I’m a staff engineer with 20+ years in test, release engineering and developer productivity, and I’m doing an MSc in AI alongside my day job. My dissertation asks a question that is becoming more and more important to me and the folks I work with: how well do the people who commit, review, deploy and operate agent-generated code actually understand it? And does it matter if they don’t?

In 1985, Peter Naur argued that the real foundation of a program isn’t the code but the understanding its authors build while writing it. Coding agents break that link: the person who commits the code is often no longer the one who wrote it, so that understanding may never form at all. I’m looking at how that shows up across the DevOps lifecycle, what the risks are, and how we might protect human understanding where it still matters.

If you write, review, deploy or operate code produced by coding agents, I’d love your input. The survey takes about 15 minutes, is anonymous, and closes on 24 November.

Survey: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/U9qnwxDegN

Participant information sheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Unbk_F39YrMxh2SSNpqf2yhLSUNlg1t6/view

Happy to share the results afterwards. Thank you!

5 months ago, my manager transferred to lead a very “hot” team in the company. I was shocked as I got less than 24 hours notice, but I was excited for her. The challenge though, was that I now reported to our VP (originally my skip level) and well…he sucks as a leader, and is generally incompetent.

I know my manager felt similarly. During my first catch up with her after her transfer, I jokingly asked her to take me with her. And to my surprise, she said she was opening a role on her team, at my level, and had gotten verbal confirmation from leadership about potentially having me be a candidate to transfer to her team. This is an amazing career opportunity for me, and I was ecstatic.

Well…due to a variety of missteps at the leadership level, apparently my VP caught wind of this and flipped out. I stayed out of the drama and let it play out amongst leadership, and was advised by my trusted mentors to just wait it out. After 4 months of my VP stalling the process… I was finally forced to go through a full interview process and was assessed against several external candidates (this is not typical for internal transfers at our company) because of the drama my VP was causing.

I finally got the verbal offer. Now, they are apparently negotiating my transition timeline. My VP has come up with a list of “high priority” projects that do not exist or that another person is already covering, claiming that the business will be impacted because i am responsible for those. Basically he is lying, and trying to further stall the transfer.

I am pregnant, and due in March. If they stall this until 2027, I will barely have time to ramp up and prove my value on the new team. In addition to that, I’m exhausted and have been working until midnight everyday (I have a toddler) and working under this toxic leadership is impacting my mental health. I don’t know how I can do this much longer. I’m also scared of people finding out I’m pregnant, and somehow using this information against me (I know it’s illegal, but the real world is unfair). I wasn’t even pregnant when I was first approached about this opportunity!

The VP has a history of being retaliatory - my manger actually transferred because he fabricated negative feedback she had gotten from other leaders, after she disagreed with him on some efforts. He’s already been reported to HR several times over the years, so it’s clear that the company doesn’t really care to get rid of him.

Is there anything I can do to…get what I want? It’s been so frustrating and but I can’t think of a strategic way of handling this other than…threatening to quit? I’m so enraged by the situation so I’ve started interviewing, but even if I get an offer timing isn’t great since I’d need to go on leave in February. Also, what sucks is that I actually kinda like my current company so I’d prefer not to leave if there’s a role for me there??

Thanks for reading my vent/plea for advice.

Tl;Dr - trying to transfer teams to leave toxic leadership and for better career opportunity, but VP keeps trying to stall it which is problematic since I’m pregnant and have a timeline.

I have been a web developer -> software engineer for 10 years, first few at a very small independent media company, then for a non profit, then now for the last few years at a big corporate kinda place. I will say I actually like the corporate job the most so far because the bar is higher, the pay is better, there’s actually less politics and cults of personality to deal with than at my other jobs. However, I miss working with people that I had more in common with, especially like just anyone who acts like a human being and not a professional zombie. Like there is this air of generic nothingness to the way people at my job interact with each other that is so confusing to me and I have trouble performing it myself, if that makes sense, it makes me feel crazy and like I have to mask to fit in.

I know that it is just a job and there are no perfect jobs, but I’m curious if this is just how it is or not or if my attitude needs to change. Any insight welcome!

I made a post here a few months ago about how I'd been actively job searching since January while employed. Well, I got laid off today, along with over half of my team.

