#13 - Jared Tewodros: Software Engineering, Hiring Freezes, and Hunting Antelope

This week I spoke with Jared Tewodros, a 2022 UVA alumni who’s now a Software Engineer at Meta.

The Rundown:

• COLD OPEN: Pre-med to Computer Science

• TURNING POINT: Laid off a month into the job

• STEAL THIS: Are you hunting antelope, or chasing field mice?

• INDUSTRY INSIDER: You don’t have to be a math genius to code

• IF I WERE YOU: Explore early and often

COLD OPEN
How Did You Get Your Start?

Growing up in a family of doctors, I always assumed I would take that path – hoping I’d be the next orthopedic surgeon for the Redskins. 

At UVA, I blindly signed up for the typical pre-med schedule – your Chems, your Bios. 

But just a semester in, after shadowing and volunteering at a hospital, I realized I didn’t really love it. The idea of med school was just a socially acceptable way to cover up my undecidedness. 

That following semester, off a recommendation from a friend, I took CS1110. I immediately fell in love with the class.

For all my life school was just a means to an end, but this class was the first time I was actually excited to go to school. Majoring in CS was a done deal from there. 

I landed a software internship in San Francisco midway through my second year, but a month before it started, it got canceled due to COVID. I was pissed. I spent the summer home grinding through Cracking the Coding Interview (the holy grail of Software Engineering interview prep).

I applied to hundreds of places – companies I’ve never heard of, companies I’ll never remember, companies that seem to enjoy auto rejecting me a little too much.

Facebook was one of those companies. I got an interview, which turned into an internship, and then a full time job.

TURNING POINT
What’s A Challenge You Faced Early On?

I moved to New York in August of 2022, and a month later I started at Facebook.

The company instated a hiring freeze a few weeks after my start date. I got an email from Zuck himself that I had been laid off. 

It felt like the San Fran internship all over again, but this time I had rent to pay, so I went right back into the grind of applying to jobs.

Most places I was interested in were also going through massive layoffs, and halted recruiting for the holidays.

By early spring I took a remote role at GoPuff. Pretty soon I saw the writing on the wall. Rounds of layoffs had started. It was fine, I wasn’t built for remote life anyway. I ended up re-applying to Facebook a year later.

STEAL THIS
What’s A Question You Love To Ask Yourself?

Am I hunting antelope, or chasing field mice?

I first came across this question over a decade ago in Buck Up, Suck Up... and Come Back When You Foul Up. It’s a book where political strategists James Carville and Paul Begala describe how Newt Gingrich — for all the ideological disagreements they had with him — used this analogy to stay focused on what truly mattered.

It’s simple: a lion can catch field mice, but it takes more energy than it’s worth. If it spent all day doing so, it’ll starve. An antelope, on the other hand, takes more skill and effort to catch, but it can feed the lion for days.

It’s not about working hard – it’s about making sure your effort is going toward something that actually moves the needle.

INDUSTRY INSIDER
What Do People Misunderstand About Software Engineering?

A big one is that you need to be a math genius to be a successful software engineer. While those skills are beneficial, programming is not all about complex equations.

I work primarily in web and mobile app development, where basic addition is the extent of the math I use day-to-day. Programming involves logic, problem-solving, and algorithmic thinking. Reasoning and creativity will take you much farther than pure math. 

The fact that I still count with my fingers is proof of that.

Another, is that software engineering is where introverts go to hide. While it’s very easy to find yourself lost in code, collaboration and communication are integral parts of the development process. 

Working in teams, participating in code reviews, and effective communication are essential skills for a successful software developer. 

At a company as big as Facebook, most new ideas require alignment with key stakeholders and leadership so sticking to yourself can only get you so far.

IF I WERE YOU
Do You Have Any Advice For Students?

Try as many things as you can, early and often.

Use college as a sandbox to figure out what you’re good at, and just as importantly, what you’re not. External feedback can be a useful signal – listen when others notice you’re particularly good at something.

Explore different classes, clubs, side projects, internships. Don't be afraid to try something completely outside of your comfort zone.

The goal isn’t to have it all figured out immediately — it’s to gather data on yourself.

Making a concerted effort to explore early on helps you avoid drifting later. The sooner you start experimenting, the sooner you’ll find that overlap between what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and where you can really excel.

CLOSING TIME
You’re Not Behind – This Is What Figuring It Out Looks Like.

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What’s a question you want me to ask?
What industry do you covered?
Reply with your thoughts.