Engineering

Is it normal for coworkers to completely ghost you after a layoff? I was recently laid off, and my former coworkers that I considered friends have just vanished into thin air. I haven't received any c...

I recently switched to salary, and my workload exploded. Suddenly, everything is "urgent," so I'm working 2–3 hours of unpaid overtime at home every night. The company is billing the client for my ext...

What’s something you believed early in your career that now feels completely backwards? I used to think the smartest engineer was the most valuable person in the room. Now I think it’s usually the cle...

I'm a senior IC with over six years at my company, and nearing the end of my career. There are only two others at my level in our department. When I resign, how much notice is appropriate? Also, does ...

How do you handle disagreements with your manager about technical decisions? I’ve learned to pick my battles and always come with data instead of opinions when I do push back. It doesn’t always work, ...

What’s the greenest flag you’ve seen in an engineering team’s culture? For me it’s when senior engineers ask questions in public channels instead of always having the answers. It normalizes not knowin...

I'm a junior engineer, but I inherited a project mid-construction because the designer left. I wasn't around for the early phases, but now I’m running the site meetings. I'm stressed about the technic...

How do you know when it’s time to leave a job vs. stick it out and push through a rough patch? For me it comes down to whether the core reasons I took the role are still intact. If the work is still i...

Do you think engineering gets more technical or more psychological over time? The longer I work with teams and systems, the more human behavior seems to matter.

How can you expect a non software engineer thats never done software to do simpler code? Lol i find it so funny when experience professionals think u can do everything like them.

I graduated in 2023 currently living in Florida with 3.5 years of experience in aerospace. I got my engineering degree in electrical and I’m wondering if I’m screwed trying to land a job within electr...

I'm looking for ways to fix bad timing in meetings. I always have input, but I spend too much time overthinking and working up the courage to say it. By the time I’m ready, the topic has changed and m...

Do you think the best engineers are the ones who spot problems early or the ones who solve them quickly? I’m starting to think spotting them early creates far more value.

Is it okay to make small talk during active work hours? I've always saved casual chats for breaks, but recently noticed that my manager often starts informal conversations with teammates who seem dist...

My manager takes my work (which takes hours), feeds it to AI, and tells me to match the AI's output. Except the AI version makes zero sense for the actual project. I'm so annoyed and checked out that ...

I’ve been working in construction since I graduated 5 years ago. I’ve gradually realized I don't want to do this for the next 3 decades, but I feel stuck. Is it too late to switch engineering discipli...

I've been stuck in a pure maintenance cycle for six months, and I'm starting to feel like a script-runner instead of an engineer. I'm trying to move into a senior-level job, and I worry about stagnati...

What’s one engineering “best practice” that you think is actually overused or applied in situations where it doesn’t add much value? For me, it’s excessive documentation on very small, low-risk change...

Finally getting into AI in the way that I think it was meant to be used. Claude is a game changer. I was just using chat GPT to make goofy images. Claude can actually do work! Anyone else using AI in ...

A senior engineer on my team is leaving, and our manager sent a link for a farewell gift card. She mentored me when I was a junior, so I want to chip in, but I can't see what others are giving and hav...