I'm a junior engineer, but I inherited a project mid-construction because the designer left. I wasn't around for the early phases, but now I’m running the site meetings. I'm stressed about the technical gap and being asked questions I don't know the answers to. I don't want to appear clueless in front of the clients, even though I am. Is it okay to say that I don't know, but I will get back to them? Or does that look unprofessional?

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.

I’m looking at job opportunities in other cities right now and trying to figure out the best approach. If you've done this before, how did you handle the job hunt? I'm especially curious if companies ever offer a trial period, maybe working on-site for three months before making the permanent move to mitigate the risk for everyone. How does the hiring process usually work?

Do you think engineers spend enough time thinking about the user experience of internal tools? I’ve seen teams tolerate painful internal systems that they’d never ship to customers.

What was the biggest mistake you made early in your career that ended up teaching you a valuable lesson? One of mine was assuming everyone interpreted requirements the same way I did. Learning to ask clarifying questions saved me from a lot of rework. What’s yours?