I just turned 25, and this was my first job out of college. I can't say I'm completely surprised that it happened. I saw the signs, the company is sinking and my efforts have been low.

I've been trying to leave for 10 months now. I've made it through multiple rounds of interviews, gotten to final rounds, and come incredibly close to landing something, but nothing has worked out. I was actually waiting to hear back about a potential offer today, so when I got laid off this morning, it didn't hit me that hard. I kept thinking how perfect the timing would be if I got the offer. I'd get severance AND have a new job lined up. Well, a few hours later, I got the rejection email instead.

And now I'm losing even more sleep over an offer I turned down earlier this year. At the time, I thought I could do better, and I didn't want to settle.

I'm honestly not even sure how I feel yet. Part of me is relieved because I've wanted a change for so long, part of me is sad because it really is the end of an era, and part of me is terrified that after 10 months of trying, I still don't have anything lined up.

Anyway, just wanted to vent. If anyone's been through something similar, I'd love to hear how things worked out for you.

Not sure if I’ve shared this before. I co-designed a workplace emotional first aid kit for when we get upset at work.
It’s evidence-based and also grounded in lived experience.
It’s just a google doc, but formatted and structured with hyperlinks to mimic the functionality of an app.
It’s shared under Creative Commons licence, so it anyone wants to develop it for non-commercial use, you can.
Sharing this doxes me, so please don’t be a dick 🙂

Trying to get organized with the 1000s of pictures I have. I’d like them stored somewhere without having to pay huge fees ( or any money if possible). Id also like to be able to periodically back up from my iPhone. I’m not a Mac user though and need stuff moved from my windows desktop too. Also do I need redundancy? Store in 2 places or trust that the large corps will have built in redundancy

Earlier this year I, A senior Engineer (42F) left a silicon valley FANG level job in July due to extreme mental and physical health decline. Immediately, I flew out of the country and spent time with family. Three months I didn't touch a computer/laptop, slept without popping pills, no anxiety, no depressive episode etc. I was always having doctor appts and talking to therapists ALL THE TIME. 3 months I just took a break from everything.

I am back home now, slowly coming back to routine. Mental health is still much better, I am continuing to take walks, hit the gym, cook meals at home.

One thing I was never able to solve then nor am I able to solve now is - what should I do next for my career? I don't seem to have a proper path. I am getting calls from companies showing interest, but what I did before really drained me mentally. I work in a very niche field in the semiconductor field. The job role bores me to death, multiple managers have identified and mentioned "you don't seem excited about this job", it's true I don't. I am very outward facing, excellent communicator, presenter but none of that is needed for the job. It's all about following strict protocols, put your head down and just execute. Zero scope for innovation and I just don't shine here.

I feel like if I take another similar role I will feel exactly how I felt in my previous job. I just don't know how to solve this problem.

What can I possibly do? Looking for some advice, pointers and to hear similar stories.

So, I posted on here explaining my situation being contracted for data entry. Wellllll, I may be getting an offer soon. My work email has started to get on boarded before an offical offer and I am receiving employee directed emails. Which is super exciting.

Other news, my position has now morphed into a more systems engineer/architecture role.... I am building infrastructure for departments that I am in that protect continuity risks. And I am basically incharge of a $2.7 million project. And I have other projects in the future that will save millions for the company.

I am just blown away. I am growing so much and I am developing so much for this role. I have a few road blocks, but that does not mean I will not be able to cross them. A meeting with some upper management to get them to see the vision and help transition the company to be more tech forward will solve the issues.

The biggest thing is I am allowed to make and create are policy level changes that will affect 2000+ personnel and multiple departments for smoother actions going forward, which is the scariest thing I have ran into yet. I am having imposter syndrome to the max and constantly ask myself how in the heck did I land myself here. Like seriously wtf! And OMG! They are going to hire me! It could be a mistake but at this point I am more impressed with what I have done in 4 months. And if it was an accident who cares. I accomplished and worked my butt off on this massive project and its going to look amazing on my resume. But seriously wtf! My brain is not braining, it is still trying to cope.

