Soft Skills Engineering · Jamison Dance and Dave Smith

Episode 456: Will I look bad on the job market if I'm a crypto developer and struggling to go from management back to dev work

·32 min·3 clips

Jameson admits he passes on resumes with crypto experience, calling it a red flag for poor judgment.

This episode of Soft Skills Engineering features hosts Dave Smith and Jameson Dance answering listener questions about career development in software engineering. The first question comes from a web developer interested in crypto development but worried about negative perceptions, and the second is from an engineering manager wanting to return to individual contributor work. Jameson states he actively discriminates against resumes with crypto experience, viewing it as a red flag indicating poor judgment due to the industry's association with scams and speculation. Dave offers a counterpoint, saying he associates crypto work with technical intelligence and doesn't share the moral objection. Jameson acknowledges his stance might stem from jealousy over missed financial gains but maintains his position. He clarifies he would still review the rest of such a resume but holds a strong "crypto bro" stereotype. Dave suggests most hiring managers likely do not care, estimating an 80% non-reaction rate. The hosts discuss potential ways to frame crypto-adjacent work, like distributed ledger technology for identity management, though Jameson remains skeptical of its practical value. A memorable moment is Jameson's admission that this is the strongest stance he's taken on the show, which genuinely surprises Dave. The hosts note that crypto's practical purposes seem limited to speculation, theft, and a diminished capacity for buying illegal goods online. They reference specific examples like a distributed cloud storage system that rewards participants with tokens and NFT-based video games. For the second question, the hosts advise the manager that transitioning back to coding at the same company is feasible and often not awkward for the team. They recommend starting with non-critical engineering tasks, like bug fixes or tooling improvements, to rebuild skills without blocking the team. Jameson suggests using the narrative of staying connected to technical details as a management best practice to justify taking on coding work. Dave emphasizes that feelings of abandoning a team are overblown, stating "you're just not that important" in the grand scheme. He shares a personal anecdote about recruiting former teammates, which led to a lawyer's letter but ultimately no lasting hard feelings. Dave also recounts leaving his first job, where his team leader felt betrayed and refused to speak to him during his notice period. Jameson champions AI coding assistants as a perfect tool for rusty managers to regain productivity, calling it the best time technologically to make this switch. The tone is conversational and humorous, featuring the hosts' characteristic banter and personal anecdotes. The style is advisory, blending direct career advice with candid personal opinions and experiences. This episode would appeal to software engineers considering career pivots, managers feeling stuck in their roles, or anyone curious about industry perceptions of niche fields like cryptocurrency. Listeners who strongly support cryptocurrency or are seeking purely technical discussions might find the hosts' personal takes less engaging.

As heard by us

A skeptical, conversational look at crypto credentials, trust, and the limits of distributed ledgers.

An episode built around a listener question about crypto credentials and the jump between management and hands-on dev work settles into a skeptical but useful discussion of distributed ledgers, trust, and verifiability.

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Why you'd press play

You want a blunt reality check on crypto and distributed ledgers.

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