Ladybug Podcast

In one of our previous episodes, we talked about different jobs within tech, one of which is engineering management. Today we’re joined by the wonderful Amal Hussein, engineering manager at NPM and we’re going to chat more in-depth about her career path.

1:27 - Tell us about yourself

3:10 - Last fall you transitioned into a new role as an Engineering Manager at NPM. How did you make that leap?

5:38 - What does your day to day schedule look like?

8:32 - What’s the hardest thing about being a manager?

13:37 - Hands on vs. hands off management style

17:01- How long have you been in engineering management?

18:33 - What’s the best thing about being a manager?

21:49 - Do you think someone should be an engineer prior to being a manager?

30:15 - Do you still write code?

33:13 - Do you have any book recommendations for management?

36:53 - How do you build personal relationships w/ employees while working remotely?

42:13 - Advice for those looking to become an engineering manager

46:44 - Where can we find you online?

Imagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, where your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, where in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be seriously injured, where every week the countless hours of work you do are not recognized or valued. If any of this sounds familiar, chances are that you're a woman.

This month for the Ladybug Podcast book club we read Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed For Men by Caroline Criado-Pérez. In this episode we’ll discuss our thoughts on the book, what shocked us, what felt a bit forced, and have a discussion about gender bias in the world around us.

Programming interviews are terrifying. There’s so much to learn and nobody enjoys answering technical questions in front of a complete stranger.

In this episode, we’ll dive into the frontend technical interview and give some tips and tricks for nailing it.

2:06 - Our experiences with technical interviews

3:36 - The interview process

14:15 - Phone screens

20:32 - Take home challenges

34:43 - In-person interviews

46:08 - Resources to get better at interviewing

49:00 - Shoutouts

Whether you’re seeking your first developer job or you’re looking to move to a new company, your resume is the first thing employers will see. Having a strong resume is what sets you apart from the competition. In this week’s episode we’re discussing all things resume-building, including what’s important to include, what can be skipped, and best practices for creating your resume.

1:24 - What do our resumes look like?

3:40 - CVs vs. Resumes

12:20 - Resume design

17:09 - What if I don’t have formal computer science education?

23:44 - Should you have an objective or a summary?

25:00 - Should you put references on there?

29:02 - How can I create a resume?

35:57 - Using social media and personal portfolio to back up your resume

37:57 - Shoutouts

Computer science concepts like data structures and algorithms can be super intimidating, especially if you’re cramming the night before an interview.

In this episode, we’ll discuss common algorithms and data structures and give you some tips for your next whiteboarding challenge.

01:44 - Our experience with data structures and algorithms

05:00 - What are algorithms?

06:17 - What is Big O notation?

13:57 - Sorting algorithms

17:55 - Graph traversal

19:20 - Searching algorithms

20:04 - What are data structures

23:05 - Arrays

26:03 - Linked Lists

29:15 - Sets

30:22 - Objects, maps, heaps

34:50 - Binary Trees

35:47 - Stacks and queues

40:08 - Graphs

41:00 - Common interview questions

43:27 - Tips for interviews and where to learn more

We're so excited for the first-ever Ladybug Podcast book club episode! This is a bonus episode which will occur at the end of each month. This month we’re discussing Atomic Habits by James Clear.

If you want to follow along you can check out our Goodreads group and ladybug.dev/books.

0:36 - Our thoughts on the book

04:15 - The importance of habits

06:16 - Systems vs. Goals

08:01 - Layers of behavioral change

09:58 - Stages of habit formation

13:43 - Steps of breaking a bad habit

15:52 - Habit stacking

17:40 - Reward systems

22:00 - What makes habits attractive

28:49 - Our ratings of the book

Every day we see companies market to us with a specific brand voice, and we can recognize the differences from one brand to the next. But what about personal brands? You as a person are a brand - it’s how you portray yourself on the internet and how others perceive you. I’m a brand, Emma’s a brand, Ali’s a brand. We’re all our own unique representations of ourselves. This week we’re discussing what it means to have your own personal brand and everything you need to know about building and managing your brand.

1:43 - What is a personal brand?

8:21 - Why would you want to build a brand?

11:10 - What are the benefits of having a personal brand?

13:29 - Who in tech has done a really good job of branding themselves?

15:29 - How did we build our brands?

18:03 - What platforms can you use to build a brand?

22:55 - The downsides of social media branding.

28:32 - How to build an audience.

32:08 - What we’re excited about in 2020.

One of the biggest things that developers struggle with is design. It’s easy to look at an application and know that it looks terrible, but hard to explain why.

This episode we’re joined by Steve Schoger, co-author of the hugely popular Refactoring UI. We’ll learn some design tips and dive into the story behind the book as well as his other projects Hero Patterns and Hero Icons.

1:40 - Who are you? Tell us a bit more about your coding/design journey.

10:22 - What is your typical day-to-day?

15:40 - What are Hero Patterns and Hero Icons?

21:25 - What is Refactoring UI?

31:40 - What area of design do you think developers struggle the most with?

34:11 - What are the differences between UX design and visual design?

36:56 - Design tips for developers.

41:40 - Where to find Steve online.

We provide transcripts for all of our episodes. You can find them here!

To kick off our new season and a new year, this week we’ll be discussing 20 tips to start off strong in 2020. From mentorship to debugging to strategizing your learning, we'll give you all the advice you need for starting the year off right!

0:32 - 1. Challenge yourself to do something new.

04:30 - 2. Do a little bit each day.

07:03 - 3. Track your wins.

09:30 - 4. Get comfortable with failure.

12:08 - 5. Don't compare yourself to others.

16:28 - 6. Find a community.

19:24 - 7. People can be assholes, that's on them not you.

21:50 - 8. Find a mentor.

25:05 - 9. Take time to learn keyboard shortcuts.

30:30 - 10. Create your toolbox.

34:45 - 11. Learn how to debug.

38:30 - 12. Figure out how to stay up to date.

40:37 - 13. Overcome shiny object syndrome.

44:14 - 14. Pick one skill at a time to work on and learn it until you feel comfortable.

46:50 - 15. Decide if you want to be vertical or horizontal in knowledge.

50:09 - 16. Identify your learning style.

52:18 - 17. Take breaks.

54:29 - 18. Prioritize your values.

57:48 - 19. Use your powers for good.

59:33 - 20. Don’t forget that working in this field is a massive privilege.

01:02:59 - Shoutouts of the week