Soft Skills Engineering

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I think I’ve saved enough money to get out of the rat race. If something goes wrong and I need to get a job again, how do I explain a long gap in my resume?</li> <li>I like writing code but I’m interested in moving to a more business-focused role. How can I test this without burning bridges? Do I need to take a pay cut?</li> </ol>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>How do I smooth things over after a blow-up between team members?</li> <li>A team mate admits he writes bad code on purpose for job security. What do I do?</li> </ol>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>A developer on a team I lead doesn’t seem interested in growing. How do I help them engage more?</li> <li>I gave two weeks notice, but was told part of the way through to not come in any more. I still had work left and this made me feel bad. Is this common? Did I do anything wrong?</li> </ol> <p>Jamison talks about the <a href="http://engineering.khanacademy.org/posts/career-development.htm">Khan Academy</a> engineering culture. He kinda misquoted it though. They don’t explicitly say they lay people off who don’t progress.</p>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>How do I keep up with new tech as a team lead?</li> <li>I manage a team. A manager from a different team wants me to run everything I do in my team by him. What do I do?</li> </ol> <p>Jamison mentions <a href="https://charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the-engineer-manager-pendulum/">this</a> by Charity Majors on the pendulum between technical and people leadership.</p> <p>Jamison also mentions <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/12/if-your-boss-could-do-your-job-youre-more-likely-to-be-happy-at-work">this</a> HBR article on employee happiness.</p>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>It seems like my teams always miss their story point commitments. Is this normal? How do you change it?</li> <li>How do you actually measure developer productivity?</li> </ol> <p>The article comparing research on productivity in static and dynamic type systems is <a href="https://danluu.com/empirical-pl/">here</a>. It is a great read.</p> <p>Jamison also mentions Goodhart’s Law. Read more about it <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law">here</a>.</p>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>We’ve re-written the project I’m on 10 times without launching. What should I do?</li> <li>I worked hard to hit a deadline, only to find out the deadline was moved. How do I avoid this in the future?</li> </ol> <p>We talked a bit about the value of deadlines way back in <a href="https://softskills.audio/2016/05/02/episode-9-deadlines-and-titles/">episode nine</a> if you want to hear some positive things about deadlines.</p>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>My boss wants me to speak at conferences, but I’m very new to software. What should I do?</li> <li>How do I get more than a 2% raise? That is the company average.</li> </ol> <p>We talked about conferences a bit more way back in <a href="https://softskills.audio/2016/04/11/episode-6-speaking-at-conferences/">episode 6</a>.</p> <p>We also talked more about playing the salary game in <a href="https://softskills.audio/2016/08/22/episode-23-cto-questions-and-getting-a-raise/">episode 23</a>, which is a technique for sharing salary information with your co-workers.</p>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>My organization requires me to set goals for myself. What advice do you have for writing good technical and non-technical goals?</li> <li>My managers openly joke about firing people all the time. What should I do?</li> </ol>

<p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>What are some good ways for people who aren’t good at self-promotion to promote themselves?</li> <li>I’m moving to Europe in a year. How much notice should I give my company that I’m leaving?</li> </ol> <p>Way back in <a href="https://softskills.audio/2016/09/12/episode-26-communicate-your-efforts-and-i-told-you-so/">episode 26</a> we talked a little bit about self-promotion as well.</p>

<p>Jamison and Dave will be at the UtahJS Conference on September 18th. See <a href="https://conf.utahjs.com">conf.utahjs.com</a> for more info and to buy tickets. Come say hi!</p> <p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>Do I need to take a pay cut when switching languages?</li> <li>I was promoted at work but didn’t get a raise or a title change. What do I do?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave will be at the UtahJS Conference on September 18th. See <a href="https://conf.utahjs.com">conf.utahjs.com</a> for more info and to buy tickets. Come say hi!</p> <p>This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>A developer on my team has been rewriting my code under the guise of “code cleanup” without saying anything to me. Is this normal? What should I do?</li> <li>How do you deal with co-workers who over-explain unimportant issues?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>My CEO is micromanaging the developers. What do I do?</li> <li>I’m about to take a job as the only developer at a company. How do I handle working without technical coworkers?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I’m sometimes an informal lead on project teams. How do I help the team get stuff done as a peer?</li> <li>How do I deal with burnout after an extended period of crunch time?</li> </ol> <p>Jamison mentions the blog post by Jamis Buck called <a href="https://m.signalvnoise.com/to-smile-again-ae0ba9f2198c">To Smile Again</a> where he talks about his experiences with burnout.</p>

