SEEK Bytes

SEEK

Few careers shape daily life like software engineering. From the way people search for jobs and learn new skills to how businesses run behind the scenes, software quietly powers billions of micro-moments every single day. So how do you stay ahead in a world that’s increasingly run on code, data and distributed systems — and where the tools seem to change every week? Welcome to SEEK Bytes, the podcast for software engineers and IT professionals, hosted by SEEK software engineers Elliott Millar, Seamus Kearney and William Lark. SEEK is an Australian-founded market leader in online employment marketplaces, helping people thrive in their careers across eight countries in the Asia Pacific. Each episode, Elliott, Seamus, Will and a series of recurring and special guests, dive into real engineering stories from SEEK and across the industry. They explore big, globally relevant topics — from AI, architecture and platform engineering to security, developer experience and tech careers — and break them down into practical ideas, tools and insights you can take straight back to your team. Join us as we deep dive into your career, your code and the systems you build — and celebrate the influence technologists have in an online world. SEEK is a market leader in online employment marketplaces spanning eight countries across the Asia Pacific. Visit SEEK at seek.com

  1. 18 HRS AGO

    When Your Dev Tool Turns on You: NX Supply Chain Attack Explained

    Imagine updating a trusted monorepo tool… and the next time you open your terminal it asks for your password, then tries to shut your machine down. In this episode of SEEK Bytes, Will, Seamus and SEEK Staff Engineer Trevor Kilvington unpack the NX supply chain attacks – how they unfolded, why they were so scary, and what every IT team can learn from them. This episode's special guest: Trevor Kilvington (SEEK Staff Engineer) In this episode, we explore: • How a popular open-source tool ended up shipping malicious code to developers’ laptops and CI pipelines – and how SEEK engineers helped spot it first • Why attackers leaned on AI prompts and worm-like behaviour to hunt for secrets and quietly spread through NPM packages • The uncomfortable question of whether keeping everything “always up to date” is still the safest choice – and what this means for CI/CD ownership and developer responsibilities Whether you’re in software engineering, DevOps, SRE, security, platform or IT leadership, this episode will change how you think about package updates, build pipelines and the tools you trust every day. 👍 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode

    38 min

  2. 28 APR

    Inside SEEK’s Legendary Hackathons (with Glenn Wilson, Kat Vassallo & Andy Maxey)

    This episode of SEEK Bytes steps away from code to celebrate one of SEEK’s most loved traditions: Hackathon. Will is joined by Kat, Andy and Glenn to lift the lid on how a twice-yearly, three-day event brings together people from every corner of SEEK to dream up bold ideas – many of which end up on real roadmaps and in front of real customers. In this episode you’ll learn: This episode of SEEK Bytes – a podcast for engineers by engineers – steps away from code to celebrate one of SEEK’s most loved traditions: Hackathon. Will is joined by Kat, Andy and Glenn to lift the lid on how a twice-yearly, three-day event brings together people from every corner of SEEK to dream up bold ideas – many of which end up on real roadmaps and in front of real customers. This episode's special guests: Glenn Wilson (Snr Business Analyst / former Community Engagement Lead), Kat Vassallo (Tecnology Community Engagement & Innovation Manager), Andy Maxey (EVP & Community Impact Lead) In this episode you’ll learn: • How SEEK hackathons actually work – three days off BAU, 40+ teams hacking across APAC, big themes (from space operas to dinosaurs), t-shirts as badges of honour and a Shark Tank-style final where the ELT judges every idea. • Why hack is core to SEEK’s culture and EVP – how grassroots volunteers, wild costumes, candy bars and chaos create a safe space for experimentation, help people work with teams they’d never normally meet, and generate ideas that influence products, processes and even board-level conversations. • How any company can start their own hackathon – practical tips on beginning with a half-day or single-department event, proving value before going company-wide, getting leadership buy-in, and using hackathons to build skills, networks and long-term innovation habits. 🔔 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode

