Want senior engineers to answer your questions quickly ? Read this

When you are stuck on a problem, the only thing that comes into mind is “How can i solve it?”

At some point, you will have spend countless hours on the problem and you decide, “May be i should ask someone?”

Asking question doesn’t make you less intelligent, however asking right question, will help you get your answers sooner. There is a saying good questions save time, bad questions waste time.

So how do you raise a request for support from engineers who are senior than you ? Here are some points which will help you answer questions:

1. Exhaust self-help resources first

Before reaching out to senior engineers, commit to a structured approach:

Invest 20–30 Minutes of Focused Troubleshooting

• Break down the problem systematically
• Experiment with different approaches
• Document your attempts and observations

Exhaust Self-Help Resources

• Search Stack Overflow
• Explore GitHub issues
• Use Google strategically
• Review official documentation

Remember: The path to knowledge is paved with self-discovery. No amount of AI, GPT or Spoon feeding will help you resolve the issue.

2. Context, Context, Context

Do not expect other engineer to just understand you problem and help you right away. They are working on something else, their brain is somewhere else thinking about completely different things. When asking question make sure you add as much context as you can. The more context you add, the easier it will be for other engineers to help you resolve the issue.

3. Don’t just ask questions, ask good questions

What is a good question ? Instead of saying, why is this failing, be more specific . For example:

Instead of this

Hi, my API is not working. Can you help?

Try this

Hey, I am working on a feature where i need to consume API. 
However, i am getting error XYZ when running it. 
I tried method A, B and C and none of them worked. 
I looked in SO/Google and some people suggested i try method E, but 
still getting this error. 

Could you please me figure out why i am getting error E 
when consuming this endpoint ?

This way you are adding context, you’ve shown that you did the groundwork of googling, trying it out yourself before asking questions.

5. Do not post screenshots

IMHO, Screenshots are the worst way to ask for support. Not readable, i can’t do anything, i can’t even copy paste the error code. Instead, use code blocks or even PR where people can have a hard look. Read more here

6. Make it easy to reproduce

I can’t help fix the issue, if it cannot reproduce it. Simple as that. So when asking problem, show them how they can reproduce the issue. This can be done through creating a debug-branch and steps to reproduce it. This way people helping you can quickly reproduce and fix the issue.

7. Have patience

Do not expect a quick short answer. People are busy and it takes time. Have patience. Sometime the conversation can be stretched long, do not get frustrated. Do not wait for response, continue failing forward. When you get a response, try that. If not, just continue debugging or asking someone else.

8. Follow up

Once your problem is resolved (whether is it through help or self-discovery), make sure you follow up. That is the correct way. Express your gratitude and confirm what worked. Share your learnings as well so that when someone like yourself asks the same question, there is one more thing to try.

Recommended Readings

Stack Overflow’s “How to Ask” guide ( https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask )