Soft Skills Engineering

Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How do I deal with my new job that turns out to be crappy? How do I know how hard to push back against more experienced engineers when suggesting a new idea? Thank you to Algolia for sponsoring this episode. Check out their job posting at algolia.com/softskillsengineering .

It’s our first RAPID FIRE episode, where we answer a bunch of questions rapid-ish-ly. Why do I get passed up for developer jobs? Should I take this high-paying job even though it’s a scary change? Should I quit my first job after five years? We also answer a longer question: How do I deal with a micromanaging project manager? Thank you to Algolia for sponsoring this episode. Check out their job po...

Dave and Jamison answer these questions: When I let someone go, should I tell them the reason why? How do I write a good job description? We mention Julia Evans’ blog post A litmus test for job descriptions in the second question.

Dave and Jamison answer these questions: What do internships cost companies? How do you feel about asking hard technical computer science questions in interviews? The second question was prompted by this tweet: In 20 years of engineering I've never said, "thank goodness we hired someone who can reverse a b tree on a whiteboard while strangers watch" — Samantha 🐝 Quiñones (@iea...

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Should I switch jobs to my fourth job within two years of graduating from a bootcamp? What non-technical practices and cultural attributes improve software reliability?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How do I deal with someone who says their job (management) is so much harder than my job (engineering)? How do I deal with a two-boss situation where I am one of the bosses?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How can I encourage my team to be more visible in the office? How do I learn new technologies without going through a noob phase?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How do I deal with engineers who are skilled technically but rude and demeaning? What should I talk about in one on ones with my manager or reports? We also cite Questions for our first 1:1 , a blog post by Lara Hogan.

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: When is it appropriate to go over someone’s head? Should I fire the new engineer that we just hired (and who relocated to take the job)?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How does venture capital work, and how does it affect me? How do I give great presentations at work?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: What do you think of unlimited vacation policies? How do I enforce coding best practices? Show notes, because Jamison is feeling ambitious: The Netflix culture slides we mentioned pylint , the linter Dave talked about

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How can I attract talent? How do I quit without burning bridges?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Do certifications help me? How can I solve an avoidance problem?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How can a developer damage their credibility online? How can I meet potential employers while I’m still in school?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer this question: Why would a developer leave a full time job to do consulting or contracting? It just so happens that Jamison did this a few months ago, and he shares his experience in making the transition.

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Should I go in to management? How do you know if a job is worth applying to?

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How should you reach consensus on a team? Should you always have consensus? What is the etiquette around editing code in a shared repository?

Literally the only episode that the advice “quit your job and get a better one” doesn’t apply. Dave and Jamison answer the question: What should I do when starting a new job?

In episode 28, Jamison and Dave answer these questions: How long should I stay before I quit my job? Two to three years seems fairly normal. Dave sees people with less than 12 months regularly. Staying at a job means you experience things you wouldn’t if you hopped around a lot. It is much easier to see the hype cycle play out if you stick around. You get to see the outcome of your own decisions....

In episode 27, Jamison and Dave answer these questions: How do I write a great resume? Do you really need a resume these days? How important is formatting and good design? What content should be on your resume? Should I push back on non-engineering tasks like PowerPoint presentations? From listener samspot: I am a Sr. Developer and I am often asked to spend time on PowerPoint presentations for fun...

In episode 26, Jamison and Dave answer these question: How do you make sure people know about your good work? See Matt Zabriskie’s great post for background on this. We also mentioned Do Things, Write About It . How do you get your point across effectively so you don’t have to say “I told you so” later?

In episode 25, Jamison and Dave answer these question: How do I understand the business side better? Analysis of tabs vs spaces How does your business make money? Just ask your CEO/manager Kill the myth of the pointy-haired boss Smaller companies expose you to this more Just ask questions: What was our revenue last month? How much did we spend last month? Who are our biggest customers? How does th...

In episode 24, Jamison and Dave answer this question: As a software developer, should I be a generalist or a specialist? This was inspired by a Twitter conversation here: https://twitter.com/iam_preethi/status/766758679743954944

In episode 23, Jamison and Dave answer these questions: You are asked to be a CTO of a start-up. What questions would you ask in order to decide whether to join, and what things would you give most attention to, if you do join? I REALLY want and deserve a raise so I hope you two discuss how a nerdy introvert gets the CFO of a small privately owned business to want to give her more money when she’s...

In episode 21, Jamison and Dave answer these questions: What’s up with all this health insurance jargon? How do I get started contributing to open source?