    35 min

  3. 21 APR

    Human vs AI: The Sleep-Deprived Dev Who Beat OpenAI’s Code Bot

    An OpenAI-backed coding agent. 12 elite competitive programmers flown to Tokyo. A 10-hour marathon solving an NP-hard puzzle in front of a live stream. And a very sleep-deprived human still manages to beat the AI at its own game. In this episode of SEEK Bytes, Elliott Millar, Will, Seamus and Arnav break down the World Tour Finals heuristic contest where a human edged out a custom AI built just for competitive coding. In this episode, we explore: • How the competition was set up so both humans and a custom OpenAI agent had to race the same brutally hard optimisation problem under tight time limits • The surprisingly simple strategy a sleep-deprived engineer used to out-score a specialised AI model • What we can learn from how the AI iterated, refactored and “thought” about code during the contest • Why the story might change when you put the human’s winning code back into the AI – and what that says about humans + AI working together Whether you’re in software engineering, data, SRE, platforms, security or any IT role wondering how far AI coding tools can really go – and where humans still have the edge – this episode is a fast-paced, deeply nerdy look at the future of competitive problem solving and day-to-day development with AI in the loop. 👍 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode

    41 min

  4. 9 APR

    Axios Hack - A SEEK Bytes Special Episode (with Eldar Marcussen)

    This is a special SEEK Bytes drop – outside the regular Season 3 line-up – because the recent Axios NPM hack is too important to ignore. In this episode of SEEK Bytes the crew sit down with Eldar Marcussen from SEEK’s offensive security team to unpack what actually happened, why supply-chain attacks are so scary, and what you should do today to reduce your risk. In this episode you’ll learn: • What a supply-chain attack really is – how a single malicious dependency in a trusted package like Axios can silently run on thousands of machines, and why closed-source software isn’t magically safer. • What to do if you think you’ve been hit – practical first moves for companies and individuals: rotating keys, rebuilding or containerising machines, reviewing logs, and knowing when to call in your security team. • How to raise the bar for attackers – simple habits like pinning and ageing dependencies, using tools like Docker and alternative package managers, relying on built-in protection like Windows Defender, and staying alert to sketchy extensions and “too good to be true” downloads. 🔔 Follow so you don’t miss future special drops like this – plus our regular Season 3 episodes every week.

    32 min

  5. SEASON 3, EPISODE 41 TRAILER

    SEEK Bytes returns on April 22 for Season 3

    SEEK Bytes is back for Season 3 on 22 April, and we’re turning things up a notch with a major focus on AI of course. This season dives into the real world of working in tech today – from AI reshaping how we build and secure systems, to the culture, careers and decisions that make or break modern engineering teams. Whether you’re a seasoned developer, just starting out in IT, or simply curious about how technology is changing work, Season 3 brings you sharp, honest conversations straight from the engineers, designers and security experts living it every day. 👍 Hit Follow so you don't miss a new episode and don't forget to check out past episodes if you haven't already.

    1 min

  6. 05/05/2025

    From Engineer to EM: Imposter Syndrome, Mentors & Managing Across Cultures

    Thinking about moving from hands-on coding to people leadership – or just wanting more control over your engineering career? In this episode of SEEK Bytes, we sit down with Gladys Lim, an Engineering Manager based in Kuala Lumpar who leads squads in SEEK’s monetisation & insights domain, building products that keep hirers coming back This episode's special guest: Gladys Lim (SEEK Engineering Manager - based in Kuala Lumpur) Gladys shares her journey from barcode integrations and games dev to full-stack engineer and, eventually, EM – including what surprised her about loving people leadership, how she navigated a jarring feedback-loop shift, and why management is a different career path, not just a promotion. She gets real about imposter syndrome, being a woman in tech across APAC, hiring for diverse teams, and using empathy, vulnerability and structure to make mentoring actually work. In this episode you’ll learn: • What it really means to shift from IC to EM – from instant code feedback to months-long people outcomes, delegating without micromanaging, and redefining success as enabling the team, not being the strongest coder. • How to navigate imposter syndrome and bias – using facts to reframe negative self-talk, turning comparison into learning, and creating inclusive rituals so quieter and under-represented voices are actually heard. • How to take charge of your career and mentorship – clarifying your motivations, choosing between IC and leadership paths, saying “no” when the fit or timing is wrong, and designing mentoring relationships that serve your specific growth goals. If you’re a software engineer, data/IT professional, team lead or aspiring manager wondering whether people leadership is for you – or how to better support the EMs you work with – this episode is packed with honest stories, practical tactics and career advice you can apply today. 👍 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode

