Podcasts · Technology · Business

Soft Skills Engineering

Jamison Dance and Dave Smith

300 episodes

It takes more than great code to be a great engineer. Soft Skills Engineering is a weekly advice podcast for software developers about the non-technical stuff that goes into being a great software developer.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Episode 536: Mentoring and how to help my team not lose their soul to AI?

    · 31 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Dave and Jamison, long time listener first time caller. I appreciate everything you do, I look forward to my Monday morning commute because of this podcast.…

  2. Episode 535: Manager externalities and should I fight stupid processes

    · 34 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Listener Random Listener asks, You guys talk a lot about externalities, which helped me understand a lot about how my manager works. He wants to do things…

  3. Episode 534: I'm so bad at my job and I've inherited a huge slop pile

    · 35 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Soft Skills Engineering, I’m a senior software engineer with over 20 years of experience. I’m hoping you can help with with a problem where I’m dumb,…

  4. Episode 533: I'm drowning in AI slop from lazy coworkers

    · 33 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey Dave and Jamison. I don’t know what to do with the amount of the AI slop I have to review and I’m getting close to burnout. I have a lot of context on…

  5. Episode 532: My new company is an absolute mess and should I get an English-speaking job as a Japanese engineer?

    · 31 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Dave and Jamison, I’ve been a Java backend dev for over 10 years. After getting laid off from a job I loved, I spent 3 tough months job hunting. I…

  6. Episode 531: Shallow feedback and my coworker is a huge sloperator

    · 34 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Listener Jame ain’t no dance asks,! Hey Space Therapists, I am a consultant that helps big companies to fix all kind of stuff. It’s ridiculous how many…

  7. Episode 530: Product engineering and why does my team never challenge my ideas?

    · 36 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Listener Myamax myamax says, I just listened to episode 527 and could really use some advice on being good at interviews. I was recently laid off with a…

  8. Episode 529: Zoom calls on my open floor plan and laconic staff engineer

    · 34 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Jamison and Dave, jesters of my daily commute. I’m a *mechanical* engineer at a megacorp, and since people are people, I find most of your advice…

  9. Episode 528: Sleepy family software business and leaving after an acquisition

    · 34 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • A listener named “Will angel answer my question?” asks, Hi, I recently joined a new company about 1.5 months ago. It is the technology arm of a…

  10. Episode 527: I lost my job after 10 years and am I too old to switch to a security career?

    · 38 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hello Dave and Jamison! I’m a longtime listener going back to the early days of the podcast, and I’ve listened to every episode since. When I started…

  11. Episode 526: Why can't I get promoted so quickly after my last promotion and I got hired as a software engineer but ended up doing ops

    · 33 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Dave & Jamison! I’ve been listening for almost a year now and have worked through nearly your entire back catalog in reverse. The podcast has genuinely…

  12. Episode 525: How do I save my company of 500 people and my new company is insane with AI

    · 29 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey Dave and Jamison, First, I love your show and it has now been part of my Monday evening routine for many years to listen to your podcast while cooking…

  13. Episode 524: My CTO AI-codes big piles of slop and early mornings, late meetings

    · 32 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I work for a small software company on a team of about 7 or 8 engineers. I like working here. I like the people, the autonomy, the pay, my boss, and the…

  14. Episode 523: (Rerun of 331) Prickly ticket and title downgrade

    · 33 min

    This is a rerun of episode 331. In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Listener ninjamonkey says, I am a new grad who is half a year into the role now at a very large company. Recently, a…

  15. Episode 522: I stayed too long at my first job and should I get a masters degree

    · 29 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I stayed too long at my first company and now my career is ruined? Hi both, long time listener. (Since I graduated university 4 years ago actually and felt…

  16. Episode 521: negotiating . . . now? and doing good work is not enough for promotion?

    · 31 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Dwill Ainghell asks, During the golden era of software development, it was commonly stated that you should always negotiate job offers. The argument was…

  17. Episode 520: I came back to my former team and was shocked by AI and my team does not care at ALL about the code

    · 40 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey Dave & Jamison, Long time listener. Love the podcast. I recently rejoined a remote team that I worked with in the past. I was super stoked to rejoin…

  18. Episode 519: Why does my team not have a tech lead and rumors!

    · 34 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi D&J! Question from Sweden! I’m a senior dev that have seen a lot of orgs without tech lead and/or staff engineer roles. I know some companies have them,…

  19. Episode 518: stuck at startup and is my employer mistreating me because I'm on a visa?

    · 33 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I have been at a small startup company for 5 years now. It’s a very small technical team, 4 devs and a tech lead that contributes code & architecture. I am…

  20. Episode 517: Is it good for my career to work at a SaaS company and why am I being asked to manage two teams?

    · 32 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey guys. This question comes all the way from New Zealand. Recently discovered your podcast about a month ago, and have been catching up with older…

  21. Episode 516: Not a baby and my product manager doesn't know the product

    · 37 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • My company follows scrum, with daily standups. We got a new scrum master. He is very formal and procedural and I struggle with our daily meetings. He goes…

  22. Episode 515: My junior team member won't listen to me and will I be the dumbest employee at a quantum computer company?

