啦 can be used to pose a question:你回去后就开始找工作了啦? ofc u can also say: 你回去后就开始找工作了? we add 啦 to highlight this question.
嘛 can NOT be used to pose a question. it is just used at the end of a declarative sentence to express a kind of emotion. if ur friend used 嘛 to pose a question, it is wrong. in fact he wanted to type 吗(ma). on the Internet, we usually mix them up...:D
when it is NOT a question, 啦 = 嘛