    46 min

  7. 22/04/2025

    Clean Architecture in Practice: Use Cases, Entities, Gateways & the Onion

    Heard of “clean architecture” but not sure what it looks like in real code? In this episode of SEEK Bytes, Seamus, Will and Adam Kreidels (Head of Engineering, Monetisation & Insights at SEEK) are back for Part 2 of their deep dive – unpacking entities, use cases, gateways, the dependency rule and the famous “onion” diagram in a way any IT pro can apply. This episode's special guest: Adam Kreitals (SEEK Head of Engineering, Monetisation & Insights) In this episode, we explore: • Why “start with the database” slows you down – and how leading with business rules and use cases speeds up delivery. • How entities, use cases and gateways work together – using price, order and discount examples from SEEK to show clean seams between domain and tech. • How clean architecture reduces the cost of change – what good separation of concerns looks like in code, and how to spot when frameworks and APIs are leaking into your core domain. If you’re a software engineer, tech lead, architect, SRE, platform engineer or IT manager who wants code that survives framework swaps, org changes and new requirements – and you liked Part 1 – this Part 2 episode gives you the concrete concepts, terminology and mental models to put clean architecture into practice. 👍 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode

    42 min

  8. 15/04/2025

    Clean Architecture Explained: Future-Proofing Code, Teams & Tech Choices

    Ever wondered what a technical product manager actually does – and why every modern tech org seems to want one? In this episode of SEEK Bytes, Will is joined by Leon Belobrov and Alex Stewart-James to unpack how SEEK builds platform products that power everything from candidate apps to internal tooling – and what it means to be a PM for APIs instead of UIs. This episode's special guests: Leon Belobrov (SEEK Principal Product Manager, Platform) and Alex Stewart-James (SEEK Snr Technical Product Manager) They break down what makes TPMs a bit of a “unicorn role” – blending deep product thinking with enough technical context to serve engineers as their primary customers – and why internal platforms, APIs and deployment pipelines are becoming just as important as customer-facing apps. You’ll hear how SEEK uses jobs-to-be-done research with engineers, metrics like time-to-10th PR, and platform reliability/security KPIs to prioritise what gets built – and what gets cut. In this episode you’ll learn: • The real difference between a “regular” PM and a TPM – including why serving engineers, focusing on APIs and reusable capabilities, and obsessing over platform reliability changes how you think about product. • How SEEK discovers what engineers actually need – from interviewing 25+ engineers across the business to mapping their pain points into jobs-to-be-done and opportunity scores, instead of just building what the loudest voice wants. • Practical advice if you want to move into TPM or work better with platforms – including dogfooding, avoiding over-engineering, and remembering that “you are not your customer” even when you’re an engineer building for engineers. If you’re a software engineer, platform/DevOps engineer, BA, product manager or IT leader curious about platform teams, internal products and where technical PMs fit into modern tech orgs, this episode gives you a front-row view into how SEEK does it – and how you might shape a similar path. 👍 Follow the SEEK Bytes podcast so you never miss a new episode

    45 min
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Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Few careers shape daily life like software engineering. From the way people search for jobs and learn new skills to how businesses run behind the scenes, software quietly powers billions of micro-moments every single day. So how do you stay ahead in a world that’s increasingly run on code, data and distributed systems — and where the tools seem to change every week? Welcome to SEEK Bytes, the podcast for software engineers and IT professionals, hosted by SEEK software engineers Elliott Millar, Seamus Kearney and William Lark. SEEK is an Australian-founded market leader in online employment marketplaces, helping people thrive in their careers across eight countries in the Asia Pacific. Each episode, Elliott, Seamus, Will and a series of recurring and special guests, dive into real engineering stories from SEEK and across the industry. They explore big, globally relevant topics — from AI, architecture and platform engineering to security, developer experience and tech careers — and break them down into practical ideas, tools and insights you can take straight back to your team. Join us as we deep dive into your career, your code and the systems you build — and celebrate the influence technologists have in an online world. SEEK is a market leader in online employment marketplaces spanning eight countries across the Asia Pacific. Visit SEEK at seek.com

Information

  • Creator
    SEEK
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    45
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    SEEK Bytes

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