SWE Accelerator Podcast
Aman Manazir is a software engineer who's worked at companies like Amazon and Shopify. In the Software Engineering Accelerator Podcast, he interviews successful engineers to break down strategies and tools they used to land their dream jobs. In addition, Aman focuses on helping listeners improve their lives through topics in entrepreneurship, self-improvement, and technology.
ex-Google Engineer: I Changed Careers 3 Times. How I Got Hired in 90 Days Each!
Emily Chen went from failing her first coding competition to Google, Wall Street and Director of Product at Bilt. Here's how she broke into each field with zero experience.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=EmilyExGoogle&video=21jICVa-f5k
🚀 Get my free Software Engineering Crash Course – https://www.amanmanazir.com/7dayengineer
🎧 Listen to all episodes of the Software Engineering Accelerator Podcast on YouTube: yout...
Quant Data Scientist: The Brutal Reality of Quant! (in 2026)
He passed every Google interview round, then got the call. Years later, a secretive quant firm was paying him to do nothing.
Mustafa breaks down quant non-competes, what quant really pays, and how to break in today.
Computer science students, new graduates, and software engineers...want to make $500k+/yr in quant at Citadel, Two Sigma, or Hudson River Trading? Click here 👉 https://www.sweaccelerator.com/quant?video=77m6FzEGIog&utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=Mustafa_Quant
Complete the free 60-second profile here 👉 https://www.sweaccelerator.com/quant?video=77m6FzEGIog...
ex-Jane Street Quant: The Simple Formula to Make $800,000/Year at 22!
Lihong went from pre-law kid to Jane Street intern, IMC trader, and founder of Freeport Markets.
He breaks down how he prepped for quant interviews, handled competing offers, and why he left a $350K+ role to build in AI. Plus why Jane Street is seen as the top firm in quant, and why so many quants are leaving for AI labs.
Computer science students, new graduates, and software engineers...want to make $500k+/yr in quant at Citadel, Two Sigma, or Hudson River Trading? Click here 👉 https://www.sweaccelerator.com/quant?video=qEp6mwNw68g&utm_sour...
ex-HRT Quant: Why 99% of People Fail in Quant
Ex-HRT quant Olivia breaks down why most people never crack quant trading, the resume bar candidates miss, and why smart isn't enough.
From a perfect AMC 8 score to a $400K offer at 22 to getting fired within a year, she gives the real, unfiltered picture of what it takes and why even she couldn't sustain it long-term.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=Olivia_Ex-quant&video=cmnXNkby2SE
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How This 23-Year-Old Actress Makes $200,000/yr (With No CS Experience)
She wanted to be an actress, now she's a software engineer at Meta making $200K/yr at 23 years old, with zero CS experience.
Marilyn joins Aman to unpack her rejection, the layoffs she survived, and why she chose stability over passion. A raw, practical look at building a career in big tech.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=Marilyn_Actress&video=nO5Yzt3rLYM
🚀 Get my free Sof...
GitHub Senior Engineer: Software Engineering Is Broken! Here's What's Next
Zen spent 4 years inside GitHub watching the AI revolution unfold and what he saw made him walk away from the best job he'd ever had.
He breaks down why software engineering is broken, what AI is doing to hiring, and exactly how to break into AI engineering in 2026.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=ZenGitHub&video=Gt2bKGJbd0U
🚀 Get my free Software Engineering Crash Course – https://www...
DoorDash Engineer: How I Went From 500+ Rejections to a $200K Offer
He sent 500 applications junior year and heard back from almost nobody. No internship. Just rejection while his friends posted Meta and Amazon offers on LinkedIn.
One year later: DoorDash, Apple, final rounds at Nvidia. $200K+ as a new grad. No big tech internship on his resume.
Pranav breaks down the exact system that flipped everything, the timing window most students miss, research maxing from scratch, and why he set a goal of 1,000 applications.
This is the blueprint.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream so...
TikTok AI Engineer: Anyone Can Break Into AI, But Most People Won’t!
Sourish walked away from a $250K TikTok ML job with no plan, self-studied AI, and landed at one of Silicon Valley's hottest AI labs.
Now he interviews candidates himself and he's exposing exactly what it takes to get in.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=SourishAI_TikTok&video=1kZDGkReE6w
🚀 Get my free Software Engineering Crash Course – https://www.amanmanazir.com/7dayengineer
🎧 Listen...
