CAIS Career Growth & Development

Give us a snapshot of what you do to stay on top of your engineering knowledge and skills.

I balance theory and hands-on experimentation to stay sharp in software engineering. I’ll read a technical book to understand a new language or framework, then immediately apply it by building a side project. Creating something tangible lets me experiment, fail and iterate in a safe environment.

A go-to tactic is recreating a project I already understand well, like a bookmark management system. This keeps me focused on the tech rather than project specs. Lately, I’ve tackled more complex projects that merge interests — like building a double-entry accounting system in Zig to improve my finances while learning a new systems language.

Beyond coding, I maintain a homelab to tinker with OS, networking and deployment pipelines. To stay current, I read Hacker News daily and watch tech videos on YouTube.

Lastly, I make learning a daily habit, even if just 20 minutes — whether reading, coding or tackling CodeCrafters challenges. The cumulative effect of small, consistent efforts really adds up.

What are your go-to resources for keeping your engineering skills sharp? 

One of my top recommendations is CodeCrafters. The platform challenges you to implement real tools from scratch — like Docker or Git — providing just enough guidance that you’re not completely lost but still left to tackle the core problem yourself. It’s a fantastic way to dive deep into how these technologies actually work and come away with a richer understanding of software fundamentals.

I also rely heavily on peer recommendations and Hacker News for deciding which technical books or articles to read next. I’ve subscribed to various tech newsletters over the years, but I find that the most direct, high-quality insights still come from trusted colleagues or the Hacker News community.

For knowledge management, I use Obsidian, which helps me keep all my notes, ideas and references organized. It’s invaluable for linking concepts together and recalling what I’ve learned whenever I start a new project.

What does the learning culture look like at your company or on your engineering team?

At my company, we prioritize continuous learning in several ways. Every developer has access to CodeCrafters, which encourages exploration beyond daily tasks. We also run a weekly book club, reading and discussing a chapter at a time to stay accountable.

On my team, we’re committed to knowledge sharing and avoiding silos. No individual is limited to any single area, allowing us to work across frontend and backend with ample resources to learn from one another. Additionally, we’ve set up specialized guild meetings for both back end and front end to share knowledge, propose new ideas or approaches and discuss interesting new developments.

We also hold routine calls to help each other learn different parts of the system — whether diving into a microservice’s architecture or troubleshooting a front-end quirk. These efforts ensure learning is woven into our daily work and never treated as an afterthought.