A short review of Somer Hackley’s book “Search in Plain Sight: Demystifying Executive Search”, covering hiring-manager maturity, discussing salary expectations, and how to tell you’re working with a great recruiter.
A blue-team walkthrough of the CyberDefenders WebStrike challenge: analyzing the PCAP to find the attack’s geographic origin and user agent, the uploaded web shell and its port, the upload directory, and the file targeted for exfiltration.
How to make high-level estimates in software projects with more confidence: the factors that shape them (requirements clarity, domain knowledge, team skill, company rhythm, cost of failure) and the ones I overlooked at first.
Comparing two office-seating models, flex desks versus reserved team spaces, with the real-world pros, cons, and outcomes I saw during an office move.
The delegation spectrum between micromanagement and abandonment, and why you should always retain ownership of the outcome even when handing work off, with advice inspired by Patty Azzarello’s book “Rise”.
A walkthrough of Crimediggers, the Dutch police digital-forensics challenge, working through CCTV, license-plate, GPS, and Bitcoin-wallet objectives with tools like CyberChef and EnCase/EWF disk images (no answer spoilers).
A grounded explanation of the engineering manager role and its responsibilities, organized into categories like keeping the individual and the team healthy, covering psychological safety, alignment, feedback, onboarding, and direction.
A practical experiment in using a to-do list to run work and home life: why offloading tasks from your brain works, how I categorize them, the pitfalls to avoid, and which app to pick.
A practical guide to workplace conflict for team leaders: the common causes, the difference between negative and positive conflict, your role in resolving it, and a step-by-step resolution strategy.
How to hire and work with your first technical recruiter: defining the role requirements, using realistic work assignments, aligning expectations, and keeping continuous two-way feedback so the recruiter truly strengthens the team.