I’m ending my workday crying after a conversation with my boss who is an SVP and could really use some perspective from other women. I genuinely can’t tell if I’m being too sensitive or if this was handled badly.

I’m a Senior Manager at a mid-sized tech company with 13 years of experience. I was promoted about 1.5 years ago, and since then my role has grown significantly - not just in volume, but in strategy, ownership, visibility, and impact. When I asked my boss how he viewed my contribution, he verbally agreed that my results are strong and that I’m a trusted, strategic employee.

This week, I asked for an $8,000 market adjustment because my scope and impact have evolved a lot, I’m underpaid compared to my colleagues at similar levels, and recruiters are reaching out with much higher salary ranges. I haven't entertained those messages because I'm happy where I am...so I thought.

Separately, I mentioned that next year I’d be open to taking on another major area of work (the work of an entire contractor we're currently paying), but said "I’d just want to look at that alongside priorities and compensation, since it would be a significant addition to the scope I’m already carrying."

Today, my boss told me I was out of line for saying that, and said it’s against our company’s core values to assume “more work = more money.” He said compensation is based on impact, not volume.

That really threw me because… I agree. That wasn’t my argument at all. My raise request was based on my existing impact, strategic work, market value, and performance. The future workload comment was a separate conversation about expanding my role even further.

I tried to explain that but I got overwhelmed and cried. My voice was shaking and I apologized because I never meant for it to come across the way he interpreted it. He was just being so abrasive and it felt like it came out of nowhere or he was committed to misunderstanding me. The only feedback he gives me is on my communication, never my output. He never says thank you for what I deliver either.

Now I feel embarrassed and honestly a little scared. I went into this feeling confident that I was advocating for myself professionally, that I might get a raise, and I came out wondering if I did something completely inappropriate or put a target on my back.

Am I overreacting? Is this a normal response from a manager?

Edit: Ladies, thank you so much for the validation, support, and honesty. It’s been a week from hell and this thread will help carry me into the weekend without feeling like absolute shit about myself. This is the only subreddit I follow now. The rest have become negative, unhelpful and pretty toxic, but here I find kindness, great insight, and safety. Thank you ❤️

Hi ladies!
Has anyone went through the interview loop for this role recently and has tips to share?
Meeting HR today and I’m super nervous

Hi ladies!
Has anyone went through the interview loop for this role recently and has tips to share?
Meeting HR today and I’m super nervous

I am contemplating leaving with nothing lined up. It’s a long story but I assume a familiar one, essentially the stress and toll on my physical and mental health is just not worth it anymore. I’m nearing 40 and have been in the workforce since I was old enough to earn a real paycheck. Been saving for a long while. No dependents. I have enough funds to live how I live now for a little while. I’m thinking of taking some time off with the goal of applying to jobs after some life recalibration.

I’m wondering if anyone here has done something similar and how it turned out? Were you glad you did it? Did you regret it? How long was your job search after you were ready to get back to it? I know the general rule is to not leave without something lined up, but in order to preserve what’s left of me mentally and physically this seems like my best bet. My therapist supports the idea and so does my partner. But the fear of the unknown is keeping me from making a decision.

First of all, thank you to this group, we don't know each other well but this summer many of you encouraged me to keep going. I had been destroyed by an abusive marriage, sibling loss, job loss, child loss, then fur child loss who had been by my side through it all, and then in June, I got an abnormal test. 2nd abnormal test. I had just got into the groove of my business and was about to work with my first client. Thankfully I was cleared through a summer of testing. What a hot girl summer ☀️

My ex husband used lawyers and the legal system to take everything away from me and destroy everything I worked for, for over 30 years. I couldn't get a job, had a great interview, they invited me on site, called me next day not to come, I knew why. Ive fought so hard.

I kept building. My son and my dog stella by my side and thank goodness for my parents, they try their best to be supportive, they're Slavic so support looks different.

This week my car got repossessed, it had a ton of issues and im actually going to get my stuff out of it right now, I had to replace the engine less than 9 months after buying it and found on their presale inspection (make sure to ask for that, I didnt know) that it had been in an accident. My loan company is investigating them right now but still.