AI Interview Founder: Big Tech’s New Coding Interview Explained!
NeetCode just invested in the company trying to kill LeetCode.
Aman sits down with Rounds founder Fardeen Khimani to break down why tech hiring is broken, which companies are ditching LeetCode, what's replacing it, and what every engineer needs to do to get hired in 2026.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=RoundsLeetcode&video=Ld3vyudRY68
Stop sending hundreds of applications into the void. Take one free techni...
How This Ex-Google Engineer Made $1.2M & Quit in the Worst Market Ever
She made $1.2M at Google, then quit with 4 offers in the worst market ever.
Ex-Google Senior Engineer Maddy Zhang breaks down how she escaped golden handcuffs, landed offers at OpenAI, Meta and Databricks, and what every engineer needs to know about promotions, AI engineering and surviving the AI takeover of SWE.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=MaddyZhang_GoogleEngineer&video=7JwZHBfYFdk
🚀 Get my free Software Engineer...
#1 Tech Comedian Reacts To The Most Viral Engineering News
"Engineers are doing everything they can to look indispensable, because they're terrified." A Google senior engineer and top tech comedian breaks down what's really happening inside big tech right now. Nobody is saying this out loud.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=AlbertaComedian&video=YBmcGUJvXeo
🚀 Get my free Software Engineering Crash Course – https://www.amanmanazir.com/7dayengineer
🎧 Listen to all episodes of the Softwa...
The Girl Who Did Everything Wrong and Still Landed Big Tech
From a village in Pakistan to Microsoft engineer and chapter one of the LinkedIn CEO's book, Ume's path broke every rule.
She dropped her CS degree, scored a 12% on an exam, and still landed 7 internships without a single personal project. In this episode she and Aman break down toxic CS culture, why GPA doesn't matter, how LinkedIn got her a Cisco internship she never applied for, and why soft skills are now the only real edge you have in tech.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or...
#1 Tech Influencer Exposes the Brutal Truth About the 2026 Job Market
He got an Amazon internship before he even took data structures. Here's how.
Sajjaad Khader — Georgia Tech BS + MS by age 20, former Amazon and Splunk engineer, and the guy who interviewed Satya Nadella — breaks down exactly how to break into top tech in 2026. From freshman internships to LinkedIn referrals to the future of software engineering interviews, this one is packed.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campa...
Apple PM: The Secret Playbook to Get Hired in 2026!
Nina had an MIT CS degree, a growing online presence, and still called her job hunt the most stressful time of her life.
In this episode she breaks down consulting burnout, back to back rejections, and how she finally landed at Apple as a PM — plus exactly how a software engineer can make the same pivot.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=transistor&utm_medium=podcasts_description&utm_campaign=NinaAppleSWE&video=-BYuU6Q6hWc
The Quant Historian: Quant Is Dying! This Is What’s Next
Most people have never heard of him. But he's built something that trades 24/7, got backed by YC and PG Angel, and walked away from one of the most secretive industries on earth to do it.
Annanay pulls back the curtain on quant trading, the firms nobody talks about, why the golden era is ending, and exactly where the smartest people are moving next.
If you're building a career in tech — this is required listening.
Computer science students, new grads, and software engineers…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here...
Tesla AI Recruiter Exposes Why Most Engineers Will Fail the AI Pivot
Today I sit down with Ben Chen: a former Tesla AI recruiter who helped build the Optimus robotics team and has seen thousands of engineering applications from the inside.
We break down why the job market is cooked for some but wide open for others, how ATS systems actually work, the GPA scam no one talks about, and the exact psychological game most candidates don't know they're losing.
If you're a CS student or software engineer trying to land your dream job in 2026, this is a must-listen.
Computer science students, new grads, and...
AI Agents Expert: How Every Software Engineer Can Make $20k/Month Passively!
Today I sit down with Ritesh: a former Capital One engineer who made $180K from side hustles as a CS student—more than his six-figure salary.
We break down how he built profitable AI agents, landed a $15K client from one Reddit post, and the exact 30-day blueprint any CS student can follow. We also unpack his Reddit marketing system, the minimal-code tech stack he uses, why he quit after Amazon cut 30K jobs, and whether the AI agents space is a bubble.
