Staff Engineer

Helping Your Reports Become Managers

At Niche, the author had the privilege of growing a department from two people to over a dozen. To enable further growth, the author needed to foster and develop a new layer of management within the team. To do this, the author set a six-month plan for the most senior member of the QA team to become a manager. Through a SWOT analysis, reading curriculum, and mentorship sessions, the author was able to equip the emerging manager with the skills and confidence to become a successful manager. The author learned that having a longer preparation time was helpful in changing the emerging manager's perception within their team and that nurturing talent internally is a sound business decision.

When to Hire Senior Engineers and Tech Leads

The author experienced first-hand the consequences of hiring too many junior engineers when starting an engineering function in New York. They learned that it is important to disregard the pressure to start delivering quickly and instead focus on building the team structure, bringing in tech leads first and then adding mid and junior engineers. They also learned that opportunities should be modeled to attract the right candidates and that both sides should be adaptable.

Engaging With a Candidate During the Interview

The hiring manager discusses the problem of feeling underprepared when selling a position to potential candidates and shares the actions they have taken to improve their approach. They have developed a template to focus on what is important to the company and the candidate, and come prepared with more information about the company and the team. They also emphasize the importance of stretching new managers and providing growth opportunities. The lessons learned include the value of being prepared, considering long-term success, and being authentic and transparent in the hiring process.

I failed to give legitimacy to new hires

A team of 30 engineers underwent a reorganization to improve productivity, but the two new hires put in charge of the process had difficulty gaining the team's trust. After six months of minimal adoption of the automations they had developed, an engineer from the existing team was designated to reboot the approach. The manager realized that he had underestimated the importance of the staffing decision and should have been more explicit with the team about their mission and the need for their buy-in.

What to do with an employee who wants to step-up

A good engineer was interested in becoming a senior engineer, so the manager discussed the criteria for promotion with him line-by-line. They had several follow-up conversations and the manager made it clear that the promotion was up to the employee's work. This showed the importance of setting clear expectations when promoting an employee.

Taking care of your direct reports’ career growth.

This story is about a manager who had an engineer in their team who had been at the same level for a long time. The manager took action to help the engineer realize they needed to focus on their career growth and gave them a project to prove themselves. Through this experience, the manager learned the importance of being proactive and providing clear expectations to ensure the engineer can focus on their challenge.