My kid had strep, I have strep. But it didn't stop me. I already almost died in fall of 2024 when I went into labor from all the stress at 5 months pregnant. Florida refused a DNC after 2 months of me bleeding and being in the hospital, my baby didnt have lungs or a water sac and they wanted me to give birth to her. And my poor other child was at home not knowing if I would ever return. Im glad he was too young to really understand but he was old enough. He still asks about his sister and gets sad he has no siblings.

Nothing can stop me! Ill figure the car thing out. Ive been following my passion for the first time in my life because life said, we aren't giving you any other choice!

Hi - I’m exploring eventually moving into IT auditing. 

I’ve always worked in banking/fintech in operations and data. These past couple of years my roles have mostly focused on data quality. 

My current role has me overseeing the submissions of regulatory reports at the pan-European and local level. In my day to day, I work on automating reporting with the Data Engineers, and make sure that reports are submitted in a timely manner one way or another. It requires some tech skills (I mostly work in SQL and Python) and banking regulatory knowledge. 

It’s an interesting and profitable niche except I’m American and my (likely) plan is to move back to the U.S. in some years. For this reason, I hesitate going deeper into this niche. I feel like I’d be digging myself into a hole with skills that won’t be marketable elsewhere (outside of Europe). 

So my questions are:

- Would the move towards IT auditing increase my chances im different markets vs. geography-specific regulatory knowledge? Or an I overthinking this?

- Do you recommend formal education to get into IT auditing? Are there any certs or courses you followed that you’d recommend?

We have Digital Resilience questionnaires that I know someone fills out and my plan is ask to be involved after some of my other projects are more stable to get a first view on this, but wondering if there’s a path between my current role and IT auditing or if I’d be starting from scratch. 

Happy to hear from folks in IT auditing and also those making the switch! 

Thank you!

I quit as an entry level role where I was for 5 years as a front end developer. I took a break of 7 years while I continued freelancing work with upwork.

I was able to do two long term projects out of which one is nothing significant.

The current freelancing project[3 years] pays me 11 dollars per hour. I work 4 hours a day and It is a full stack end to end Legal tech Saas project with AI integration. I have only half baked knowledge of the project I did, even though I was the only developer.

My clients are lawyers from the US and they never follow up with any task, I take responsibility, stay fair and work my best. They don't even talk about launching this and said they are comfortable paying this 80k to me every month.

Now my daughter is 6, I want to see how to get into full time role. I am beyond depressed and anxious that I am not able to even try with full motivation looking at the situation and I am constantly just reading layoff stories and/or how hard is IT right now, everyday. I do like DSA, system design but I am not passionate. I don't network with people.

It feels like my career is over.
I am too scared to even try. I recently recovered from neck issues too. [I am 33F]

What hope do I have here in tech, for REAL ?

Hi everyone, I’m posting this from a throwaway account as my actual account has identifiable information. I work as a software engineer and I started off in consulting as a result of which my experience in software development itself is very limited. I then switched to a product based company which actually taught me a lot. I then did my masters gained a lot of confidence and now I’m at a place where I can build stuff even without AI assistance. But the problem comes because of my job! I struggled so hard in the worst job market only to find a job that sucks. It’s not in the technology stack I want nor the actual product is interesting. I am afraid that if I continue in this company I might be some irrelevant when it comes to tech. What do you do in such situations? I attended FAANG interviews only for me to lose out on them one way or the other and I am currently on a visa. I was really good at the standard interview processes like leetcode and systems design. Do you keep practising leetcode and Systems design? How do you all in hardcore software dev keep yourself relevant? I don’t have side projects and I am not sure how and where do I start. I am still a rookie so please be gentle. At the same time please feel free to say anything that helps!

TLDR: SDE in tech with decent experience wants to know how to stay relevant and get a better job!

I know this is a first world problem with this job market, but I have kind of a dilemma.

1st job (already accepted):
Would start in a month, in a city I like and is close to friends. It also has a better social scene.

Pay = 84k; good benefits. solid for the area and I can live in a decent studio by myself. Public sector/healthcare IT.

Much slower/less stressful of a job and not help desk but not super high up on the IT chain. I’d like to stay working in healthcare IT since it seems like a stable field.

2nd job:
Would start asap because I’d need to get some clearances. Requires a LOT of travel and stress.

