Gupta said developing her soft skills in communication helped her move up the ranks at Meta.Courtesy of Parul Gupta.
Parul Gupta has been promoted twice at Meta since she joined the company in 2021.
Her formula for success has three components: The cake, the icing, and the cherry on top.
She said technically competent engineers may struggle to get promoted if they lack a personal brand.
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 30-year-old Parul Gupta, a production engineer at Meta from California. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When I started a full-time job at Meta in February 2021, I struggled with imposter syndrome.
I faced similar struggles while I was studying in India. I did my bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore, where there weren’t many other girls — I wondered if being an engineer was the right path for me.
At Meta, where I was hired as a production engineer at an “Individual contributor 3″ level after doing a summer internship, I was surrounded by really brilliant people, and I once again questioned whether I was the right fit.
My worries affected my performance, and I wasn’t delivering to my full potential. It took me some time to overcome those concerns and turn things around, but I managed to break out of my shell and get two promotions at Meta in late 2021 and 2022.
I’m now an IC5 engineer, and my responsibilities have changed significantly. IC3 engineers mostly focus on learning how the company works and how to deliver code, and IC4 engineers work on small projects. An IC5 is a more senior engineer who collaborates with other people to think about bigger projects and a vision for their area of work.
My promotions have come with a big pay bump, from less than $200,000 to more than $500,000 in total compensation a year.
Here’s how I built up my confidence and achieved these promotions. My formula for success involves three components: the cake, the icing, and the cherry on top.
When I joined Meta, I had a lot of male colleagues. Everyone was really nice, but I struggled to open up and didn’t connect with the topics they discussed at happy hour.
Because I felt I wasn’t fitting in, I wasn’t performing to my full potential. I was used to being an overachiever, but now I found myself being extra cautious and slow with coding tasks because I was scared to fail.
My manager suggested I find a female mentor, and we worked together to help me find one. I liked the idea of having a female role model I could relate to better and look up to.
I started with one mentor and then built a network of them. They helped change the way I thought by encouraging me and my abilities. I was able to share problems I was having at work and get their perspective, which really helped.
I got promoted for the first time at the end of 2021 to IC4. This was after I’d decided to take ownership of a project when the previous lead went on paternity leave. I was initially intimidated about this new project, but my mentor helped me strategize on how to make a start.
By my second promotion in 2022, I think I was continually exhibiting leadership skills and technical excellence. As I grew to new levels, I also built a network of mentees, creating a human chain. Some people were pulling me up, and I was pulling others up.
My formula for performing well and getting promoted can be described as a cake.
Your technical skills are the cake itself, your soft skills and influence among colleagues are the icing, and your external contributions to the industry are the cherry on top.
Soft skills can enhance your résumé, but being technically strong as an engineer is essential.
In the run-up to my second promotion, I had to deepen my technical knowledge. My advice is to brainstorm with other engineers to learn on the job. I also often review my old code to see if I can improve it. If I know how to write it better, then I know my skills have improved.
I recommend reading technical books and supplementing them with podcasts. Books are good for learning more foundational topics, but they become outdated quickly. Podcasts keep me up-to-date with the latest developments in my industry.
I also worked on the soft skills of establishing relationships and communicating across teams. I had to improve how I communicated with people in less technical roles. I was often going too deep into technical language, and the other person would be lost. I think that learning to work well with our legal and security teams on a project helped contribute to my second promotion.
To build my network and give back to the industry, I’ve spoken at conferences, judged hackathons, and attended meet-ups.
In the past, I have mentioned these external contributions in my performance reviews, but I don’t know if they’ve influenced my promotions, and I see them as a cherry on top. It’s going the extra mile that others may not have done. If you don’t have the cake there, a fancy cherry won’t help.
I’ve seen a lot of technically competent people struggle to get promoted in tech.
I think the reason is that they haven’t invested in having a personal brand or influence. It’s a soft skill that’s really important to have. As you move to more senior positions, you’re expected to lead a team and influence others. You can’t just work in isolation.
One piece of advice I have for influencing people is this: People will remember small things that you do. Even as a senior engineer, I’ve made very small bug fixes and helped junior engineers with their projects.
Small acts of kindness go a long way. People remember if you help them, and are more willing to pitch in when you have a problem. This shows that you’re influencing people and are known in your company. Having a strong personal brand means that when a promotion committee is reviewing your work, managers can say they know of you, have seen your work, or have heard you talk about your vision.
It helps you stand out from the crowd.
Do you have a story to share about getting promoted in Big Tech? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com
