It takes more than great code
to be a great engineer.

Soft Skills Engineering is a weekly advice podcast for software developers.

The show's hosts are experienced developers who answer your questions about topics like:

  • pay raises
  • hiring and firing developers
  • technical leadership
  • learning new technologies
  • quitting your job
  • getting promoted
  • code review etiquette
  • and much more...

Soft Skills Engineering is made possible through generous donations from listeners. A heart with a striped shadowSupport us on Patreon

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Recent Episodes

Latest Episode

Episode 94: Dodging Recommendations and Full Sleeve Tattoos

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This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

  1. As a “less than ideal” engineer was leaving our team, he asked if he could use me as a job reference. How should I tell them no?
  2. What are your thoughts on having full sleeve tattoos (ie, tattoos that cover the entire arm) within engineering?
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Episode 93: Negotiating Annual Raises and Part-Time Work

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This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

  1. My job doesn’t seem to leave room to negotiate salary or raises for our year-end review. Is this normal? How do I negotiate in this process?
  2. Can working part-time, when it’s possible to work full time, to invest in personal development look bad to a future employer?

This tweet storm by Sarah Mei is good and relevant.

This is the video about making your own font and anagraphs that Jamison mentioned at the end. It is SO GOOD.

This is a funny and enlightening video that people of taste and culture will appreciate. This one is also good. Ok fine, they are all good.

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Episode 92: Career Death by Friction and New Job Woes

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This week Jamison and Dave answer these questions:

  1. A previous job involved a coworker who, over time, became very difficult to get along with.

    I did my best to talk it through with him, but he would only ever say I needed to “fix my attitude”. I tried to deflect and avoid conflict, but he’d continually impose himself on the situation. (Assign himself to review my code, come into my cube and demand my help, etc.)

    I had good relationships with the rest of the team, and they all agreed that he was out of line. Yet management viewed the situation as simply friction between two devs, with no clear instigator.

    Being a source of team friction is career death, and I’m personally embarrassed that anyone got that impression of me.

    How can I (or other listeners) handle this situation so that I don’t get painted as “part of the problem?”

  2. I’ve started a new job. I’m enjoying the work and the culture slightly less, and I discovered my salary could have been much higher had I negotiated harder. Is it too late to negotiate for a higher salary after I’ve already joined?

    Dave mentions this article on salary negotiation. It’s good!