How to set yourself apart in big tech

Learn a principled approach to grow within a big tech (FAANG) company

When I joined Meta (Facebook), I was overjoyed. I’d been given the opportunity to work at a top technology company in the world, surrounded by incredibly talented colleagues and excited to tackle thorny problems. Soon, I found myself struggling to figure out how to excel at a big tech company like Facebook. In an environment where everyone seemed brilliant, how was I going to stack up against the competition? Would I be able to thrive and grow or crash and burn? How was I going to get over my imposter syndrome or my fear of underperforming?

Over the past five year at Meta, I’ve uncovered some of what it takes to grow in big tech. The most important thing to focus on to stand out and get ahead? Develop as a T-shaped person in your particular role.

T-shaped person — a multidisciplinary employee

In David Guest’s 1991 article in The Independent, “The Hunt is on for the Renaissance Man of Computing,” Guest coined the term “T-shaped People,” describing individuals who have both a breadth and depth of expertise. The vertical bar of the “T” designates proficiency in a single area or topic, while the horizontal bar of the “T” designates a basic set of knowledge and comfort across a wide range of topics. For example, an ideal engineering manager is “equally comfortable with information systems, modern management techniques, and the 12-tone scale.”

The term T-shaped person was later popularized by IDEO’s CEO Tim Brown, who aimed to assemble diverse and collaborative teams for project work. In an interview with Chief Executive Magazine, Brown explains that breadth of expertise matters so much for two key reasons:

• Empathy. It’s important because it allows people to imagine the problem from another perspective — to stand in somebody else’s shoes.

• Enthusiasm. [T-shaped people] tend to get very enthusiastic about other people’s disciplines, to the point that they may actually start to practice them.

McKinsey & Company has also written extensively about this concept:

How to become T-shaped

While traditional degree programs¹ build I-shaped people who have deep expertise in one area or skill, you can become more T-shaped without going back to school or changing industries.

Breadth

Starting with breadth, it’s important to learn across a wide range of technical and soft skills, as appropriate for your particular role. Two ways to get started:

• Embracing curiosity. Expand the types of projects you work on, in and out of work, to grow a breadth of experiences. Consider what skills you’re already strong at and find related areas to expand into. For example, if you’re really good at user experience design, you might consider expanding your skills into human-interaction design or architecture. Consider meeting collaborators and friends in other disciplines to expand your worldview.

• Honing your soft skills. In order to collaborate effectively in big tech, it’s crucial to hone your communication skills in writing and presenting, especially without using jargon. Instead of explaining the technical approaches and nuances of your solution, explain why your solution is so helpful to solve a product or business problem.

Depth

Depth in expertise allows you to build credibility and expertise in a particular area, allowing you to stand out and advance within the tech industry. Develop depth in skills by:

• Expanding beyond your current industry. Take the skills you’re already good at and apply it in another domain to build a depth of experience. For example, a data scientist might try doing pro-bono work to support the data needs of non-profits. A project manager might create a systematic project tracker when wedding planning.

• Developing prototypes. To make an impact in big tech, you must produce tangible work and influence outcomes — whether it’s code, a user interface mockup, or a dashboard. To hone your craft and improve your speed of delivery, focus on building out your ideas. This is often encouraged in companies through hackathons, which allows you to focus dedicated time on a new problem space and build a working demo.

• Crafting a portfolio. After building out several end-to-end projects, collate these experiences into a portfolio of your best work. When interviewing, build credibility by sharing examples of high-quality work products and explaining your thought and build process. Furthermore, you can lean on your past experiences, in and out of your current role, to ground future decision-making in your current role.

• Refreshing your expertise. The technology industry is constantly changing. Stay on top of industry changes by reading top sites, journals, and writers in your field. When a new technology becomes popular, focus on upskilling to have fluency in the new technology, even if it doesn’t seem immediately useful.

A grounding example in data science

In last week’s article, I wrote about the 8 key skills to break into data roles in tech, from technical skills like causal inference to soft skills like data storytelling.²

To go from a junior to a senior data scientist, you need to have a breadth of expertise across most (if not all) of the 8 skills, and then depth within one or two skills.

To guide career conversations at Meta (Facebook), managers often use the framework of “archetypes,” or blueprints to help employees envision how to evolve in their careers and what skills to focus on building. Three classic archetypes include:

1. Generalist — Possesses a wide range of skills to address several types of analytical problems, adapting skills and focus as necessary.

2. Domain Specialist — Excels in a particular product or business area (e.g., sales, ads, video, risk, auctions), often obtained through years of dedicated learning and shaped expertise.

3. Technical Guru — Leads with deep technical knowledge (e.g., statistics, predictive modeling, machine learning) and develops cutting-edge methods to address complex product or business problems.

Each of these archetypes have an associated skill map, often in the shape of a T.

Example: A Measurement Technical Guru can develop expertise in new measurement methodologies and tools as well as evangelize these throughout the company. This implies strong expertise in causal inference and basic to mid fluency in other core data science skills, as shown below:

Step-by-step framework

The same type of approach can be applied across all types of roles in big tech. To create your own skill map:

1. Identify the key skills needed to excel in your role. Leverage job postings in your company or similar competitor companies as a guide.

2. Assess your level of fluency in each identified skill from basic to strong fluency.

3. Identify the skills that bring you joy and energy at work. Just because you’re good at a particular skill doesn’t mean you enjoy it.

4. Focus on depth. Focus on going deep in 1-2 skills, especially focusing on the skills identified in (3) that bring you joy rather than focusing on skills that drain your energy.

5. Focus on breadth. Expand your skillset and perspective across a breadth of topics.

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The T-shaped framework is extensible to so many tech roles within the industry. As you think about how to grow your own career in big tech, applying a T-shape framework can help you stand out among peers, both harnessing your strengths and allowing you to bridge across many disciplines.

1. This is why I emphasize honing your writing and speaking skills in school to stand out in a technical industry like data science:

2.