It takes more than great code to be a great engineer. Soft Skills Engineering is a weekly advice podcast for software developers about the non-technical stuff that goes into being a great software developer.
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In each episode Adam interviews somebody who works in the web world as a designer, developer, manager, advocate, or founder. These are people who have built something awesome or are experts in something awesome. Together we're all building the web of tomorrow.
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Episode 421: Hitting the level cap and getting credit for behind-the-scenes work
31:47
31:47
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31:47
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’ve been wondering what kind of career conversations happen between managers and the “max-level” engineers on the team. We’ve all been on a team with those really good staff/principal engineers who are super nice, have great people skills, and seem to have an answer for every technical prob…
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Episode 420: New grad getting boring work and busy manager
27:16
27:16
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27:16
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Little Z says, Hello! I am a relatively new graduate (‘23 bachelor’s in information systems) who is currently working at a large tech company in a technical role adjacent to SWE. This is a great opportunity, but as time has progressed, I’ve felt growing dissatisfaction with the role. I don’t…
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Episode 419: Yoda or Han Solo and I swear I'm senior
26:52
26:52
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26:52
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Listener Anakin asks, I have two former co-workers that work at great companies where I would love to work. I reached out to one looking for advice and while talking to him, he said I should join him and he offered to give me a referral. At the same time, unprompted, another old coworker rea…
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Episode 418: Should I "rest and vest" and how do I avoid 3-hour agile meetings?
29:58
29:58
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29:58
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I work as a Senior Software Engineer for a subsidiary owned by a mega corp. I am approaching 6 years at the company. In the last few years the company has had significant layoffs and I have been moved to a team by force with a new leadership chain and engineers I haven’t really worked with. …
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Episode 417: Should I tell my boss I'm checked out and how do I deal with a PM who has no idea what he's doing?
30:52
30:52
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30:52
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey guys, love the show! (Insert joke here so you’ll read my question) Should I tell my boss I’m discouraged and have checked out? I’m the frontend lead for a project where I’ve recently gotten the vibe that the project isn’t really that important to the organization. The project is already …
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Episode 416: My boss wants me to build dark patterns and getting promoted without writing code
24:25
24:25
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24:25
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: “I’ve been assigned a ticket to “add more friction to the downgrade process” in order to decrease the amount of downgrades our app has. The proposed change has 4 modals pop up before the user can cancel their paid plan. I would like to push back on this change. Any tips on how to bring up th…
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Episode 415: I got a low raise and merging teams
29:16
29:16
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29:16
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi guys! I’m a technical Data Analyst in a well established Fortune 500 company, in my job I usually work with databases to build queries and prepare reports for our users. In the past 2 years my team and I had a tremendous impact in the business with several successful key projects, and we …
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Episode 414: Hot-headed PM and leaving without downgrading
31:47
31:47
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31:47
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Cool-headed engineer asks, How do you deal with hot-headed project managers? I have a project manager in my team who really likes to criticize me, a project lead. Most recently, I was criticized for asking a dumb question to the users which they already answered a few months ago. They told m…
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Episode 413: Is my interview candidate cheating and my product owner is getting WRECKED by the client
32:00
32:00
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32:00
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: This is my first time conducting technical interviews (most of which have been virtual), and I had one interview where I had a strong feeling that the candidate was cheating. They breezed through the short problems I gave them, and they were able to explain their reasoning. But during the li…
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Episode 412: Work-life-team balance and getting code-sniped
33:16
33:16
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33:16
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Dear Skillet HQ, How would you negotiate a difference in work-life balance between teams? I love my job and my immediate team. We’re a tech group within a larger non-tech business, and it’s a fun problem domain. Our immediate team has some hard-won work-life balance, in part because it would…
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Episode 411: We have a secret org chart and I'm a big fish in a little pond
35:28
35:28
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35:28
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi :-) I work as a Senior Data Scientist, and about half a year ago I joined a start up that was founded by a large corporation. And while this job comes with the perks of a bigger company - like good salary, paid overtime, … , - it also comes with its organizational overhead and politics: W…
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Episode 410: Guaranteed cost-of-living raises and my manager doesn't like me
34:28
34:28
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34:28
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Soft Skills! I’m writing to you as I look forlornly at my paycheck, unchanged for the last year and a half, and wonder if I’ll ever see market rate again. While I prepare my leetcoding skills for the trek that is your classic Soft Skills Adventure (quitting), I think about future intervie…
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Episode 409: Fancy title to IC and CRUD is crud
28:27
28:27
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28:27
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Listener Shayne asks, I’m about to start a new gig after 8+ years at a company. I was an early employee at the current company and have accumulated a lot of responsibility, influence, and a fancy title. I’ll be an IC at my new company (also very early stage) but the most senior engineer se…
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Episode 408: Terrible retrospectives and "hard to work with"
33:38
33:38
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33:38
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I am an electrical engineer working on and off with software for about 15 years. From mainframe applications with Cobol and PL/1 to plant floor supervisory systems with SCADA and some.Net along the way. 6 years ago my husband got an offer to move to Europe and I came along. Had to reinvent m…
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Episode 407: I'm too territorial and should I quiet quit?
25:53
25:53
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25:53
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I am a data scientist and have been at my company for 2 years. Each of the data scientists on my team specialize in a different area of the business (growth, marketing, etc). I have developed a reputation for being the expert in my area and have worked really hard to understand my domain. I …
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Episode 406: Acquired taste and limited mentorship
27:54
27:54
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27:54
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Listener Brad asks, I am currently a Senior Engineer with a small software company. I have been developing software for more than 20 years. We were recently acquired by another mid sized company. Since the acquisition, things have been going downhill. It feels like they’re trying to nickel a…
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Episode 405: Scaled agile pain and top-heavy team
34:24
34:24
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34:24
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: One and a half year ago, I joined my current team as a tech lead, in an organisation that uses ‘Scaled Agile’. This was my first time joining an organisation that employed dedicated Scrum masters. In previous organisations, the role of Scrum master would usually fall upon a team member that …
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