<p>Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I’m a new team lead with a team member who is very appraisal-driven. How do I deal with them?</li> <li>Have you ever experienced meeting-creep? What do you do about it?</li> </ol> <p>Jamison mentions the 37 signals blog post on <a href="https://m.signalvnoise.com/is-group-chat-making-you-sweat-744659addf7d">the downsides of group chat</a>.</p>

<p>Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>My supervisor is a know-it-all who needs to be the smartest person in the room. How do I deal with it?</li> <li>I want to move to another city and work remotely. How do I convince my boss to let me?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>It’s been a year and I still haven’t touched the codebase. What should I do?</li> <li>All my hobbies revolve around computers. How do I develop other interests?</li> </ol> <p>Jamison mentioned Dan Luu’s article on how bad teams are always hiring. <a href="https://danluu.com/hiring-lemons/">Here</a> it is.</p> <p>Rich Hickey’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f84n5oFoZBc">Hammock-Driven Development</a> talk was also mentioned.</p>

<p>Jamison and Dave answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>Should I get a Masters in Computer Science?</li> <li>How do I ask good questions?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave talk about these questions:</p> <ol> <li>My cousin is a manager at my employer. How do I avoid nepotism?</li> <li>I’d like to become a developer. What are the minimum requirements for a junior developer? When will I be “good enough” to get a job as a junior dev?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave talk about these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I have a great, comfortable job that doesn’t push me very hard. How do I deal with worrying about being left in the dust?</li> <li>How do I deal with imposter syndrome?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave talk about these questions:</p> <ol> <li>How direct should I be in a peer review of a coworker who I really dislike?</li> <li>How do I convince developers to go on call?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave were out this week, so here is a <em>DEEP CUT</em> from the archives.</p> <p>This originally aired as episode 41.</p> <ol> <li>How do I deal with someone who says their job (management) is so much harder than my job (engineering)?</li> <li>How do I deal with a two-boss situation where I am one of the bosses?</li> </ol>

<p>Jamison and Dave answer these two questions:</p> <ol> <li>I’m in too many meetings. How do I guard my own productivity?</li> <li>How do I make sure I’m not sidelined when my company acquires another company?</li> </ol>

<p>We answer these two questions:</p> <ol> <li>What should developers know about product management?</li> <li>I have TOO MANY notifications interrupting me all the time. What do I do?</li> </ol>

<p>We answer these two questions:</p> <ol> <li>What is the best seating arrangements for software developers?</li> <li>How do I disarm my CTO who is emotionally attached to his code?</li> </ol>

<p>Thanks to all the people who pointed us to the <a href="http://principles-wiki.net/principles:single_level_of_abstraction">Single Level of Abstraction Principle</a> which we obliquely referred to in <a href="http://softskills.audio/2017/04/25/episode-57-management-tasks-i-hate-and-difficult-co-workers/">episode 57</a>.</p> <p>We answer these two questions:</p> <ol> <li>How can I convince management to pay for developer training?</li> <li>Should I mention unrelated experience on an application?</li> </ol>

<p>Dave and Jamison were out this week, so we have a re-run of a DEEP CUT for you.</p> <p>This originally aired as episode 18. We answer these two questions:</p> <ol> <li>I have a part-time job as a developer while I’m still in school. Should I drop out and just work full time?</li> <li>How do I prepare for a job interview?</li> </ol>

<ol> <li>I’ve been pushed in to doing management tasks I really don’t enjoy. What do I do?</li> <li>How do I handle a co-worker who I really struggle to get along with?</li> </ol> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p>

<ol> <li>How do I keep meetings on track?</li> <li>I work in an agency with a designer-centric culture. How do I make myself heard?</li> </ol> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p>

