Tag: engineeradvice

Your Idea Of A Dream Job Is Wrong – Here Is How To Adjust Your Thinking

Published 2021/10/21

Your Idea Of A Dream Job Is Wrong – Here Is How To Adjust Your Thinking

Have you ever sat back and considered how strange, weird, and often times dumb humans are?

This isn’t about looking up whatever craziness Florida Man has gotten into lately.

What I am referring to is how hard it is for the human brain to recognize and understand the current world around us each and every day.

Think about it using that big, wrinkly brain of yours.

We build and create some amazing and wonderful things. We hope for the future. We even have a word, nostalgia, that defines looking back at the positives in our past.

Yet, if you were to ask any random human what they would call their dream job, how would they respond?

Your Salary And Title At Work Do Not Define You

Published 2021/08/19

Your Salary And Title At Work Do Not Define You

Think back to the last time you met someone new.

The circumstances may end up dictating the conversation – if you are on a sinking boat you probably won’t stop to chat with the person next to you while you are both trying to stay afloat.

However, in many social situations, meeting a new person often goes something like this:

“Hey, Kevin, I would like you to meet my [insert one of the following: friend/co-worker/teammate/acquaintance/random person I just met], so-and-so.”

“Hi, so-and-so! How are you?”

“I’m good. Thanks for asking. So…. what do you do for a living?”

It may not always happen that quickly and it may be asked in different forms, but thinking back over meeting new humans in my lifetime that question comes up a lot.

Which begs an even greater question: why do we insist on defining new people that we meet by their jobs?

Stop Using Me As A Reference On Your Resume

Published 2021/07/13

Stop Using Me As A Reference On Your Resume

Boom! Right smack dab in the middle of my day I get a fresh, unsolicited email dropped into the middle of my inbox. Dear Kevin, So-and-so listed you as a reference and I wanted to reach out and ask you some questions. Can you please provide detailed responses to the following 12 questions about this person for me please? Thanks,Corporate Recruiter Wow. Yeah, that is just what I needed. More work to do today. Hey, so-and-so. Why don’t you just take me off your references list as I don’t have time for that. Whew – deep breath. Let me start over. Having ranted and raved about the whole resume process and how awful it is many times previously, the act of putting references on a resume and then in the recruiter following up and reaching out to said references is just the cherry on top of a putrid pie. However,…

How High Do Developers Jump?

Published 2021/06/27

How High Do Developers Jump?

How high can you jump? The answer doesn’t really matter – the whole question is theoretical in any case. The real question is – when your boss tells you to jump what initial thrust is needed and at what angle to achieve the desired flight path while sailing through the air. It might also just be the case that your boss doesn’t even want you to jump at all. Sit down. This isn’t about leaping about all nimbly-bimbly here and there. What this is about is a discussion about professional development as a software developer. The jumping metaphor is a great way to describe a transition for any developer from a fresh-faced newbie to a more seasoned next level developer. You know, one of those people that now has just enough information to be dangerous? Let’s take a step back and not jump to any conclusions yet. See what I…

Do You Even Process Bro?

Published 2021/05/30

Do You Even Process Bro?

Yeah the title sucks. That is what I get for having kids and living with teenagers – the constant meme-driven noise that pervades every aspect of home life. The title is a deviation from an older meme about weightlifting that has been co-opted into a simple question about doing things that seem obvious and common. Things that we should all be doing. Which brings us to the topic at hand. Processes. The thought of building and following a process can unfortunately have some negative connotations. Processes almost always carry overhead and paperwork. They take time. They can be tedious. Yet there are processes all around us in the business world. They are, at a deep level, a means of communication. Of structure. Of collaboration. To an Engineer, a finely tuned process is a thing of beauty. But I digress. While the goal is to argue for processes and the value…

You Are Wrong To Think Kids Are Stupid Or Lazy

Published 2021/05/08

You Are Wrong To Think Kids Are Stupid Or Lazy

It is easy to think that kids these days are stupid and lazy. But what if this isn’t true they are just as smart and work just as hard in their own way?

Why You Should Never, Ever Use The Phrase: “But It Works On My Machine”

Published 2019/12/26

Why You Should Never, Ever Use The Phrase: “But It Works On My Machine”

You weren’t hired to make it work on your machine – you were hired to make it work on every other machine in the world…

Seven Things I Want Any New Engineer On My Team To Know

Published 2019/12/10

Seven Things I Want Any New Engineer On My Team To Know

The following seven things are all part of what I want any newbie on my team to know, embrace, and understand at a deep level. Anyone who has made it through the hiring process and who can embrace these ideas should end up being a great teammate. Or – if unable to get through the learning curve that these ideas imply – at least we will find out sooner rather than later that we might have whiffed on this person as a valuable member of this team. So here are the seven things that I want any new Engineer on my team to know.

Published 2019/09/29

#EngineerAdvice

It is time I added this final category topic. Way back in the intro to the # category topics I mentioned that I wanted to provide an area to give new Engineers advice. Welcome to #EngineerAdvice. For any new Engineers first you need to know that working in a professional setting is new, different, and often hard. There are unwritten rules to follow, your responsibilities are greater, and the challenges are different than what you have experienced in the past. While in school or training you are responsibly for yourself and your knowledge. Sure – you may work on some smaller teams and share some responsibility but now you are working for an organization and you are just one piece of the puzzle. There are minefields around working with other humans, office politics, and project expectations that you will have to learn about and navigate. The fist and primary thing…