# S7E9 Brad & Aaron | Top 5 Takeaways After Interviewing Over 300 Engineers

- Show: [Being an Engineer](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer)
- Published: 2026-02-27
- Length: 58m
- Episode: 9
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers

## Summary

Aaron Moncur and Brad Hirayama of Pipeline Design & Engineering distill five key career lessons from over 300 podcast interviews, emphasizing that understanding business context and developing soft skills are more critical for advancement than pure technical proficiency. They discuss the transformative role of mentors and coaches in providing hard feedback, the importance of doing high-impact work rather than just logging hours, and the necessity of establishing repeatable processes and checklists. The episode concludes by previewing a mini-series on accelerating engineering speed, highlighting tactics like hacking prototypes from off-the-shelf products and building psychological safety within teams.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers#t=0) Introduction: Aaron Moncur and Brad Hirayama discuss the premise of the episode
- [2:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers#t=172) Takeaway 1: Understanding the business context beyond engineering
- [11:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers#t=714) Takeaway 2: The non-negotiable nature of soft skills and communication
- [23:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers#t=1399) Takeaway 3: The distinction between mentors, coaches, and relationships
- [33:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers#t=1989) Takeaway 4: Doing more than you're paid for through high-impact work
- [42:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers#t=2520) Takeaway 5: Establishing processes, checklists, and systems
- [49:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-02-27-s7e9-brad-aaron-top-5-takeaways-after-interviewing-over-300-engineers#t=2973) Bonus: Accelerating engineering speed via off-the-shelf prototyping and psychological safety

## Topics

- [Careers & education](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/engineering-careers-and-education)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Factory operations & automation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/factory-operations)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Pipeline Design & Engineering (company)
- Pipeline Media Lab (company)
- McMaster (other)
- Atomic Habits (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [How Soft Skills Drive High-Impact Engineering Teams w/ Aaron Moncur](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2025-08-26-how-soft-skills-drive-high-impact-engineering-teams-w-aaron-moncur) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [386: Not Managing Robots](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-09-02-386-not-managing-robots) (Embedded.fm)
- [21: The Tent Is Flat and Everyone Is Wet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-10-02-21-the-tent-is-flat-and-everyone-is-wet) (Embedded.fm)
- [2024 christmas special](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-pragmatic-embedded-podcast/2024-12-29-2024-christmas-special) (The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast)
- [Episode 290: What’s important is that you made something.](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/making-it/2021-01-08-episode-290-whats-important-is-that-you-made-something) (Making It)

## Citing this page

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