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Personal branding isn’t about being an influencer or posting for clout. It’s about controlling how you’re perceived when you’re not in the room.

In this episode of *Beyond the Build*, we break down why software engineers already have a brand whether they like it or not, how internal and public branding shape your career, and why visibility quietly creates opportunities long before interviews and promotions happen. We also talk about the “cringe” factor, common mistakes engineers make online, and how to build credibility without pretending to be someone you’re not.

Key topics:

- The 3-axis framework for building your brand (what you're good at, what you want to be known for, what people care about)
- Why your internal company brand needs different rules than your public brand
- How to escape being typecast at work
- The credibility problem with posting opinions in areas where you lack experience
- Daily posting vs. evergreen content: what actually works

If you want your work to matter beyond your codebase, this episode is for you.

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Writing code is rarely the hardest part of software engineering.

As engineers grow, the real challenge shifts to something far less talked about: coordinating people, aligning goals, sharing context, and synchronizing work across teams.

In this episode of Beyond the Build, we break down why so many engineering projects stall, drag on for months, or ship the wrong thing entirely. Not because of bad code, but because of misalignment.

We talk through:

- Why senior engineers write less code over time
- How unclear goals and moving goalposts quietly kill projects
- The difference between a problem statement and real context
- Why shared documents matter more than meetings
- How technical misalignment shows up before anything breaks
- Why expectation setting around timelines and ownership is a real engineering skill

We also dig into real examples of projects that spiraled because teams weren’t synchronized, and how small habits like writing, async updates, and proactive alignment can save weeks or even months of wasted effort.

If you’ve ever felt like you were doing “everything right” technically but still hitting friction, this episode is for you.

Connect with Ope - https://www.linkedin.com/in/osunkoyaope/

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Should you stay or should you leave?

In this episode of Beyond the Build, we tackle one of the hardest questions in your career: when should you actually leave your team or company? Most engineers don't think about this until they're already frustrated, burnt out, or realizing they've been building skills that won't transfer anywhere else. By then, it's often too late.

We break down the red flags to watch for across three categories: personal misalignment, team-level dysfunction, and organizational warning signs. We get real about the dangers of over-specialization and why spending years mastering one niche problem can actually make you unemployable. Your experience is the only thing people use to judge your future potential, so if you're not intentional about what you're building, you could end up as a fish out of water.

We also talk about how to evaluate whether your team's work actually matters, the balancing act between depth and breadth, and why building your personal brand outside your nine-to-five is non-negotiable. Whether you're contemplating a team switch or jumping ship entirely, this episode gives you the framework to make strategic decisions that set up your future, not just your present.

If you've ever wondered whether you're in the right place or worried that you're wasting time on work that won't matter down the line, this is the conversation you need to hear.

Connect with Ope - https://www.linkedin.com/in/osunkoyaope/

Connect with Uma: Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/umacodes) Tiktok: (https://www.tiktok.com/@umacodes) Twitter: (https://twitter.com/umacodes) LinkedIn: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/umaabu/)

Follow us on Social Media Instagram: (https://www.instagram.com/beyondthebuildpodcast) TikTok: (https://www.tiktok.com/@beyondthebuildpodcast)