
Professional Development Articles
We’re curious people by nature. And we love to teach others what we’ve learned. So explore our blog to gain fresh insights from our expertise in areas ranging from culture to AI.
SEP Wins TechPoint’s 2025 Exceptional Employer Mira Award
SEP Recognized as Indiana’s Top Tech Employer, Winning TechPoint’s Prestigious Mira Award Westfield, Indiana - SEP has been named Exceptional Employer by TechPoint at the 26th annual Mira Awards. This award recognizes companies that are developing talent through skills-based hiring…
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We’ve been running hackathons at SEP since 2011. Over the years we’ve experimented with the setup. It’s ranged from actual product pitches to technology explorations (and everything in between). Recent hackathons have settled into a pattern that works well for us. That pattern includes: Pitches Q & A Form teams Build Demos Our hackathons run […]
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Reclaiming Lost Time with Podcasts
Podcasts are a sneaky, underrated way to learn things during time that you might be otherwise wasting. I drive 30 minutes to and from the office every day. That adds up to 5 hours a week of listening time for podcasts or audiobooks. My phone automatically downloads new episodes and I use an adapter to […]
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So a UX Architect and a Software Engineer Had a Baby
On St. Patrick’s day this year, life forever changed for me and my husband, Aaron. A baby arrived in the world after months of planning. But nothing could have prepared me for the joy my heart would feel for our Little Man. Oh, we got this. We’re gonna nail this parenting thing. I’m an Experience […]
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Study Groups – Learning Together is Better
As I’ve mentioned before, professional development is a big deal at SEP. I love learning with other people. We’ve recently kicked off a new way (for us) to learn with other people: Study Groups. What are Study Groups The idea is to go through an online course, class, book series, or other structured or self-directed […]
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Professional Development at SEP
You’re always behind the curve. You can never catch up. There is no leading, you’re always chasing. That is what it feels like as a software engineer these days. Technology is moving at breakneck speed. Five new React competitors came out this morning. Rails is old; Elm is new. Elm!? Back in my day that […]
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From Terrible Things Come Innovation
As a software architect, I do what I can to stay abreast of the world around me. As new technologies, design patterns, and so on emerge, I try to learn enough about them to make informed decisions on where they might prove useful or if I can safely ignore them. I think about their relevance […]
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3 Hard Steps on How to Fail (you probably can’t do them)
I have many friends who cannot help but win. Everything they do seems to blossom, and sometimes I wonder if they might not be descended from King Midas in some ethereal way. Here’s how to prevent yourself from being another victim of Pervasive Success™. 1. Avoid things you’re good at Being good at something takes […]
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Failure behind a curtain helps performers to shine in the spotlight
In any profession involving performance (like music or sports), the professionals practice out of sight of their audience. They practice to get better. They push their limits and try things they’ve never tried before. When they try those things for the first time, they suck! The football player misses the catch trying out that new […]
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The Connected Engineer
One of the hats I wear at SEP is Recruiting Director – I’m responsible for the engineering talent we bring in. I was recently asked how recruiting has changed over time, things we’re looking for now that we didn’t before. The core criteria (must have’s, if you will) haven’t changed for us: Smart, Fit, and […]
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