Guidance Counselor 2.0 With Ryan Rau

​In this episode of Guidance Counselor 2.0, Taylor Desseyn talks with Ryan Zrau, a senior software engineer four years deep contracting at Meta, who's spent the past five interviewing candidates — more heavily in recent months.

His front-row view: AI has shifted the hiring bar. It's far less about raw LeetCode ability and far more about whether you can actually sell your own work. Too many candidates answer "tell me about yourself" with "I've been a developer for 10 years" — which says nothing about what they've built. Ryan breaks down what he's actually listening for: passion for a project, the real challenges hit along the way, and genuine pride in what got shipped.

For anyone who's done great work but freezes when asked to talk about it, this episode is about turning that work into a story that lands.