Engineering Management Q&A and Videos

A teammate of mine has sometimes delayed tasks and informed about them at the last minute leading to us missing the delivery deadlines. As the tech lead, I've shared this feedback along with explaining the impact and suggestions to tackle the issue. I've encountered this situation a few times even after sharing this feedback.

What other steps can I take to help the teammate and minimise the overall impact on our delivery?

Trying to decide about taking an IC role I received in big tech (my first one! Thanks, Alex and Rahul!). I'm very excited about it except that I'm concerned about whether I'd still have the option to be an EM again someday, if I took this offer (I am an EM in a very small company now).

Do you think someone with this resume/background would still have a shot at EM roles? Doesn't need to be FAANG or big tech, but EM roles in at least mid-tier companies.

My resume would look like this, in this order:

• 12 YOE as software engineer and senior software engineer in small non-brand-name companies (no modern tech or working at scale). I did lead some teams of 6-9 people for about two years during this time (some EM jds will count that toward management experience)
• 1.5 YOE as software manager/director managing three then six people in a small non-brand-name company (got role through internal promotion) (little modern tech, no distributed systems or working at scale, not a great management culture in this company, management is very casual, I have a lot of exposure to the overall business, though)
• 1 or more YOE as a senior engineer at a big tech company (first work experience working at scale with distributed systems and modern tech, mentor team members, manage an intern or two if allowed, work on management- and impact-related goals with manager, options for impact in the org)

There are actually lots of EM roles requiring experience with distributed systems, microservices, large-scale consumer-facing products, modern tech, etc. I don't meet the basic requirements for these roles now but would meet them after working as an IC in big tech.

Which path to choose after spending 5+ years as a developer in product based company??

What are the factors to consider or questions to ask myself before choosing the path??

Please Suggest.

Hey,

I have 12+ years of experience and would like to move to management ladder. I have been working with my manager for over a year to get there.

Couple weeks ago I got to know that my manager is leaving the company. I am worried that with his departure all the effort I put in over the last one year would be wasted. My manager mentioned that he has recommended me as his potential replacement to his skip(Director) but he(manager) is not sure if the company will back-fill the position or not.

My departing manager gave me the following suggestions so that I stay on track with my career goals:

• Have regular conversations with the skip(Director) and VP so that they know I am very much interested in moving to leadership positions
• Keep HR folks in the loop too, so that they can spot/help me with any managerial positions opening up outside of my org(different team in the company)

I have monthly skip level 1:1 & have mentioned this interest of mine(moving to management ladder) to him.

I am not sure how frequently should I talk to VP & HR as well as how to bring this career aspiration of mine to their notice. Should I have monthly sync's with VP & HR personnel too?

I am an L5 TL, of a team of less than 10 people. My manager very recently asked me whether I am interested in becoming an EM (managing most if not all of the people on my team).

I like coding and technical contributions, but I believe I like helping people succeed more, including having crucial conversations where things aren't going well. Those things don't come naturally to me, BUT I get great satisfaction out of those tricky situations. I would also like the opportunity to build a team of amazing individuals who come together around a central goal. Based on this I am leaning yes.

However, I know the EM path isn't all roses. What are the top 3 questions I ought to consider, before I decide whether I want to do this?

I have been generalist my whole career, I have moved from front end web development --> platform as a service web development --> microservices cloud development and now as a ML engineer, all on different tech stacks. I am pretty late in career now, 12-15 years in. What do you recommend, in terms of going forward, do I have a chance with trying to be a staff, or should I switch to PM/EM role? I would eventually want to be a good EM.

Does working in different area - infra, developer experience, product, backend, frontend over the career period hurt in terms of becoming/staying a staff engineer or manager?

Hello Everyone, I have 16+ years of Software Engineering and 6+ years of Engineering management experience. I have worked in 14 different companies (ranging from startups to FAANG --> ). And I really enjoy helping engineers grow, building teams and fostering the team culture.

Currently I am an Engineering Manager at Meta and I am interested to prepare a course that will benefit the highest amount of people on this platform.

Could you please pick the course (just comment with 1-10 number or suggest your title) from this list that you would like Taro to have:

1. Top 10 secrets of becoming an engineer managers like
2. How to be the top engineer of the team?
3. How to become an engineer that grows faster than anyone?
4. How to be an ideal engineer that manager wants to promote?
5. Top 10 mistakes engineers are usually doing in communication with their managers
6. The Hidden Pitfalls in Engineer-Manager Communication (and How to Avoid Them)
7. What Your Manager Wishes You Knew: Essential Communication Tips for Engineers
8. Cracking the Code of Manager-Engineer Communication: Common Mistakes and Solutions
9. How To Transition To M1
10. How To Be A Strong M1