<p>It’s a special ng-conf live episode! <a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions in front of a live audience:</p> <ol> <li>When you go freelancing, do your coding skills atrophy?</li> <li>What is something you wish you knew about freelancing before you started?</li> <li>I met all my aggressive career goals. What next?</li> </ol> <p>Here is the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qr0d05X5-AsyDYqKRCfgGGcWSshTMd_vfTggfhDpbls/edit">Khan Academy Engineering Ladder</a> Jamison mentioned towards the end of the show.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>Our codebase is really bad, and management hired a contractor behind our backs to rewrite it. What should I do?</li> <li>How important are job titles when looking for a new job?</li> </ol> <p>Here is the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qr0d05X5-AsyDYqKRCfgGGcWSshTMd_vfTggfhDpbls/edit">Khan Academy Engineering Ladder</a> Jamison mentioned towards the end of the show.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I was hired for one thing, but ended up doing something <em>very</em> different that I don’t enjoy. What do I do?</li> <li>How do I tell my manager that I’m moving into management on another team?</li> </ol>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I feel guilty about how slow I’m working. What should I do?</li> <li>I’d like to find a job, but I don’t have any completed side projects or an interesting GitHub profile. How can I explain this?</li> </ol>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I’m a junior developer on a team of seniors, and I’m also the Scrum Master. Our team has <em>lots</em> of problems. What do I do?</li> <li>Jamison openly talks about not finishing his degree. How did he put it on his resume or explain it to potential employers?</li> </ol> <p>In question two Jamison discovers he has been lying on his LinkedIn profile for half a decade, and freaks out a little bit. The mistake is corrected, but can the damage ever be undone? Tune in next week on <em>SOFT SKILLS ENGINEERING</em>.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>I didn’t quit my job. Did I mess up?</li> <li>I was hired to manage a team, but it is actually just me. What do I do?</li> </ol>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>What do I do if I suspect my co-worker plagiarized my homework assignment in their own interview?</li> <li>My employer is making me provide my own laptop. Is this normal?</li> </ol> <p>We mention <a href="https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/08/09/the-joel-test-12-steps-to-better-code/">The Joel Test</a>. Also remember to tweet about the show for endorsements from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-smith-8895461/">Dave</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamison-dance-70469b28/">Jamison</a> for completely serious and relevant skills like doomsday-bunker-building and yodeling.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>When and how do you quit a company that is on a death march?</li> <li>How do I find out if I’m underpaid?</li> </ol>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>How soon into a new job is it appropriate to raise concerns?</li> <li>What do you do when issues in your personal life affect your work?</li> </ol> <p>Thank you to Algolia for sponsoring this episode. Check out their job posting at <a href="https://www.algolia.com/softskillsengineering">algolia.com/softskillsengineering</a>.</p> <p>Also thanks to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which I spent 310 hours playing.</p>

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/djsmith42">Dave</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/jamison_dance">Jamison</a> answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>How do I deal with my new job that turns out to be crappy?</li> <li>How do I know how hard to push back against more experienced engineers when suggesting a new idea?</li> </ol> <p>Thank you to Algolia for sponsoring this episode. Check out their job posting at <a href="https://www.algolia.com/softskillsengineering">algolia.com/softskillsengineering</a>.</p>

<p>It’s our first RAPID FIRE episode, where we answer a bunch of questions rapid-ish-ly.</p> <ol> <li>Why do I get passed up for developer jobs?</li> <li>Should I take this high-paying job even though it’s a scary change?</li> <li>Should I quit my first job after five years?</li> </ol> <p>We also answer a longer question:</p> <p>How do I deal with a micromanaging project manager?</p> <p>Thank you to Algolia for sponsoring this episode. Check out their job posting at <a href="https://www.algolia.com/softskillsengineering">algolia.com/softskillsengineering</a>.</p>

<p>Dave and Jamison answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>When I let someone go, should I tell them the reason why?</li> <li>How do I write a good job description?</li> </ol> <p>We mention Julia Evans’ blog post <a href="https://jvns.ca/blog/2016/10/21/a-litmus-test-for-job-descriptions/">A litmus test for job descriptions</a> in the second question.</p>

<p>Dave and Jamison answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>What do internships cost companies?</li> <li>How do you feel about asking hard technical computer science questions in interviews?</li> </ol> <p>The second question was prompted by this tweet:</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">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"</p>— Samantha 🐝 Quiñones (@ieatkillerbees) <a href="https://twitter.com/ieatkillerbees/status/808831573785243649">December 14, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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

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

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

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

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

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

<p>In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>What do you think of unlimited vacation policies?</li> <li>How do I enforce coding best practices?</li> </ol> <p>Show notes, because Jamison is feeling ambitious:</p> <ul> <li>The <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664">Netflix culture slides</a> we mentioned</li> <li><a href="https://www.pylint.org/">pylint</a>, the linter Dave talked about</li> </ul>

<p>In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>How can I attract talent?</li> <li>How do I quit without burning bridges?</li> </ol>

<p>In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:</p> <ol> <li>Do certifications help me?</li> <li>How can I solve an avoidance problem?</li> </ol>