Episode 498: Testing in big corporations and how to get my first management job

<p>In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:</p>

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<p>Hi Dave and Jamison,</p>

<p>Internal dev asker from the second half of Episode 441 checking back in. Your “ask what scared the previous dev” advice in particular has paid off handsomely; I now carry around a little book of eldritch warnings and, somehow, people keep bringing me their unknowable monsters to interpret. It’s almost as though the previous dev knew these sorts of things would happen! I didn’t set out to acquire Lovecraftian knowledge, but here we are, still in one piece.</p>

<p>Today’s puzzle: getting busy humans to test our stuff early, while feedback can still make it into production. We’re trying to build a culture where people will poke at a rough prototype now, instead of filing a Very Concerned Ticket three hours before release. How do we get people to test and provide feedback earlier? Do we stay disarmingly warm, promise tiny time boxes, and make a public show of “you said / we changed” until participation feels like the default? Or do we wave our terminal windows around threateningly on a screen share and promise doom (and minor annoyances) until they comply?</p>

<p>Thanks for lending sanity to the abyss,
—An increasingly arcane internal apps dev</p>
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<p>I have been listening to your podcast regularly and am inspired by how the podcast and the community have grown.</p>

<p>I am a developer with over 10 years of experience and have moved to Sweden from a country outside Europe, with the ambition to build my long-term life and career here.</p>

<p>For several years, I have tried to take that step myself, but often encounter the same obstacle: I am told I need experience as an engineering manager — but without the role, I can’t get the experience, and without the experience, I can’t get the role.</p>

<p>I have invested a lot of time and energy in developing myself: learning about leadership, coaching, communication, and team dynamics.</p>

<p>Despite this, I find it difficult to see a clear path forward. With everything happening in tech right now, I sometimes feel stuck and uncertain how to break this cycle.</p>

<p>My question is: how did you take your first step? How can one realistically enter an engineering manager role when the door seems closed without prior experience?</p>

<p>Thank you for creating such an honest and inspiring podcast. It already means a lot to me — and to many others, I am sure.</p>
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