August 27, 2020 by Prerna Manaktala

About this event

Yelp’s mission is to connect people with great local businesses, and one of the teams working behind the scenes to make that happen is our five star engineering and product teams.

Playing an active role in our community is a value that we have strongly prioritized over the years. Typically we would invite you to come to Yelp’s HQ to network, grab a slice of ‘za, and learn about the technology and culture behind Yelp. With stay-at-home orders across the globe, Yelp (like many of you) has had no choice but to adapt to these changes. We understand that this is a strange and challenging time for many, so we’d like to invite you to join us as we navigate this new normal for the tech community together.

To stay connected, create space for folks to collaborate and share some of the things Yelp has been working on, we are launching our very own virtual tech talk series. This series of talks will feature Yelpers from engineering and product and will focus on themes such as career development, technical skills, workplace challenges and Yelp’s response to COVID-19.

Speaker:

Prerna Manaktala, San Francisco

Bio: After 10 years in the industry, I joined Yelp as an Android developer in 2017 on the Reader Experience team and moved to Growth as a proto manager in March this year. It's been a great learning experience at Yelp for me, and I have grown in my technical, ownership, and leadership skills with the opportunities given by my managers. I love working with my awesome team and am grateful for working in a company which has such a great culture.

Talk: Estimations: Pitfalls and How To Bounce Back

At school, every project has certain requirements and a deadline for submission. But when we start a career in tech, we are expected to execute small projects. As we gain experience, we face the challenge of delivering bigger projects on time. This dialog will focus on why accurate estimation is important and how good estimates and project execution skills can help early and mid-career attendees feel empowered to tackle challenges.

Moderator:

Kevin Knaust, San Francisco

Bio: Kevin is currently a technical recruiting manager and has worked in both sales and recruiting roles over the past nine years at Yelp. He manages various recruiting operations and leadership & development projects like Yelp's Engineering Mentorship Program and has worked extensively with undergraduate students through the Yelp Intern Program and university recruiting. He enjoys discovering new music, reading science fiction, and soccer.