Overcommitted | Software Engineering and Tech Careers Insights

Design Engineering, Interviews & Job Search | Career Growth with Adam Argyle

Summary Software engineering career moves don't have to be a lottery. In this episode, Adam Argyle breaks down why the technical interview process is fundamentally broken, how design engineering skills actually transfer across roles, and the tactical job search playbook that works today. Whether you're navigating a career pivot, re-entering the market, or just frustrated with the hiring gauntlet, this conversation cuts through the noise on what really matters for career growth and staying sane. Links * Adam’s Website: https://nerdy.dev/ [https://nerdy.dev/]  * Adam’s CascadiaJS 2025 talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW6GECIzvsw [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW6GECIzvsw]  * 10 powerful ways to use CSS variables article: https://nerdy.dev/custom-prop-categories [https://nerdy.dev/custom-prop-categories]  * Sizzle Rizzle: https://nerdy.dev/sizzle-rizzle [https://nerdy.dev/sizzle-rizzle] Hosts * Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev [https://overcommitted.dev ] * Bethany Janos: https://github.com/bethanyj28 [https://github.com/bethanyj28] * Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com [https://brittanyellich.com] * Erika Eggemeyer: https://github.com/eggyhead [https://github.com/eggyhead]

Building the Decentralized Social Web: From Collective Social to OpenSocial

Brittany shares her journey building Collective Social - a Goodreads-style app for all kinds of media built entirely on the AT Protocol - and how it led her to create OpenSocial, a service that lets any app on the decentralized web share group functionality like book clubs. The episode covers the challenges of representing groups when the protocol has no native concept of group identity, using conference talk deadlines as motivation to ship side projects, and rating real-world systems on how well they'd work in a decentralized context. Erika also shares her experience building an interpreter in Go. Show links: * Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com [https://brittanyellich.com/] * Collective Social: https://collectivesocial.app [https://collectivesocial.app/] * OpenSocial: https://opensocial.community [https://opensocial.community/] * Collective Social on GitHub: https://github.com/collectivesocial [https://github.com/collectivesocial] * "Representing groups in ATProto" blog post (Brittany's site) * AtmosphereConf speaker profile: https://news.atmosphereconf.org/3mfpjx5luuc2m [https://news.atmosphereconf.org/3mfpjx5luuc2m] * GitHub Blog - Build a Personal Organization Command Center with GitHub Copilot CLI: https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/build-a-personal-organization-command-center-with-github-copilot-cli/ [https://github.blog/ai-and-ml/github-copilot/build-a-personal-organization-command-center-with-github-copilot-cli/] * "The art of saying yes" blog post: https://brittanyellich.com/say-yes-do-all-the-things/ [https://brittanyellich.com/say-yes-do-all-the-things/] * "Living in the inflection point" blog post: https://brittanyellich.com/living-in-the-inflection-point/ [https://brittanyellich.com/living-in-the-inflection-point/] * Nick Gerakines episode (EP19 - AT Proto, MCP, and Open Source): https://overcommitted.dev/ep-19-at-proto-mcp-and-open-source-with-nick-gerakines [https://overcommitted.dev/ep-19-at-proto-mcp-and-open-source-with-nick-gerakines] * PDX ATProto talk: https://youtu.be/xFdak3HbDmM?si=rZoPfyYYoP2awADJ&t=2302 [https://youtu.be/xFdak3HbDmM?si=rZoPfyYYoP2awADJ&t=2302] * AtmosphereConf talk: https://youtu.be/GVOywon3X-Q?si=yzKLfFNF8bzNT9-e [https://youtu.be/GVOywon3X-Q?si=yzKLfFNF8bzNT9-e] * The ATProto Store: https://atstore.fyi [https://atstore.fyi/] * pdsls.dev: https://pdsls.dev [https://pdsls.dev/] * Atmosphere Community: https://atmosphere.community [https://atmosphere.community/] * npmx.dev: https://npmx.dev [https://npmx.dev/] * Tangled: https://tangled.io [https://tangled.io/] * This is for Everyone by Tim Berners-Lee: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222376492-this-is-for-everyone [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222376492-this-is-for-everyone] Topics: AT Protocol, Decentralized Social Media, Side Projects, Open Source, Software Engineering

