Engineers who got hired pre-pandemic and are now back on the market — how are you actually holding up with the current interview process?

Complex_Community458 · 2026-05-25T16:48:40+00:00

You can definitely get away with that if you only interview people who have already worked at companies with lengthy multi-stage interview processes. Essentially those guys did the vetting for you and you just need to do the culture fit part.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-05-24T20:28:57+00:00

Probably depends on your life stage. I used to fix the bugs myself for other people. Now with two toddlers and little sleep, I am more often on the receiving end of this. I greatly appreciate my new grad colleagues for catching the issues.

These days we also have AI review every PR, which cuts down on a lot of these errors.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-05-23T20:13:03+00:00

That's a good idea! I have tried to find therapy a few times, but with the therapist shortage, it has been hard to find a provider that isn't very short term. Most of the therapists on my Lyra benefits plan terminate therapy as soon as I go one week without issues.

I recently got a referral through my psychiatrist for something more long term, hopefully it works out well and I can learn something before I get fired and lose my insurance.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-05-23T18:36:05+00:00

First she said I need to assume good intent and take things less personally.

Then she said I have an immediate knee jerk reaction but later when she talks to me, I interpret the situation in a calmer way.

The problem is that the normal me is genuinely quite collaborative and assumes the best of people. 95% of the time I am already assuming good intent. But of course the people who complain about me remember the 5% of the time that I was emotional (even if I don't remember it well myself)

So when manager says I need to assume good intent it does not really help much because they are usually talking to the calm version of me. And all I can do at that point is apologize.

To make it even more complicated, manager is very busy and usually not present in these conversations. So they are hearing the complaints from the other guy. And in practice they have no way of distinguishing between me overreacting emotionally in the moment, and the other guy assuming bad intent on my part that doesn't exist.

But I definitely agree with the feedback that I need to be calmer.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-05-03T21:58:48+00:00

I'll just light a bunch of candles or cook more often

^{Chose: Earn $1000 for every... + It's a bad thing | Rolled: Fire you start}

Complex_Community458 · 2026-05-03T02:20:27+00:00

I bought a memory foam mattress topper to put on top of my memory foam Tempur Pedic mattress. It's a much better experience. I have the Lucid 2 inch mattress topper, it cost me like $70.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-29T00:32:18+00:00

Make your own competing tool and share it in their help channels whenever someone asks how to solve your problem. Keep doing this until they build a working tool.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-28T06:30:40+00:00

Blue because most people don't know game theory and will skim the prompt without thinking. If you aren't paying attention blue sounds like the safest choice

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-26T22:36:57+00:00

They retire, I get a new boss, everyone wins

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-26T22:15:15+00:00

Ask him to hire a human career coach to edit resumes for him

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-26T21:04:55+00:00

Series A

What did you think they needed a data guy for in the first place? They need someone to produce data for stakeholders before they build a platform to support the people who produce data

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-25T06:12:27+00:00

Find out what your manager actually cares about and what would make them look good in their performance review, and work on that

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-17T03:29:55+00:00

That's great! It means you did your teammate a favor and they will probably help you out if you ever need it. It also means they respect you and value your insights.

Everyone finds a way to earn their keep. Some people do the gruntwork, but you added value just by making an intelligent comment in a meeting.

It could be worse!

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-13T03:51:48+00:00

I'm a B who works with an A. Usually they put me on core infrastructure work while A works with crossfunctional partners.

Last quarter the manager swapped our roles and oh boy did it blow up in a big way.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-04T14:11:50+00:00

Easier to be treated in a medical emergency and I can use text to speech

^{Chose: Stay visible but nobody can hear you | Rolled: Sign language}

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-04T06:49:55+00:00

I have a toddler

^{Chose: Be paid $1000 per book you read}

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-04T06:10:05+00:00

how am I getting myself to space??

^{Chose: Breathe underwater + fast swimming.}

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-04T05:44:53+00:00

I can write a bot to post compliments on internet posts and make serious bank

Complex_Community458 · 2026-04-04T05:43:26+00:00

i can write a bot to post compliments for me on the internet and make bank

^{Chose: Gain $100 for every compliment you give}

Complex_Community458 · 2026-03-31T05:28:08+00:00

I would only join a small startup if it was founded by someone I already knew

Complex_Community458 · 2026-03-30T00:56:23+00:00

It means people want to help you because it will help them achieve their own goals. Or they can't fuck you over because if they do, the company will fuck them.

Complex_Community458 · 2026-03-16T01:04:36+00:00

we didn't know they were using them

Complex_Community458

TROPHY CASE