I'm looking for ways to fix bad timing in meetings. I always have input, but I spend too much time overthinking and working up the courage to say it. By the time I’m ready, the topic has changed and my point is stale. What's helped you speed up your reaction time and just jump into the discussion?

A senior engineer on my team is leaving, and our manager sent a link for a farewell gift card. She mentored me when I was a junior, so I want to chip in, but I can't see what others are giving and have never done this before. She makes great money if that matters. The default options are $20, $30, and $50. What's standard here? Is $30 enough, or should I go higher since she helped me so much?

What’s the greenest flag you’ve seen in an engineering team’s culture? For me it’s when senior engineers ask questions in public channels instead of always having the answers. It normalizes not knowing everything and makes it way easier for junior folks to speak up without feeling like they’ll be judged.

When you disagree with a decision that was made by upper management, how do you voice that to your immediate supervisor?

I recently switched to salary, and my workload exploded. Suddenly, everything is "urgent," so I'm working 2–3 hours of unpaid overtime at home every night. The company is billing the client for my extra hours, but I'm not seeing any of it. How do I bring this up with management? I'd rather not keep working for free.