    · 35 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi from a long-time listener and first-time caller. I need some advice on a toxic workplace situation. I’m currently unhappy with my job due to a difficult…

  23. Episode 514: Trust issues and underperformers and my coworker resents me for being faster

    · 38 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • My parent organization has trust issues: we registered on a recent survey as one of the lowest across the bigger software org (thousands of employees).…

  24. Episode 513: Forgotten employee and what skills actually matter in the AI world

    · 37 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • How long until I am ethically obligated to let my company know I’m doing no work? There was a big re-org at the company I recently joined. It’s a huge…

  25. Episode 512: Can non-engineers really contribute code with AI and not sharing

    · 43 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Should I declare my struggle with this AI world we live in here? Nah. I mean, I’d like the hype to die down, a lot, but we keep getting new tools and I get…

  26. Episode 511: Should I take a temporary management position and performance-based bonuses

    · 35 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I’m approaching 15 years of experience with the last 7 years at fang. About a year ago I was promoted to staff engineer (thanks to the podcast) and switched…

  27. Episode 510: Old and behind and how do I hang on for the last few years until retirement?

    · 34 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I work at a large remote company. We meet up once or twice a year. I don’t really know much about my engineering coworkers aside from the 5 people on my…

  28. Episode 509: I hate AI software dev, so should I become a manager and leading, not doing

    · 36 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I am a senior software engineer at big tech and need a career change. With the rise of AI, I no longer enjoy this profession and panic everyday just waiting…

  29. Episode 508: My company is an unethical spammer and my coworkers take so much sick time

    · 33 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • How can I get our company to follow the law and stop sending SPAM without being regarded as negative? We’re sending out emails that don’t comply with…

  30. Episode 507: I got fired unexpectedly and breadth and depth

    · 33 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey there, I started a new job in August at a large European retailer. There were ups & downs, but long story short, my weekly one-on-ones with my manager…

  31. Episode 506: I hate my job with AI and my team-mate thinks I suck

    · 41 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Djavison, I’ve heard y’all say something along the lines of “this is the most exciting time to build software” in a few recent episodes. I’m glad that…

  32. Episode 505: Called to the principal's office and my team leads are super dogmatic

    · 46 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I’m a senior software engineer at a remote company (~500–700 people), and over the last year a new HR org replaced our old people team. They’ve spent six…

  33. Episode 504: Should I quit my AI job before my first day and professional button-clicker

    · 32 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Jamison and Dave. Eight years into my software engineering career, all of it at Series B and C startups, I’ve been craving two things: a recognizable…

  34. Episode 503: Hardware is hard and my PMs are pushing AI slop code

    · 37 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I’m a software developer with about 15 years in the industry, and I am soon starting as the CTO of a robotics company with about 50 employees. Though I…

  35. Episode 502: Management keeps leaving and I hate using AI to code

    · 41 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi, thank you for the podcast, I am long time listener, first time asker. Something weird is going on at my company. A colleague of my always wanted to get…

  36. Episode 501: Vibecoding CEO and doing to teaching

    · 29 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • A listener named Derek asks, I am the CTO and cofounder of a startup. Now that vibecoding is a thing, our CEO has kind of gone rogue, and and he’s…

  37. Episode 500: Am I the only one not getting raises and firing my whole team

    · 36 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I have been with my current organization for 5+ years. I like the company and have generally had a good experience working here. However, the last several…

  38. Episode 499: Should I quit my solo dev job with a sports team and senile seniors

    · 33 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I’m a new listener to the podcast and work as the sole developer for a sports team, which is the only company I’ve worked for since graduating from…

  39. Episode 498: Testing in big corporations and how to get my first management job

    · 32 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Dave and Jamison, Internal dev asker from the second half of Episode 441 checking back in. Your “ask what scared the previous dev” advice in particular…

  40. Episode 497: Patronizing perf reviews and can't get anything done as a tech lead

    · 28 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I’m a relatively new people manager and I really struggle when it comes time for performance reviews, or even regular praise or critical feedback in…

  41. Episode 496: Passing non-technical interviews and my internship with only other interns

    · 27 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Listener Tom says, I’m a software developer with six years experience, mostly at small startups with engineering teams anywhere between 2 and 10…

  42. Episode 495: What to do when my boss quits and moving to Romania?

    · 32 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hello gentlemen, long-time listener here, and I’d love your take on something that’s been keeping me up at night. The high powered boss that I report to is…

  43. Episode 494: Am I interviewing all wrong and leaving old team chats

    · 26 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Dear Damison and Javison, I work at a very small startup (<10 engineers) and am trying to hire 2 engineers. I’m doing the intro/screener interview for these…

  44. Episode 493: My boss one-ups my negativity and football engineering

    · 21 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey Guys, long time listener, first time asker! At my BigCorp Co., whenever I talk to my skip level about my concerns, it seems we are playing the ‘Gloom…

  45. Episode 492: Fresh grads and startups or the goog

    · 34 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Listener AWS multi-region is not real multi-region, ask me how I know asks, We’ve recently acquired some bright-eyed and bushy-tailed new grads. What have…

  46. Episode 491: Re-arranging deck chairs on the Titantic and my boss leaks private info

    · 37 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • I handed in my resignation this past Monday. During the conversation, my manager confided in me that this coming Wednesday, 25% of the workforce is being…

  47. Episode 490: How do I break into software dev from QA automation and underselling

    · 26 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hi Dave and Jamison, I’ve been in QA/QA automation for 13 years now with a CS degree, and I’ve been trying to change my role to a software developer for a…

  48. Episode 489: Ethical dilemma for a gambling app dev and ethical employers

    · 35 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey Jamison and Dave, love your show! A question for you guys coming all the way from the Netherlands 🧀 I’ve started as a software engineer in a gambling…

  49. Episode 488: How do I survive in a culture of optics and jira slacker

    · 31 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • Hey Dave and Jamison, Big fan of the show — listening from Portugal! (Proof that even across the Atlantic, software politics are universal.) I’m a tech…

  50. Episode 487: My manager ignores me during 1:1's and I am required to work in an empty office

    · 36 min

    In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: • “My manager insists on a weekly 1:1 with me, but he rarely pays attention. He’s often on his laptop, texting, checking email — basically anything but…

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