Discover the collection of The Work Item podcast episodes with the Career tag. Go to the Episodes page to listen to the latest releases, find interesting guests, or navigate through the history of the show.
Career Podcast Episodes
#37 - Be A Builder, With Jack Zerby
June 25, 2021
Last time I chatted with Jack, I had pages of questions I still wanted to ask - with this episode, I attempt to address that backlog. And the more I talked to Jack, the more I realized that the theme of his entire career is - "be a builder." As someone who started and worked at many startups, he sure knows first-hand how to do that well and in a way that is sustainable. Today, we talk about his work at Vimeo, what it means to collaborate with others, and how to build a network of folks that are there when you need them most.
#34 - Busting Career Myths with Laurie Barth
May 23, 2021
There are thousands of blog posts, tutorials, and videos that tell you what engineering careers are about, how you should be thinking about your dream job, and promotion trajectory. In this sea of content, it's often hard to separate the common from the edge case. In this episode, I talk to Laurie Barth, a renowned technologist and Senior Software Engineer at Netflix.
#33 - Engineering In A News Organization And Beyond, with Nicole Tibaldi
May 16, 2021
What lessons can you take away from a music degree and bring into engineering management? How do engineers work with folks in the newsroom at one of the biggest news organization on the planet? Nicole Tibaldi, Senior Engineering Manager at The New York Times (yes, _that_ The New York Times) is here to tell us more about these things, her work, career, and how to foster a culture where your team feels included.
#28 - The Art of Engineering Management, with Rebecca Murphey, EM at Stripe
March 31, 2021
Rebecca Murphey tried a lot of things on her way to becoming an engineering manager at Stripe - from journalism to advertisement, and even learning how to fly. In this episode, I sit down with Rebecca to learn more about her path, what were the important lessons learned in her non-tech career that helped her be an efficient engineering leader, and what aspiring engineering managers can start doing today to figure out if this career track is for them.
#27 - How to Build a Career in Human Resources, with David Daniels
March 20, 2021
There is a certain air of mystery around careers in Human Resources (HR), and David Daniels, who is a veteran HR leader in tech, is here to bring some clarity about the work. David has extensive experience being in HR at Microsoft, Pinterest, and now - Snapchat. He shares his insights about going from education to leadership in some of the most prominent tech companies, fighting against the fixed mindset, and uncommon recommendations for folks wanting to get started with their careers.
#26 - How to Grow as a Product Manager, with Dan Olsen
March 14, 2021
There is no single, well-defined path to becoming a product manager. There are more questions than answers when it comes to figuring out which skills are necessary, what books or blog posts to read, or which courses to take. Dan Olsen, the author of The Lean Product Playbook, former product leader at Intuit, Friendster, Box, and the US Navy (he worked on submarine design) shares with us some insights on what it means to grow as a product manager.
#25 - How to Build a Career in Design and Pitch Gary Vee, with Jack Zerby
March 7, 2021
Jack Zerby is not your typical designer. His experience producing music, working at Pentagram and Frog, building startups, pitching to Gary Vee, and now - building tools for creators at Gumroad, puts him square in the middle of a very uncommon career path. In this episode, I chat with Jack to learn more about what motivated him to grow his career, how to break into design, how to make the transition from a big company to a startup, and what does it mean to build compelling narratives in deck form.
#23 - From Servers, Phones, and Voice Assistants to Space with Charlie Kindel
February 21, 2021
Charlie Kindel is a tech industry veteran who helped bootstrap, grow, and manage teams that built home servers, phones, voice assistants, home automation software, and hopefully soon - space technologies. In this episode, we dive a bit deeper into Charlie’s approach to product ideation and design, discuss the importance of having a principled organization, and ask questions about his most recent adventure around space.
#20 - Scott Hanselman on Intentionality
January 14, 2021
Our first episode of the year is with the one and only Scott Hanselman. We tried to come up with a catchy title, but the entire episode could be summarized in one word - intentionality.
#19 - Wrap Up Episode For 2020
December 28, 2020
Den and Courtny reflect on the year we just went through, and discuss our plans for 2021.