Serge Vartanov: Principal Software Engineer at Tinder & Codesmith Faculty

Serge Vartanov is an alum and Codesmith faculty member who co-wrote Codesmith’s Node.js curriculum while working at Tinder where he’s the Principal Software Engineer.

Here, he talks us through why Node.js is so important for engineers, his tech industry hiring insights, why engineers shouldn’t be too concerned about AI, and the qualities that really matter to working in tech today.

Multi-billion dollar companies with high traffic, those on the NASDAQ, are actively looking for engineers who can go beyond the surface-level understanding of the API. “That skill set is very hard to find. This is what Codesmith offers its residents, building an in-depth understanding of that tech.”

Understanding Node Is an Essential Engineering Skill for Large Tech Firms

Node.js, a runtime for JavaScript in the back-end, is used internationally today, and particularly for big tech firms, proficiency in Node is a desperately sought-after skill.

“There are lots of engineers with a surface-level understanding of Node. That’s sufficient when spinning up a proof of concept or in the context of a startup, because it won’t have considerable scale. But once traffic increases and there’s stress on the system you need engineers who really understand how the runtime works, as it's then that the wheels start coming off the bus.”

Multi-billion dollar companies with high traffic, "those on the NASDAQ," are actively looking for engineers who can go beyond the surface-level understanding of the API, he says. “That skill set is very hard to find. This is what Codesmith offers its residents, building an in-depth understanding of that tech.”

Tinder has hired “around half a dozen Codesmith grads” with most working in senior-level roles now. He explains their innovations, “the kind that make companies successful” are shown through the company's tech blog.

“They write in detail about innovative features they build, and the blog as a tool aligns with Codesmith’s approach. Engineers are encouraged to pursue research and communicate technically. I wrote one myself recently about a feature called Swipe Right!”

He says it’s not surprising that Codesmith grads end up at Meta, Google, Amazon, and Netflix. Those companies deal with high-scale traffic requiring engineers that have that depth of understanding and, “teaching that under-the-hood knowledge is the purpose of Codesmith’s curriculum.”

Tinder has hired around half a dozen Codesmith grads with most working in senior-level roles now. Their innovations, the kind that make companies successful, are shown through the company's tech blog.

Tech Industry Hiring and AI Tools

This leads him to reflect on tech hiring today, understandably a concern for many looking to transition into engineering. However, he’s positive about an upturn in tech hiring—signs of which are already showing—and dismisses the concern AI will replace engineers.

“I’ve observed the pullback in tech in the last year or so, but what I found is that because engineers are a revenue and profit center for tech companies, most realize the potential of their engineers to bring product vision to life.

“The practical application of AI and ML is only unlocking greater effectiveness for engineers to accomplish even more than they could before, and I suspect companies are going to bring in even more engineers.

“One of the great things about working in technology is that companies, regardless of whether we're talking pre-pandemic, mid-pandemic, or post-pandemic, hire engineers based on their potential to create value.”

Match Group, who own Tinder, publicly stated they are embracing new AI tools specifically for employees to make them even more efficient.

“If I wrote code by hand with pen and paper I’d be less efficient than writing code in a Word document. Similarly, I see GPT as being just another step forward for engineers.

“If you look at any given three to four-year period over the last 25-30 years, technology engineers use is very different from year to year. We're seeing that today with AI tools, but we've been seeing that for years as technology has changed, it's important to be adaptable.”

“Being an effective engineer isn’t about having studied CS, but experience working in a production environment with other engineers."

Effective Engineering Doesn't Come From Academia But From Experience 

Despite an impressive educational background before Codesmith, including Harvard and Berkeley, Serge is less concerned with engineers with a traditional college education. 

“Being an effective engineer isn’t about having studied CS, but experience working in a production environment with other engineers. In my company, you can’t tell what academic background someone brings, in terms of ability to contribute to the team and codebase. Engineers contribute through the experience of technical challenges they’ve overcome. 

“The experience Codemith gives residents is working with other mid to senior-level engineers on projects using modern technology, TypeScript, React, Kafka, Grafana, Prometheus, etc. That positions you to work well on a team of engineers, to translate product requirements into working technology when on the job.”