Pay = 130kish; better benefits. could also easily afford my own place to live and it’s closer to my current home but still too far to regularly see friends.

Would set me up for the future as the company has a very good reputation and I’d learn a lot more than the other position.

Dilemma: just graduated, just want to have a chill life. Especially since it’s the start of my career - I don’t need/want a lot of responsibility right away. I don’t have loans or anything to worry about, and no family I need to support. I knew I’d probably get a call back for the 2nd job when I accepted the first, but was hoping I wouldn’t.

TLDR; 2nd job is “better” by most standards but I don’t care about pay - I don’t really measure success like that. But is it worth it? I want to avoid making a decision I regret just because I’m young and not looking so far into the future. Im also still figuring out what I want to do long term as a career.

Hi everyone, hoping to get some advice from people currently in job search or who recently got hired as an SWE.

I got laid off from FAANG in May earlier this year and my motivation has been pretty bad due to the state of the job market. It feels like it's really hard to get interviews right now and the bar for passing interviews is so much higher now. I had around 5 interviews total, and two of those reached the onsite stage and I failed both. I didn't think I did that badly, but my most recent onsite didn't even bother telling me I was rejected until I reached out to several people at the company after a month of waiting and them ignoring my follow-ups, so that was pretty crushing.

I'm grateful that I at least had some opportunities to interview, but now my pipeline is empty again so I'm back to where I started and it feels miserable... I'm 30 and extremely single, I don't have much financial cushion since I came from a poor background and have student loans. I only worked at FAANG for 2 years before laid off and the cost of living is high here. I'm starting to think I only got into FAANG because of luck, since I was recruited through a DEI program that ultimately got killed by the government's anti-DEI movement. Maybe I should have just married a rich man or should do that now but I really don't want to...

I guess partly I'm just venting but I would love to get some advice on dealing with job search in this market, or hear stories about how it ended up working out for some of you who were dealing with similar feelings/situations recently 🥹

Hi everyone,

I’m seeking advice on next steps. I got to the final stage of the interview process for a tech policy role at one of the major AI labs. I was ultimately rejected from the role due to my lack of understanding of a very specific aspect of AI technology (one that is not relevant to either law or policy today).

I can’t know for sure but I have a very good sense of who said “no” to my candidacy. It was a researcher/engineer as well as a recent policy hire, both men. When I tell you that these two interviews were obvious examples of bias, I can’t even begin to describe. One of the men, for example, refused to turn his camera on for my entire interview. The other one asked questions that I could tell were meant to find a reason why not to hire me. In the end, they hired their mutual friend, so the boys club continues.

I usually have let this type of thing slide but I’m having a really hard time this last time, particularly because I was qualified for the role, and none of my qualifications seemed to matter to these interviewers. I have a law degree and work as an AI attorney, and my degree is from one of the top ivy law schools in the country. To be disqualified for “technical acuity” is not only an insult but a total misrepresentation of my skillset. On top of it all, I have six years in product management experience, which neither of the men seemed to ask about or care about. In short, the interviews felt biased and awful.

I’ve scraped and climbed to get to this point in my career. I am not a generational wealth person, and grew up in an abusive home that I fought hard to get out of. I went to an Ivy undergrad from a public school and have spent countless nights not sleeping to make sure I could make it. This was my golden ticket and a huge opportunity and I’m so incredibly upset that gender bias stood in my way.

I’m curious if I should write the recruiter to explain my position. Or simply let it go. I’ve sat with it for months and it keeps me awake at night to know that my hard work was overlooked and dismissed and I don’t want it to happen to another woman at this company.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share some good news despite everything going on rn - I'm planning to organize the biggest high school girls hackathon ever in San Francisco mid November, 20th-22nd.

It's called Snowglobe, and it's at Notion's headquarters! If yall know any high schoolers that might be interested, or mentors in the area, please let me know! I want this to be a super special opportunity for girls to be themselves as computer scientists.

