System Design – thesmartcoders

Last week, I caught up with a friend who recently cracked a high-paying remote job at a global startup. I asked him what he did differently, and honestly, his advice blew my mind. It wasn’t the typical “grind LeetCode” stuff we hear for product-based companies. Here’s a summary of everything he shared with me 👇 🧠 1. “Don’t Just Focus on Coding – Communicate Like a Pro” “In remote companies, how you write and explain matters as much as how you code.” He said async communication is the backbone of remote teams. Instead of just focusing on problem-solving, he improved his writing—Slack messages, PR reviews, Notion docs. He even recorded Loom videos to explain his side projects. This gave hiring managers a ton of trust in his remote readiness. 🌐 2. “Your Online Presence = Your First Impression” “They won’t know you unless you show yourself. Build your credibility online.” He made sure his LinkedIn headline screamed “remote-ready.” He also had a clean personal website and a strong GitHub profile with a few real-world side projects. One of them was a tool he built using Java + Spring Boot + Docker – the repo had stars and great documentation. 🏗️ 3. “System Design > DSA After a Point” “DSA got me to the interview, but System Design got me the job.” He did some DSA prep (like LeetCode/InterviewBit), but his main focus was on designing scalable, fault-tolerant systems. He practiced designing things like rate limiters, real-time notification systems, and job queues – the kind of problems you’d actually face in a remote backend role. 📜 4. “Resume Must Show You're Built for Remote Work” “Your resume should scream that you're productive without supervision.” He used a project-first resume, with points like: Built and deployed XYZ microservice using Docker + CI/CD Worked in async team using Jira, GitHub, and Notion Collaborated across time zones with engineers from 3 countries He also mentioned timezone flexibility and remote collab experience. 🧪 5. “Interview Rounds Were Not What I Expected” “There was a take-home assignment instead of live rounds.” Instead of rapid-fire DSA rounds, he got a take-home project: build a simple API with basic auth and background job processing. They checked how he structured the code, wrote documentation, handled edge cases, and how well he communicated decisions. 🛠️ 6. “I Learned Tools That Remote Teams Actually Use” “These tools aren’t fancy – they’re just the remote team essentials.” He got familiar with: GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Notion Docker, VS Code Remote, GitHub Actions Slack, Zoom, Loom It showed in the interviews that he could hit the ground running. 💡 7. “Apply Where Remote Companies Actually Hire From” “LinkedIn is okay, but use remote-first platforms too.” He applied through these: Turing Remote OK We Work Remotely Arc.dev AngelList Talent Himalayas And he sent personalized cold emails to startups he loved. 🧠 8. “Soft Skills Decide Your Growth in Remote Roles” “Nobody’s going to micro-manage you. You need to self-manage.” He worked on: Writing better async updates Being proactive in discussions Managing priorities and setting boundaries This helped him stand out in culture-fit interviews where they asked things like “How do you avoid burnout working remotely?” or “How do you collaborate without daily meetings?” 🧭 What I Learned From Him: Key AreaWhat Matters✅ Online PresenceGitHub, Portfolio, Testimonials✅ SkillsSystem Design, DSA, Real Projects✅ ToolsGit, Docker, CI/CD, Jira, Slack✅ ResumeShow remote-readiness clearly✅ InterviewsProject-based + async thinking✅ StrategyRemote-first platforms + direct reach out 💬 His Final Advice? “Bro, focus less on how to pass a coding round and more on showing you're already remote-ready. That’s what they want.”