When friends in engineering say, “I don’t want to be a cog in the machine,” I understand where they are coming from and try to help. I give them advice around not being [boxed in, boxed in part 2]. Explore the engineering domains and projects around your own group. You can also escape that feeling […]
Building confidence for presentations
How do you help an engineer become comfortable with public speaking? My advice is to start with a small audience and increase the size: Give a presentation to you Give a presentation to 2-3 trusted engineers on the team who won’t nitpick or harp on details. Your job is to find supportive engineers. Give a […]
You won’t be like any other manager
I often get life advice from Uber or Lyft drivers. One night while returning to the city, my driver and I started a conversation around living your own life. Many decades ago he was young man working in Hollister. He had a hard time making friends because he only knew people from work and he […]
Always extend into unknown sectors of code
What do you do if you come across code you haven’t worked on? I’ve been in many situations where ownership of a system is in question. Fixing a bug, documenting a system, or deciding the future direction of a product. My career advice to engineers wishing to grow is if you don’t know who the […]
If you want to be a senior engineer, be visible
I asked my friend how developers can advance in his organization. His response was, “Be visible.” Visibility in his work environment brings more responsibility and increased scope of communication. Here’s how he defines the various levels – A junior engineer needs specific requirements with a hand-holding from the manager or tech lead. They don’t interact […]
Boxed in part 2
If you felt trapped in a job you didn’t enjoy – how do you find a way out? Imagine doing the same thing every day. You haven’t been able to change groups. You don’t have much luck finding a job outside because your skills are obsolete. You are able to provide value to your current […]