Early Career
Why "They" Are Always Screwing Up: A Guide to Removing Enemies
Everyone should intend to be a leader in their career. You can only lead "us", you can't lead "them".
Latest
Mid Career
Discover Exactly Why Insisting on High Standards is a Thorny Issue
Amazon's brutal culture of high-standards and transparency creates great results, and sometimes hurt feelings. And I'm not sure the latter is avoidable.
People Managers
A Day in the Life of a Software Development Manager with 14 Direct Reports
A story of too much work, too many reports, and perhaps too much ambition.
Early Career
AI Won't Take Software Engineering Jobs
A detailed look at the AI of today, why it's a continuation of yesterday, and what tomorrow will look like.
Career Growth
Stories of Three Employees Requesting Raises. Lessons on Increasing Your Income.
Asking for a raise is not as simple as phrasing it politely. There are costs involved.
Early Career
Introvert to Director — Leading in Your Unique Way
My path to Director would have surprised a younger Dave. I had a particular view of what being a leader was, and I felt my personality didn't match. I was wrong.
Managing Up
Managing Up — Stories and Guidelines for Working with Senior Leaders
You could rephrase 'managing up' as how to work with important people so that they want to work with you more, not less. This is a key skill for career growth for obvious reasons.
Organizations
A Personal Story of a Mistake, and My Evolving View of Diversity and Inclusion
It has taken years for me to realize that not being overtly biased is not the pinnacle of inclusion, and hiring as many women engineers as possible is not the pinnacle of diversity.
Interviewing
Unlocking Return Offers: 8 Key Internship Behaviors for Success
An internship is one of the easiest and best ways to get a full-time position after college. Here is some advice on how to take advantage of this remarkable opportunity.
Career Growth
You're Poisoning Yourself in that Toxic Work Environment
I believe in working through challenges, communicating clearly with those we don't get along with, and taking control of our careers. And yet, some situations can't be fixed.
Personal Dave Posts
My Amazon Interview Loop — A Tech Director Remembers His Own Development Manager Interview
Let's flash back to 2007, when I was interviewing for the second job in my career. It was my Amazon interview.
Managing Up
Have You Been Ignoring Implicit Feedback, Letting Your Career Pay the Price?
Implicit feedback is the subtle feedback you likely receive regularly. Don't let it escalate to explicit feedback. I spend time translating subtle feedback to what it really means.