Career
9 articles in Career.
Staff Engineer Layoff Survival Guide: Lessons from 2008, 2020, 2023 — and Now
I've survived three tech recessions. Lost my job in one, held the axe in another. The AI boom changed the rules again. The updated playbook for 2026.
The Principal IC Playbook Nobody Shares With You
Reaching principal is the first rung of a new ladder, not the last rung of the old one. What nobody told me about the ownership-autonomy paradox, how leverage works at this level, and the charter model I wish I'd had from day one.
The Three Things Exceptional Engineering Leaders Do (And the One They Stop Doing)
Most engineering leaders excel at one of three pillars and quietly fail at the other two. The three are: providing direction, removing obstacles, foreseeing change. What it takes to build strength across all three.
Three Ways to Know If Your Career Is Actually Growing
Normal career metrics: title, pay, team size. They tell you how you're doing relative to others. They don't tell you whether you're growing. Three metrics that do.
Time vs. Timing: The Career Framework I Wish I Had Earlier
I've made bets that paid off because of timing and bets that paid off because of compounding. Confusing the two is how careers stall.
From Contractor to Consultant: The Mindset Shift That Changes Your Income
Contractors sell time. Consultants sell results. That distinction is the whole game. How I changed my pricing, positioning, and client selection once it clicked.
Agency Beats Intelligence: How I Now Hire (And Evaluate Myself)
Raw intelligence is abundant and cheap. The engineers thriving in the AI era are the ones with agency: setting goals, acting under uncertainty, self-correcting. How I changed my interview process to find them.
You Are No Longer a Coder: The Shift from Execution to Direction
I stopped writing most of my own code. What changed, what I delegated to AI, what I found it can't do, and why the hardest part of the transition had nothing to do with technology.
The Async-First Engineering Team: What Actually Works (And What Doesn't)
I went async-first with my remote engineering team. Productivity went up. Culture took a hit. What changed, what broke, and the specific practices that made it worth it.