If you're a software engineer or CS student looking to build recession-proof in...
Oracle Senior Software Engineer: The US Job Market is F*cked!
Today I sit down with Shreyas Kulkarni: a Senior Software Engineer at Oracle who came from India and turned his US Master's into a $10K profit instead of debt.
We break down how he paid just $12K total through TA hacks, his LinkedIn spam strategy for referrals, and the interview system that got him through 80-100+ interviews at Netflix, Meta, Amazon, and Google—including Meta's brand-new AI coding round. We also unpack the promotion framework that got him to $300-400K by 27, why layoffs are now algorithmic, and whether the US is still worth it for international st...
Meta Software Engineer: “Didn't Study CS, Still Made $500k/Year!”
Today I sit down with Ray: a former Meta software engineer who went from pre-med with a failing AP Comp Sci score to making $500K a year. We break down how he landed tech internships without a CS degree, used referrals to get offers from Google, Amazon, and Uber, and built an interview system after getting rejected by Microsoft.
We also unpack why you don't need full software skills to get hired at big tech, his LeetCode strategy, and why he walked away from $500K to pursue startups and content in his 20s.
If you're...
#15: Networking Expert: "F*ck College, Do Internships Instead!"
Today I sit down with Morgan: a networking strategist who landed six internships, saved over $100K before graduating, and built her entire college trajectory around efficiency, not prestige. We break down how she negotiated scholarships, used social platforms to create career leverage, and built visibility that led to competitive offers most students never access.
We also unpack why GPA matters far less than people think, how to network without being cringe, the exact playbook she used to stand out on LinkedIn, and why internships, not degrees, are the real accelerator for CS students.
If you’re...
#14: ex-Citadel Quant: The Exact Blueprint To Make $750,000/Year! (in 2026)
Today I sit down with Kevin Zhu — former Citadel quant and Palantir developer, to unpack how he built an unconventional, accelerated career in tech. We break down the systems he used to go from a struggling freshman to landing top-tier quant offers, what Citadel was actually like, why he walked away, and how he’s now pivoting toward meaningful AI research.
We also dive into whether CS is still worth it, the real math needed for quant roles, and how to build a career that’s both competitive and fulfilling. A must-listen for CS students, aspiring quants, and an...
#13: BCG Consultant: How Software Engineers Can Outsmart the Tech Recession
Today, I talk with Kelly — a former BCG Project Leader who worked at Goldman Sachs and BCG before walking away at 25 after managing teams most people don't lead until their mid-30s. We dive into the strategies that helped her break into elite consulting: from leveraging coffee chats to land accelerated offers, to the communication frameworks and interview techniques that separate candidates who get hired from those who don't. We also break down what management consulting actually is, how AI is reshaping the industry, what it's really like working 60+ hour weeks with hourly deadlines, and why software engineers should co...
#12: How She Got a Six-Figure LinkedIn Offer (When Everyone Else Was Rejected)
Today, I talk with Angel — a LinkedIn engineer who landed a $100K+ offer when almost everyone else was getting rejected. We dive into the five strategies that helped her stand out: from securing return offers and mastering brutal honesty, to building a powerful network and winning the mindset game. We also break down what separates candidates who actually get offers from those who don’t, the reality behind new grad deadlines, and how to market yourself like top engineers do. If you’re a CS student, new grad, or anyone aiming for a six-figure software engineering job in today’s compet...
#11: How This 24-Year-Old Made $900K+ in Quant (After Meta Layoff)
Meet Helen, a 24-year-old quant who’s earned over $900K and is here to reveal what life is really like inside the quant world. We dive into how she landed Meta as her first internship, exposed the company publicly, why she walked away from an S-tier job, and the exact systems that helped her build a seven-figure career. If you’ve ever wondered what ‘quant’ really means, how to break in, or what it takes to thrive in one of the world’s most competitive tech roles — this episode is your blueprint.
Computer science students, new grads, and software...
#10: I Asked a Principle Engineer at Amazon How to Get Hired (ft. @ALifeEngineered)
Today, I talk with Steve from A Life Engineered ( @ALifeEngineered ) — a software engineering YouTuber with over 170,000+ subscribers who quit his job at Amazon after nearly 18 years to help others in their career journeys. We dive deep into how the field is evolving, what most engineers get wrong about interviews, and how to actually use AI as a superpower (instead of seeing it as a threat). If you’re a CS student, career switcher, or anyone trying to land a top-tier software engineering job, this episode of the Software Engineering Accelerator Podcast is a must-listen. Hope you enjoy!
