Formation Monthly Deploy: February 2026

Welcome to the Formation Monthly Deploy, our monthly blog highlighting achievements, insights, and innovations from across the Formation ecosystem. Whether you're a current Fellow navigating challenges, an Alumni building your career, or a Mentor guiding others, this space is designed to keep you connected to your community.

🌎 Engineering tip from Daniel Tomko

Interviews test execution, not trivia ⛷️

When I’m teaching skiing, I tell people this: there’s nothing fundamentally complex about skiing. “Hard” skiing is executing the basics in high-consequence situations. Engineering interviews work the same way.

Here’s how to think about prep through that lens:

✅ Master the basics and trust them under pressure. Interviews rarely reward flashy tricks or obscure facts. They reward strong fundamentals applied when it counts.

❌ Don’t treat interviews like quizzes. Interviewers aren’t testing what you know in isolation. They’re watching what you do with that knowledge in real time.

🛠️ Show your process. Following a clear framework, like the Engineering Method, makes your thinking visible—how you break down problems, make decisions, and move work forward.

🧠 Execution beats cleverness. Clear thinking, steady progress, and solid fundamentals matter more than perfect or “clever” answers.

At Formation, we focus on fundamentals for a reason. When the stakes are high, doing the basics well is what separates good performance from great performance.

🌊 Recent Rising Tide winners

Each month, we recognize Fellows who consistently lift others up through collaboration, encouragement, and thoughtfulness. December’s Rising Tide winners exemplified what it means to show up well for the community.

Wayne Adams was recognized for his collaborative presence during coding drills. His nominator shared: “I was in a coding drills session with Wayne. He was a pleasure to work with — communicative, thoughtful, encouraging, and respectful. He reminded me of how I should aspire to carry myself in a collaborative environment.”

Scott Davison stood out for his supportive approach to peer learning. His nominator shared: “He provided hints to another Fellow during the coding drill without giving away the answer and was very thoughtful.”

🌟Recent Lighthouse Award winners

The Lighthouse Award recognizes mentors who consistently guide, support, and elevate Fellows through clarity, care, and deep expertise.

Andrew Miner was recognized for his teaching clarity and ability to stretch thinking. Fellows shared: “Andrew provided a friendly and social time that was a highlight of my week,”and “He explains things very well — I like his teaching method, ” and finally “His engineering view is different from other mentors, and his sessions help uncover edge cases and missed approaches.”

Ayush Jain was recognized for creating a realistic yet supportive interview experience. One Fellow shared: “The interview felt realistic and supportive at the same time. The feedback on my approach was specific and valuable.”

Nina Mametsuka stood out for her holistic support during job-hunting and mock interviews. Fellows shared: “She gave insight on preparation, what to focus on in interviews, salary negotiations, and how to breathe through the process. I’m heading into interviews with positive energy.”

Amitabh Srivastav was recognized for actionable, hands-on feedback. Fellows shared: “He pinpointed where I could improve my speed in defining requirements and gave follow-up practice problems, “ and “I relearned how to choose the right data structure by weighing tradeoffs, which made the session incredibly informative.”

Colin Snyder stood out for creating a psychologically safe and deeply educational environment. Fellows shared: “He has a naturally safe and educative aura that helps new Fellows open up,”and  “Even when I think I understand a topic, I leave with a new nuance every time.”

Edu I was recognized for clarity and depth in system design sessions. Fellows shared: “His explanations were very clear, the pace was excellent, and the session was informative and empowering.”

🏆 Highlighted recent placements

We’re celebrating Fellows who turned persistence into progress and landed new roles, even in a challenging market.

Hyowon Kim → Capital One
Hyowon shared how Formation’s group sessions and mock interviews translated directly into real-world confidence: “The group sessions felt very similar to real work environments. Discussing problems together and sharing perspectives helped deepen my understanding. The system design mocks made me feel much more prepared during real interviews, and even onboarding felt familiar because of the way we practiced.”

Ethan Weinhaus → Leap
Ethan shared a reminder many Fellows need to hear: “The market is tough and the process can take longer than expected. There are ups and downs, and it’s easy to get discouraged. Keep powering through—it does pay off.”

🧠 Upcoming workshops

Our upcoming workshops give you a chance to work through real interview scenarios with experienced Formation mentors, get direct feedback, and see how your approach lands in the moment.

These sessions are hands-on and interactive, focused on reasoning, execution, and communication.

Check out what we have coming up:

• What Interviewers Actually Mean by “Senior-Level” Code
• How Senior Engineers Actually Get Hired
• The Stories That Stick: Selecting the Right Stories for Hiring Manager Interviews

New workshops are added regularly across coding fundamentals, system design, and behavioral prep. Stay up to date here. 

See you next month!

We’re always proud of how this community shows up — with generosity, determination, and drive. Keep asking questions, lifting each other up, and pushing the limits of what you thought you could do.

Until next month,The Formation Team

This blog is adapted from our monthly newsletter, The Monthly Deploy. If you're not yet part of the Formation community but would also like these updates directly in your inbox, subscribe to our blog.