How FAANG Engineers Reverse Engineer Their Own Code

Episode 30 of The Tech Career Podcast explores a skill rarely talked about in FAANG interview prep: reverse engineering your own past work. Lucas and Luna discuss why the ability to deconstruct your own codebase — explaining design decisions, trade-offs, and failure modes — is increasingly prized in FAANG system design rounds and on-the-job code reviews. They break down a concrete example from a real senior engineer's promotion packet at a major tech firm, showing how reverse engineering a legacy module led to a company-wide refactor. The hosts offer a practical framework for building this skill: start with your least favorite feature you built six months ago, document every assumption, and simulate a code review where you're the new hire. This episode shifts the focus from writing new code to understanding what you've already written — a meta-skill that separates strong engineers from great ones. #FAANG #Engineering #ReverseEngineering #CodeReview #SystemDesign #TechCareer #PromotionPacket #SeniorEngineer #LegacyCode #Refactor #SoftwareEngineering #InterviewPrep #CareerStrategy #MetaSkill #LucasAndLuna #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Technology Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo