned.

Thanks Exponent for introducing us with the amazing person.

[chja]

Very interesting!

Strongly agree on avoiding pure management roles in tech - it's just a lot easier to earn the trust and respect of your team if you've got the ability to assess their work directly. As I transitioned more into a management role, I very consciously made sure to keep coding, just to make sure I wasn't growing out of touch.

Slightly disagree with the antipathy towards meetings - I agree that unnecessary meetings are the bane of good time management, but I would say there's a time and place for short meetings as a way to just facilitate communication. Certain people just need that kind of dedicated timeslot to open up a conversation, where they know they can talk without bothering someone. It's your challenge to keep these only as long as they need to be - if all you need is 5 minutes, don't pad it to fit the 30 minute timeslot. Keep them short, sweet and to the point.

[himanshubizdev]

I must say - Dave is One of the best Manager! Hope other folks get inspired by him too!

[ThRealJC]

Communication, communication is highly important, totally agree.