Soft Skills Engineering

By Jamison Dance and Dave SmithBusiness Technology

Soft Skills Engineering episodes

February 28, 2017Episode 49: Candidate Plagiarism and a Tightwad Employer
Dave and Jamison answer these questions:
What do I do if I suspect my co-worker plagiarized my homework assignment in their own interview?

My employer is making me provide my own laptop. Is this normal?
We mention The Joel Test. Also remember to tweet about the show for endorsements from Dave and Jamison for completely serious and relevant skills like doomsday-bunker-building and yodeling.
28 min
February 21, 2017Episode 48: Quitting a Death March & Am I Underpaid
Dave and Jamison answer these questions:
When and how do you quit a company that is on a death march?

How do I find out if I’m underpaid?
33 min
February 14, 2017Episode 47: Speaking Up In A New Job and Personal Issues
Dave and Jamison answer these questions:
How soon into a new job is it appropriate to raise concerns?

What do you do when issues in your personal life affect your work?
Thank you to Algolia for sponsoring this episode. Check out their job posting at algolia.com/softskillsengineering.
Also thanks to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which I spent 310 hours playing.
31 min
February 07, 2017Episode 46: My New Crappy Job and Youth vs the Status Quo
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.
41 min
January 28, 2017Episode 45: RAPID FIRE and Micromanagers
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 posting at algolia.com/softskillsengineering.
25 min
January 25, 2017Episode 44: Discussing Firing and Writing Job Postings
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.
35 min
January 16, 2017Episode 43: Internship Costs and CS Interview Questions
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 (@ieatkillerbees) December 14, 2016
41 min
January 02, 2017Episode 42: Bootcamp Job Hopping and Cultural Reliability
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?
31 min
December 28, 2016Episode 41: Management Snobs and Two Bosses
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?
25 min
December 21, 2016Episode 40: Office Visibility and New Tech
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?
34 min

About Soft Skills Engineering

From the publisher's feed

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…