Tech Hiring Bubble Bursts

I wasn’t around in the 90s, but people who were say it was incredible. If you could code, you were set. Talent was rare. There were opportunities almost everywhere. In the 2000s and early 2010s, that momentum kept going. Engineers climbed fast, management and then director roles in their 30s, big paychecks, life was good. Then came the pandemic, and […]

Perception vs Perspective

Have you ever found yourself questioning someone’s decision, only to realize later that you didn’t have the full picture? You know it’s really easy to get caught up in our own way of thinking. And then we expect others to see things just as we do. It shouldn’t be surprising that most people do the same. Everyone gets stuck with […]

From Engineer to Manager

I often get asked whether someone should transition into management. In the past, this might have been the only viable growth path. However, in most large organizations today, this is no longer true, as you can be a leader without managing people. It really comes down to a fundamental question: do you genuinely want to, and would you enjoy it? […]

Engineering Health Essentials

Engineering health is a term that deserves far more attention than it receives. Sustainable software development is not only about the features we ship or the speed at which we deliver. Every organisation, even the healthiest ones, makes subpar decisions over time. Some are technical decisions that turn into technical debt. Others are operational decisions that solidify into weak processes […]

Designing A Key-Value Store

I’ve been asked once to design a key value store in an interview. It looks easy at first. Then it gets hard, fast.  What makes it interesting is how ambiguous it is. I started using it for interviewing staff+ level myself as well, because the ambiguity is really hard to get right. I like this question because you can approach […]