Nov 22, 2016

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. What do you think of unlimited vacation policies?
2. How do I enforce coding best practices?

Show notes, because Jamison is feeling ambitious:

• The Netflix culture slides we mentioned
• pylint, the linter Dave talked about

Nov 15, 2016

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. How can I attract talent?
2. How do I quit without burning bridges?

Nov 7, 2016

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. Do certifications help me?
2. How can I solve an avoidance problem?

Oct 31, 2016

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. How can a developer damage their credibility online?
2. How can I meet potential employers while I’m still in school?

Oct 26, 2016

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer this question:

1. Why would a developer leave a full time job to do consulting or contracting?

It just so happens that Jamison did this a few months ago, and he shares his experience in making the transition.

Oct 17, 2016

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. Should I go in to management?
2. How do you know if a job is worth applying to?

Oct 8, 2016

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:

1. How should you reach consensus on a team? Should you always have consensus?
2. What is the etiquette around editing code in a shared repository?

Oct 7, 2016

Literally the only episode that the advice “quit your job and get a better one” doesn’t apply.

Dave and Jamison answer the question:

What should I do when starting a new job?

Sep 26, 2016

In episode 28, Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

How long should I stay before I quit my job?

• Two to three years seems fairly normal.
• Dave sees people with less than 12 months regularly.
• Staying at a job means you experience things you wouldn’t if you hopped around a lot.
• It is much easier to see the hype cycle play out if you stick around.
• You get to see the outcome of your own decisions.
• Quitting usually == raise.
• Chronic job hopping might result in a reputation of not sticking with things.
• Dave thinks you should quit your first job after 18 months because of the Monty Hall problem

How do you encourage junior developers to improve?

• We assume that these junior developers really want to improve.
• Make it clear that people get stuck and struggle, and that is normal.
• Make it clear that you don’t want them to get too stuck.
• Make it OK to ask questions.
• People generally live up or down to your expectations, so help them feel trusted and that you expect they will be great.
• Make the outcome of their work clear.

Sep 19, 2016

In episode 27, Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

How do I write a great resume?

• Do you really need a resume these days?
• How important is formatting and good design?
• What content should be on your resume?

Should I push back on non-engineering tasks like PowerPoint presentations?

From listener samspot: I am a Sr. Developer and I am often asked to spend time on PowerPoint presentations for funding and other business stuff. I want to ask why the managers, analysts, etc can’t handle these tasks. I find them to be a frequent distraction from my actual responsibilities, especially because these are so frequently “emergency” requests. Should I push back on this work, or is it better to be a team player?