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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Jamison Dance And Dave Smith Podcasts
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 479: Contractors to the rescue and dinged for delay
34:57
34:57
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34:57
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey skillet nation, long time skilletee first time skilleter here. I started at a scale up about 6 months ago and recently, I was asked to help with a project that was greatly behind schedule. The folks responsible for the original system are no longer at the company, and the team currently …
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Episode 478: Can you coach self-awareness and my boss is an llm
38:18
38:18
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38:18
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Can you coach self-awareness? I manage someone who seems to believe their skill set is on par with their teammates, regardless of their constant PR feedback regarding the same issues over and over, the extra attention they are regularly given to help them overcome coding challenges, and the …
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Episode 477: Four months and I already hate my job and grumpy and fuzzy
37:51
37:51
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37:51
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey guys, I have been working for four months at my job and I already don’t like it. This is my first job out of college and I work as a C# backend engineer for a small B2B SaaS company. I really think this company is a dead end. There is a lot of technical debt and antipatterns and we have …
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Episode 476: How much help is too much help and guarding against slop
37:36
37:36
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37:36
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Two junior engineers recently joined my team, and I’ve been tasked with onboarding them. This is the first time I’ve been responsible for junior devs, and I’m struggling with how to coach them up. For context, we’re a small engineering team where self-sufficiency is highly valued; processes/…
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Episode 475: Am I too loyal to my big tech job and politely preserving time
33:26
33:26
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33:26
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi! I’m currently working for a big tech company and I’ve just accepted an internal transfer to another team. At the same time, an external company reached out, offering me a job for a role I’m interested in and twice my current compensation. I’m not sure what to do. The offer from the new c…
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Episode 474: I hate the idea of firing a low performer and cheaper context switching
38:04
38:04
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38:04
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Dave & Jamison, Long time listener, first time google-form filler outer! I work in a hybrid role as a lead developer and manager of a small team (less than 5). I’m new to management and most of ny experience so far has been with smart, motivated engineers. . . UNTIL! My new recruit is dri…
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Episode 473: Mental health support and overcoming FOMO of taking a break from work
35:59
35:59
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35:59
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Jamison and Dave! I am not a developer, but my question is hopefully transferable. I sit in between lawyers and developers. I advise on technology that can be applied to legal processes and I support our teams in using a range of platforms and AI tools to be more efficient across their wo…
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Episode 472: Should my junior dev use AI and thrown in to ETL
26:59
26:59
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26:59
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’m the CTO of a small startup. We’re 3 devs including me and one of them is a junior developer. My current policy is to discourage the use of AI tools for the junior dev to make sure they build actual skills and don’t just prompt their way through tasks. However I’m more and more questionin…
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Episode 471: Why does my junior engineer do so little and I fell asleep in a Zoom meeting
28:34
28:34
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28:34
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’m a senior developer on a small team, and I’m feeling frustrated with a junior developer I work with. They’re smart and perfectly capable, but they stick very strictly to the confines of their assigned work. They’ll finish their tickets, but unless they’re directly asked, they don’t offer …
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Episode 470: I said something stupid in a meeting and just want to code
30:12
30:12
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30:12
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I was on a meeting with a team generally regarded to be pretty annoying to deal with and not particularly useful. The meeting was pretty annoying and not particularly useful. I audibly said to myself after leaving “holy crap what a waste of time.” Turns out I hadn’t left and may not have bee…
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Episode 469: Passed over for lead role and perhaps I'm the jerk
35:53
35:53
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35:53
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’m a long time listener to the podcast. Thanks for reading and answering my question! I have over 20+ yrs experience as a manual QA and 6+ yrs experience as a SDET. I’m in a new role as a hybrid manual QA / SDET for a company that hasn’t had QA for a few years. After a couple of months a ne…
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Episode 468: Should I take a mini-retirement and doubling down on anachronisms
31:12
31:12
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31:12
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Dave and Jamison, Long-time listener, first-time question asker. Thank you both for the wisdom, perspective, and jokes you bring to the podcast. I recently received an inheritance of around $500,000. It’s not “quit your job and buy a yacht” money, but it is enough to reshape my life. I’m …
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Episode 467: I can't get promoted if I do my job and should I get a degree to get a job in this economy
40:52
40:52
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40:52
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I am a data scientist and was recently passed over for promotion to senior because my projects weren’t “senior level” enough, and I do too many ad hoc requests that delay delivery of my bigger projects. I am a go to for VP and C suite level execs in my company and am commonly asked to help w…
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Episode 466: Bad performance review and moving in to the caves
29:56
29:56
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29:56
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I had my performance review two months ago where I scored a “Does not meet expectations”, which I definitely understand, and my manager told me that some of my coworkers had been complaining about me. I’ve been working hard on improving ever since and my manager told me that they were really…
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Episode 465: Talking to your report's previous manager and how to replace a 30-year-old ticketing system
29:44
29:44
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29:44
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: A listener named Mike says, To what degree do you think it’s appropriate to talk with your peer managers about people that have moved from their team to yours? How much weight do you give their criticisms of an IC that they used to manage that is working out just fine under your leadership? …
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Episode 464: Rehiring an overpaid boomerang and AI has taken over my teammate's brain
49:38
49:38
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49:38
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Mr A. N. Onymous says, Hi Dave and Jamison, Long time listened, second time caller! I wrote a little while back with a common new-manager question about how to handle one of my reports who was at the lower end performance wise, but at the top end on the pay scale. I’d been trying to manage i…
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Episode 463: CTO w/ weak resume and I tried management and it was TERRIBLE
27:16
27:16
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27:16
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Albert Nonymous asks, I am the CTO at a small (5 engineers) tech start-up with non-technical founders. I was their first full-time employee and as such have been able to fully form this company the way I want. I’ve worked here for 9 years now and own 10% of the company. I enjoy the tech and …
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