Swizec's articles in the "seniormindset" category
I aim to write mindblowing emails with real insight into the career and skills of a modern software engineer. "Raw and honest from the heart!" as one reader described them.
Below are 22 articles filed under seniormindset
. Enjoy ❤️
Software Engineering Lessons from Production
Join Swizec's Newsletter and get insightful emails 💌 on mindsets, tactics, and technical skills for your career. Real lessons from building production software. No bullshit.
"Man, love your simple writing! Yours is the only newsletter I open and only blog that I give a fuck to read & scroll till the end. And wow always take away lessons with me. Inspiring! And very relatable. 👌"
Be their shit umbrella
because if you go to bat for the team, the team goes to bat for you
February 16th, 2022
When it’s okay to work overtime
Not all overtime is bad overtime
December 11th, 2021
What's more productive, a team or a talented soloist?
Engineers *hate it* when you say it doesn't matter how good they are because a team will outcode them any day. But it's true, you can't build something big on your own.
October 15th, 2021
Meetings – a senior engineer's secret weapon
Boo meetings, yay code, right? There comes a time in your career when coding is no longer your highest impact contribution. Might even be holding you back. 🙊
October 1st, 2021
A great engineer knows their tools
Earlier in my career when I thought I was god's gift to engineering but wasn't, I failed one of those stupid interview questions that "have nothing to do with the work". It was a great question.
September 9th, 2021
How to ask for help
what makes a senior engineer stand out in an interview?
No it's not the amount of side projects or their leetcoding speed. It's knowing how and when to ask for help.
August 27th, 2021
Reader question: "When do you fix tech debt?"
Long time reader Phil asks when do you fix the tech debt you used to ship faster. Heroic efforts don't work. The real answer is "always" – a mindset of gardening.
August 17th, 2021
Tech debt is a tool
If your house was on fire, would you mow the lawn first?
August 13th, 2021
What I learned from Software Engineering at Google
When I first picked up Software Engineering at Google I thought it was another one of those FAANG books full of lessons that make no sense at human scale. I was surprised, lessons apply to teams as small as 5.
July 16th, 2021
How to own projects like a senior engineer
The best skill you can learn is ownership. The second best is to let go.
July 2nd, 2021
Why you need a positioning statement
High value experts use positioning statements to say what they do for whom. Most engineers don't have one. 🤨
May 14th, 2021
What matters in a senior engineer job interview
Degree matters if you have nothing better to show, consulting and BigTech backgrounds are negative, too many seniors can't code.
May 7th, 2021
Why senior engineers get nothing done
You start a new job and it's amazing. Code all day, clear objectives, easy guidelines, ship a bunch of features be a hero. Then something happens and suddenly you get nothing done. 🤔
September 11th, 2020
What if engineers were paid like athletes
July 31st, 2020
Why engineers are worth so much
Engineers don't do the day to day work, they build assets the business can exploit for years to come. That's the magic
July 24th, 2020
Why you should talk about engineering salaries
February 21st, 2020
What a hockey legend can teach you about career development
Say your boss gives you $1000 to grow your career. What do you do?
May 9th, 2019
4 years of coding in San Francisco, lessons learned
April 15th, 2019
What makes you a senior software engineer anyway?
I used to think a senior engineer was someone who gets a project, understands the context, puts their head down, and gets it done. But no. A senior engineer does so much more than just write code and design systems.
February 13th, 2019
Why you aren’t drowning in recruiters, too
October 17th, 2018
Should you work at a startup
October 5th, 2018
How resumé-driven development shapes our industry
All that once was new is old again
October 19th, 2017
Software Engineering Lessons from Production
Join Swizec's Newsletter and get insightful emails 💌 on mindsets, tactics, and technical skills for your career. Real lessons from building production software. No bullshit.
"Man, love your simple writing! Yours is the only newsletter I open and only blog that I give a fuck to read & scroll till the end. And wow always take away lessons with me. Inspiring! And very relatable. 👌"