Episode 21: Giving work to interns and dealing with "dead weight" developers
In episode 21, Jamison and Dave answer these questions:
What kind of work should interns be given?
How do you handle developers who are dead weight?
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...
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Here's what listeners say:
Discovered the @SoftSkillsEng podcast last week and started from the beginning. Their topics and discussions from 2016 are just as relevant and applicable today as then.
— Robert Pearce (@RobertWPearce) March 13, 2023
It’s my new favorite programmer podcast.
I just started listening to @SoftSkillsEng and it is just great!
— Patrick Scheibert 🇺🇦 (@CareForCode) April 8, 2022
This podcast is funny and entertaining and a great source for learning about the non-technical things of being a Software Developer.
I really recommend it to all fellow engineers!
The (aptly titled) @SoftSkillsEng is great. @djsmith42 and @jamison_dance are hilarious. I often go back and visit the back catalog for inspiration.
— Dhruv Vemula (@dhruvtv) March 3, 2023
@SoftSkillsEng Thanks guys for all the podcasts I have learned so much! I used many of the things you talk about on your podcasts to finally getting a role as senior software eng at an great company surrounded super smart amazing people, couldn't be happier!
— Mattchupichu Watson (@MattchupichuW) April 8, 2022
@SoftSkillsEng podcast is a must-listen! It's certainly targeted towards software engineering, but the advice is pretty widely applicable, especially new/aspiring managers. All those #100devs folks ought to check it out!
— Noah Wright (@NoahWrightDev) April 12, 2022
Recent Episodes
Episode 20: Stories from people who got fired and doing effective code reviews
In episode 20, Jamison and Dave share some stories from people who have been fired.
We also answer this question: How do I make code reviews more effective? It feels like reviewers fit into 2 categories: either they are too quick and superficial, or they get bogged down in nit picks.
Episode 19: Firing someone for a coding mistake and getting demoted
In episode 19, Jamison and Dave answer these questions:
Would you ever fire someone over a coding mistake? For example, should you empathize with ignorance and explain how SQL injection works or is the mistake so basic as to be intolerable. Would you change your answer if the mistake was found during a code review or found as the source of a data breach?
How do you positively represent the desire to be demoted? I am called a ‘senior engineer’, but I got that way because of null instead of actual skill. I would like to be a senior engineer at some point, but I would be a better one if I travel more where I have seniors to look up to, established processes etc rather than stressing about defining everything myself; but that’s a weird thing to say to a current or potential boss and is hard to do without also volunteering for a pay cut.