David, a junior engineer at a fintech company, is instantly zapped into a project that quickly becomes a memorable early dev experience (both technically and interpersonally). He’s tasked with building a feature alone after his senior engineer gets sidetracked, and unfortunately for him, his junior experience does not meet the high expectations, to put it lightly.

What starts as an exciting opportunity turns into a rough ride. David is under pressure to deliver a critical feature with little guidance, and as his timeline gets tighter, the stakes grow higher. When the feature crashes during testing, it sparks a public reprimand that no one saw coming. The worst part? No one steps in to defend him, and the senior engineer stays silent.

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Highlights:

• The Pressure Cooker: How being thrown into the deep end feels
• Silent Treatment: The consequences of no backup when things go wrong
• Career Lessons: How public failure can shape your future

Jump into the conversation:
(00:00 ) Pushing a junior engineer into the deep end

(06:44 ) Junior engineers and unrealistic timelines

(09:28 ) Optimism vs. reality in engineering

(11:42 ) Performance issues emerge in staging

(13:10 ) David’s public criticism in the meeting

(16:02 ) No intervention when David is called out

(21:43 ) David’s recovery and new opportunities