Helping Your Career Along
A Selection of Helpful Books and Articles about Tech Careers
The internet is full of career advice, and when you’re facing a challenge at work it can be overwhelming to read all of the advice out there. Here are some of the articles and talks I’ve found useful along the way. I often end up sharing these with people who ask me for advice so hope they are useful to you too.
Communication
Crucial Conversations — a book about how to have those difficult conversations
Never Split the Difference — a book about negotiation from an ex-hostage negotiator.
Do we really need another meeting? — suggestions for running good meetings
How to write with style — Advice on good writing from Kurt Vonnegut
Bad habits we learn in school — how to communicate effectively about deadlines and progress
Public speaking
Demystifying Public Speaking — a talk by Lara Hogan
TED Talks — book by Chris Anderson about how to give good TED talks
People Management
Camille Fournier — The Manager’s Path a book about the technical management ladder that is focused on small- to medium-tech companies, but has relevant advice for many tech managers
The New One Minute Manager — I think people either love or hate this book! Some regard it as too simple, but as a new manager it has the advantage of being quick to read
Peopleware — one of the best books about the socialogical aspects of people management in the tech world. It may be over 30 years old, but it’s full of insight.
Promotions
Software Developer Promotions — how to think about promotions in tech roles
Staff Engineer — an online book with examples and discussion about what it means to be a staff level Engineer
Strategy
Good Strategy Bad Strategy — setting and executing strategy
Effecting Change
Fearless Change — a book with design patterns that help you think about how to best advocate for change
Project Management
Agile project management — advice from Atlassian’s blog
OKRs 101 — what are OKRs
General Career Development
The Leadership Library for Engineers — a large collection of resources, especially useful if you’re looking at moving into Engineering Management
Being Glue — a talk about the ‘busywork’ of Engineering and how that can get in the way of developing your career.
High Agency — Twitter thread about finding a way to get what you want, without waiting for conditions to be perfect
This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means! But it does cover a lot of the career conversations that I have.
What would you add to the list?
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