C...
#9: NeetCode - How I Would Master LeetCode (If I Could Start Over)
Computer science students, new graduates, and bootcamp grads…want to land your dream software engineering job or internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast_description&utm_campaign=neetcode
Today, I talk with NeetCode ( @NeetCode ) — a software engineering YouTuber with over a million subscribers who completely changed how the world learns LeetCode. We talk about how he built his channel, what most people get wrong about LeetCode, how AI is changing interviews, and whether computer science is still worth it. If you’re a CS student, bootcamp grad, or anyone trying to land a...
#8: How She Got a 4.0 at the World’s Most Competitive University (ft. Amy Wang)
Today, I talk with Amy Wang ( @wamyy5 ) a Caltech graduate with a degree in arguably the hardest major, Chemical Engineering. Learn how she got a 4.0 at one of the hardest universities in the world while battling severe migraines, balancing a social life and starting a YouTube channel with 600k+ subscribers. She shares her tips and tricks on how to succeed academically and socially on this episode of Liftoff. Hope you enjoy!
Computer science students, new graduates, and bootcamp graduates...want to land your dream software engineering job/internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=youtub...
#7: Why My 21-Year-Old Brother Quit His $600,000 Quant Job
Today, I talk with my brother Aadil who landed a $600,000 quant offer and decided to turn it down. We talk about why he made that decision, what got him there, and what a day in the life of a quant trader is actually like. Hope you enjoy!
Computer science students, new graduates, and bootcamp graduates...want to land your dream software engineering job/internship? Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video_description&utm_campaign=shouldn't_be_engineer
I'm Aman Manazir, a career coach and software engineer. I interned at comp...
#6: Answering Uncomfortable Questions With My Best Friend
Today, I talk to my best friend from college, Vithi Peters. We talk about how to make friends in college, red flags in friendships, and if Vithi secretly hates me. Enjoy!
Computer science students, new graduates, and bootcamp graduates…want to land your dream software engineering job/internship?
Click here 👉 https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching/
🧠 Get my free LeetCode Roadmap - https://www.amanmanazir.com/leetcode
I’m Aman Manazir, a career coach and software engineer. I interned at companies like Amazon, Shopify, and HP in college, and the day I graduated I...
#5: How She Makes $1.9M/Year at Age 28 on AirBnB
Today, I talk to Karen Bello. We discuss how she started as a personal assistant making minimum wage to starting her own Air BnB empire with millions in revenue. Enjoy!
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#4: How This 22-Year-Old Got a $250,000/Year Job at TikTok (AI Engineer)
In episode 4 of Lift Off with Aman Manazir, I talk to Sourish Kundu. We discuss how he landed a machine learning systems engineer job at TikTok, what it's like to work there, and how AI will transform the software engineering industry. Enjoy!
If you're a dedicated programmer who wants to land your dream internship or job in 2024 without spamming LeetCode, spending hours at career fairs, or building a personal website, join the Software Engineering Accelerator and work directly with me. Click this link to book a call: https://www.amanmanazir.com/coaching
💌 Free weekly productivity ins...
#2: Why a 22-Year-Old Math Genius Turned Down a $500,000/Year Quant Research Job
Access the BeamJobs FREE AI resume checker here - https://www.beamjobs.com/resume-checker?via=aman
In episode 2 of Lift Off with Aman Manazir, I talk to math prodigy Sunny Sahu. We discuss how he got machine learning internships in high school, how he got a full scholarship to the University of California-Berkeley (and why he broke it), and why he turned down a $500,000/yr job offer at Headlands Technologies and so much more. Enjoy!
0:00 - Introduction
01:19 - Why Sunny Took Calculus At Age 11
05:19 - How Math Olympiad Changed Sunny’s Li...
#1: How My 20-Year-Old Brother Made $550,000/Year in Quant Trading
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Aadil Manazir is my younger brother. In this episode, we discuss how he landed a $500,000+/year job offer in quant trading at age 20, how he secured a Google software engineering internship (and turned it down) in his free time, and how he packed on 30+ lbs of muscle and much, much more.
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - 8th...
