Mark Ellis🇺🇸

About Mark Ellis

Senior Software Engineer at Google

I have been a software engineer for 13 years. In this time I worked at 4 different companies of all sizes, from gargantuan Google to tiny Igneous Systems, at which I was employee number 15. I worked on 7 different products, some greenfield and some with billions of users. I have been an individual contributor cranking out code, a tech lead setting direction for a group of engineers, and a manager mentoring my reports through promotions.

These jobs have taken me to three cities in two countries, where I have met countless bright, motivated people at different life stages, and who took a variety of paths. Regardless of background, I found that many deep conversations started with the question “what’s next?” Some wanted to bag their first offer at a FAANG company. Some were networking for a cofounder. Some were looking to become financially independent and retire early. I loved these conversations. Serving as a sounding board, friend, and mentor felt fulfilling in a completely different way from delivering features.

I believe that people are most happy and effective when they feel free to pursue the work that makes them curious. I also believe that finding out what makes them curious is a lengthy process of trial and error. The biggest career decisions are often made in a tangle of financial constraints, family obligations, and unexamined convictions about what makes a job “good.”

I do not promise to have answers for you, but I do promise that I care deeply about your success, however you define it, and that I have the experience to give you meaningful insight into your path.

Expertise

Sessions with Mark Ellis

• Software Engineering Career Mentorship Session (30 min): The software engineering job market is tough, but also full of opportunity. If you need to bounce ideas off of someone who has been in the software industry for a while and worked for companies of all sizes across many technical domains, this session is for you. I am happy to let you take the lead, but generally in this kind of session we discuss your past projects, what motivates you, and where you want to be in the future.
• Coding Interview Practice (30 min): Interviewing is a skill completely independent of those required to perform well in a software engineering role. Even engineers with many years of experience need to brush up on practice problems before attempting an interview loop. This session is structured as a coding interview at a FAANG company. The first 5 minutes is a quick introduction and overview of your career. Then I will provide a practice question and you will solve it with my guidance. Come prepared to do live coding on a Leetcode medium problem. I will reserve around 10-15 minutes at the end to provide constructive feedback on your interview skills and answer any questions you may have about the process.

What mentees say

“Mark has helped aced my living coding interview! In my second call with him, he guided me through the system design interview and shared many useful resources.”

“Mark was really patient and gave me super useful insights, was a great experience!”

“I had an outstanding experience with Mark. His amazing communication skills and deep subject knowledge helped me reflect on my interview performance effectively. Mark's motivation and exceptional problem-solving abilities guided me to understand my strengths and areas for improvement. I highly recommend booking a session with him.”