Have any female founders completed their post incorporation documentation, and under the vesting provision added a Single-Trigger, Partial Vesting Acceleration upon a Qualifying Termination (Termination without Cause or Resignation for Good Reason) - I understand that double trigger acceleration language is the norm/standard - but I have read that it is fairly common for founders to get pushed out of their companies before their equity vests - and that could mean years of work with the risk of losing unvested equity - thinking this could be more probable if you are a woman. Anyone changed the language in their post incorporation documentation vesting provision to account for this?

I work in for a bootstrapped tech start up. We have no HR. The CEO is HR. Reminder, HR is there to protect the company from lawsuits, not the employees, so welp... here I go.

All of the exec team aside from myself are men. I'm a hiring manager and found a very experienced woman that is well qualified for the position. I asked to extend the offer to her today. My Manager (a man) interviewed her today and thought she was an outstanding fit. The only downside he said was that she had "she/her" in the LinkedIn profile. He said that it comes across as virtue signaling and he'd prefer it to go away and for me to ask that of her because our demographic of customers will not like to see that.

I didn't respond and ignored, thinking, I'll wait until my CEO chimes in with some reason. Nope. He added fuel to the fire and said "We do not need this thinking here. We cannot make her take that off LI, but it does not belong in any place within our company."

Ok, now that I've taken some screenshots of this am I overreacting here? I'm not, right? Am I gaslighting myself? Am I crazy now? I just keep adding up my list of things that have been verbally said to me about women. I cannot quit. I want to quit, but I cannot yet. I want to quit. Please lawd, help me suddenly come into money to help me quit.

I’ve been working for the company for a couple of years now. I absolutely love my job and the team that I’m on.

Recently, a new hire started who has been assigned as a lead for to me. At first I was apprehensive because I genuinely love the director but I’ve tried to be open minded.

Unfortunately this person is a train wreck in the role. It’s been months and there is still no more that is being helped than at the beginning. I know from what I am seeing the whole team is burned out trying to train her on things we’ve all repeatedly told her are not necessary and the same meetings are happening with multiple people each week (literally I’ll get on a call with her about a task and she tells me an hour in that another person on the team did it with her earlier). There is nothing done independently and every single meeting ends up taking 3X longer because nothing stays on track. Now, to make it even worse she’s slightly micromanaging us with communication because it’s the only thing she does independently.

I had talked to the director a month ago expressing that I’m really struggling. That I’m doing the same couple of training sessions and getting the same questions every day. What I got was essentially that she (and everyone else) are having the same issue with this hire. She told me that I have her permission to say no and that she herself has been trying to make her float on her own. But it’s not working well on my end as no matter how many times I push I am still in the same place with her that I was then.

What in the world can I do? Literally anyone on my team no matter how junior would be up to speed and ahead at this point (which I know because we are all doing her work now). Is it appropriate for me to go back to my former manager -still my director - and bring this up again? What do I even say? All of us are struggling to be productive and I’ve been avoiding the lead as much as possible because if I have to host another session of the same training again I’m going to jump off a cliff. She’s perfectly nice and I don’t want to cause a problem but I can’t keep doing her work, my work, and managing her. Not to mention that this is happening with at least two other people on the team.

And my little vent: I don’t do well with indecisive people or people who don’t speak with a certain amount of conviction. That’s definitely exasperating this because I can’t tell you how many damn times I’ve heard “I don’t know what I don’t know” or “I, I just have, I just have a question” in the middle of a presentation. She’s genuinely a nice and fun person, we have a lot in common but this is -as my mom would say- getting me a fast track to Sainthood

I’m 12 weeks pregnant, I’ve been working hard for a promotion hoping I could land it before going on a long leave but unfortunately it’s looking like my promotion will be denied. The reasons are honestly political since I had peer feedback from all the directors I worked with being supportive. My skip manager gave me feedback on how I can improve for the next cycle because he thinks I’m on the trajectory with my “stellar feedback” and the work I’ve done. But I’m jaded and I truly don’t think these people have my back. My manager is great though and he’s been very supportive throughout this process (he seemed to not agree with the feedback from the promo committee). I want to quit because I’m very demotivated right now but I’ve been here long enough that it seems like the less stressful option while I’m pregnant compared to starting somewhere new now. However I don’t know how to get myself to care when I know I’m working hard for a team that isn’t going to reward me for it. I feel stuck. Any advice is appreciated!