Replay - Changing the Way We Interview with Emma Bostian
On this Screaming in the Cloud Replay, Corey is joined by Emma Bostian, an Engineering Manager at Spotify in Stockholm. Emma is also an author, co-host of the Ladybug Podcast, and has a strong following on social media. She goes into the details on her podcast and the varied nature of her and her co-hosts, she also discusses her book Decoding the Technical Interview Process, in which she breaks down the seemingly esoteric nature of interviewing for these highly technical jobs—but her focus is on the frontend. She and Corey discuss the general banality of these interviews and the direction they can, and should, go in to improve. Emma also loves to teach, to add even more to her portfolio! She goes into the five w’s of her work with LinkedIn Learning and Frontend Masters. Emma also has some excellent insights into her sizable Twitter presence. Tune in for Emma’s variegated offerings!
Show Highlights
(0:00) Intro
(0:58) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(1:31) Hosting the Ladybug Podcast and teaching online courses
(3:13) Why Emma wrote Decoding the Technical Interview Process
(7:01) Corey’s qualms with how people interview in tech
(12:03) Why Corey appreciates Emma's guidance on how to interview
(14:50) Bizarre hiring practices that some interviewers use
(18:20) Passion, work/life balance, and seeking out new employees
(19:41) Turning side projects into revenue streams
(22:23) Seeking out sponsors instead of monetizing your audience
(26:06) The Duckbill Group sponsor read
(26:49) Balancing customer service with piracy
(29:35) Letting your online following become your resume
(36:01) Where you can find more from Emma
About Emma Bostian
Emma Bostian is an Engineering Manager at Spotify in Stockholm. She is also a co-host of the Ladybug Podcast, author of Decoding The Technical Interview Process, and an instructor at LinkedIn Learning and Frontend Masters.
Links
Ladybug Podcast: https://www.ladybug.dev
LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/emma-bostian
Frontend Masters: https://frontendmasters.com/teachers/emma-bostian/
Decoding the Technical Interview Process: https://technicalinterviews.dev
Emma's Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmabostian
Original Episode
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/changing-the-way-we-interview-with-emma-bostian/
Sponsor
The Duckbill Group: duckbillgroup.com
Changing the Way We Interview with Emma Bostian
About Emma
Emma Bostian is a Software Engineer at Spotify in Stockholm. She is also a co-host of the Ladybug Podcast, author of Decoding The Technical Interview Process, and an instructor at LinkedIn Learning and Frontend Masters.
Links:
Ladybug Podcast: https://www.ladybug.dev
LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/instructors/emma-bostian
Frontend Masters: https://frontendmasters.com/teachers/emma-bostian/
Decoding the Technical Interview Process: https://technicalinterviews.dev
Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmabostian
From zero to thought leader in 6 months (Interview)
We’re talking with Emma Bostian about going from zero to thought leader in 6 months. We talk about the nuances of UX including the differences between an UX Designer and a UX Engineer, we touch on “the great divide”, and we talk about Coding Coach — the open source project and community that Emma and others are building to connect software developers and mentors all over the world.
Join the discussion
Changelog++ members support our work, get closer to the metal, and make the ads disappear. Join today!
Sponsors:
DigitalOcean – The simplest cloud platform for developers and teams Whether you’re running one virtual machine or ten thousand, makes managing your infrastructure too easy. New accounts get $100 in credit to use in your first 60 days.
GoCD + Kubernetes – With GoCD running on Kubernetes, you define your build workflow and let GoCD provision and scale build infrastructure on the fly. GoCD installs as a Kubernetes native application. Scale your build infrastructure elastically. Learn more at gocd.org/kubernetes
Rollbar – We move fast and fix things because of Rollbar. Resolve errors in minutes. Deploy with confidence. Learn more at rollbar.com/changelog.
Fastly – Our bandwidth partner. Fastly powers fast, secure, and scalable digital experiences. Move beyond your content delivery network to their powerful edge cloud platform. Learn more at fastly.com.
Featuring:
Emma Bostian – GitHub, LinkedIn, X
Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
emmawedekind.com
Emma Wedekind on dev.to
How I Gained 27,000 Twitter Followers In 6 Months
My Journey Into Software Engineering
5 Books Which Will Improve Your Career
Book —The Culture Map
Coding Coach — a free, open-source platform which aims to connect software developers and mentors all over the world.
mentors.codingcoach.io
Coding Coach on Patreon
Coding-Coach/coding-coach
Coding-Coach/find-a-mentor
LogMeIn
The Changelog #333: Tactical design advice for developers featuring Erik Kennedy
Lara Hogan on mentorship and sponsorship
JS Party #61: How great the (front end) divide with Nick, Suz, and KBall
JS Party #67: The great divide reprise featuring Chris Coyier
Questions from the community and Twitter
@UKGeekgirlBCS — twitter.com/UKGeekgirlBCS/status/1115970699229843456
@shreeshbhat — twitter.com/shreeshbhat/status/1115973319352827906
@donnacamos88 —twitter.com/donnacamos88/status/1116061580851056640
@LashaKrikheli — twitter.com/LashaKrikheli/status/1116051141492654081
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!