There are no shortcuts | Craft & career growth with Salma Alam-Naylor

Summary In this episode, Erika talks with Salma Alam-Naylor about software engineering craft, programming best practices, and why the long game beats shortcuts. As AI coding tools proliferate and everyone chases speed, Salma digs into deliberate practice, sustainable career strategies, and building genuine expertise that compounds over time. Perfect for engineers feeling burnout from the hype cycle. Links * Salma’s website: https://whitep4nth3r.com/ [https://whitep4nth3r.com/] * 2021 Jamstack Jammies (Community Creator Award) https://2021.jamstackconf.com/jammies/ [https://2021.jamstackconf.com/jammies/] * Fat bear week website: https://explore.org/fat-bear-week [https://explore.org/fat-bear-week] * Hell.com [http://hell.com] wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell.com [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell.com] Hosts * Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev [https://overcommitted.dev] * Erika (Eggyhead): https://github.com/eggyhead [https://github.com/eggyhead]

Build Real Tools, Skip LeetCode: Systems Programming for Career Growth with John Crickett

Tech careers don't need to mean grinding LeetCode. In episode 57, John Crickett — 30+ year engineer, Coding Challenges creator (90K+ subscribers) — makes the case that programmer productivity skyrockets when you build real tools instead. We dig into why your own Redis, Git, or shell beats practice problems, how Coding Challenges went from $17 domain to viral sensation (1,500 signups in one weekend), and what it means to level up through systems programming. Links * Coding Challenges (Newsletter): https://codingchallenges.substack.com/ * Coding Challenges Website: https://codingchallenges.fyi * From The Challenges - Git: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/p/from-the-challenges-git * Will AI Kill Coding?: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/p/will-ai-kill-coding * Using AI To Solve A Coding Challenge: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/p/using-ai-to-solve-a-coding-challenge * Tech Lead Journal #178 — John Crickett: https://techleadjournal.dev/episodes/178/ * Confessions of a Data Guy — What Makes Great Engineers: https://www.confessionsofadataguy.com/decades-in-software-engineering-what-actually-makes-great-engineers-john-crickett/ * Coding Chats Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/59GU7gzyK2RdIDVkhNS2nt * John Crickett on GitHub: https://github.com/johncrickett * John Crickett on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett * John Crickett on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/johncrickett.bsky.social * John Crickett on X: https://x.com/johncrickett Hosts * Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev * Bethany: https://trustyduck.dev * Brittany Ellich: ⁠https://brittanyellich.com [https://brittanyellich.com] * ⁠Erika: ⁠https://github.com/eggyhead [https://github.com/eggyhead]

Run Toward Something - Career Growth, Mentorship & Work-Life Balance with Dave Schwantes

Summary Career growth through mentorship and work-life balance with Dave Schwantes, Senior Software Engineer at GitHub. Brittany and Dave explore why running toward meaningful work beats running from burnout, how mentorship became his primary form of engineering leverage, and what career happiness actually looks like across different life stages. From Instacart and Couchsurfing to building in-house bootcamps, Dave shares how sustainable engineering culture beats individual productivity hacks—and his take on how AI tools reshape what engineers really need to master. Links * Dave's personal site: https://dinosaurseateverybody.com [https://dinosaurseateverybody.com] * Don't Break Prod (bite-sized career advice): https://dontbreakprod.com [https://dontbreakprod.com] * Grave Danger (Dave's spooky ska band) on Bandcamp: https://gravedangerskath.bandcamp.com [https://gravedangerskath.bandcamp.com] * Dave on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dorkrawk.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/dorkrawk.bsky.social] * Dave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidschwantes [https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidschwantes] * Dave on GitHub: https://github.com/dorkrawk [https://github.com/dorkrawk] * Web Dev Challenge Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2sEoZG8EIw [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2sEoZG8EIw] * The Engineer Manager Pendulum article: https://charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the-engineer-manager-pendulum/ [https://charity.wtf/2017/05/11/the-engineer-manager-pendulum/] Host * Overcommitted: https://overcommitted.dev [https://overcommitted.dev] * Brittany Ellich: https://brittanyellich.com [https://brittanyellich.com]