Own Your Tech Career

Own Your Tech Career

by Don Jones
Released August 2021
Publisher(s): Manning Publications
ISBN: 9781617299070

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Book description

Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists is a guide to taking control of your professional life. It teaches you to approach your career with planning and purpose, always making active decisions towards your goals.

In Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists, you will:

  • Define what “success” means for your career
  • Discover personal branding and career maintenance
  • Prepare for and conduct a tech job hunt
  • Spot speed bumps and barriers that can derail your progress
  • Learn how to navigate the rules of the business world
  • Perform market analysis to keep your tech skills fresh and relevant

Whatever your road to success, you’ll benefit from the toolbox of career-boosting techniques you’ll find in Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists. You’ll discover in-demand communication and teamwork skills, essential rules for professionalism, tactics of the modern job hunt, and more.

About the Technology
A successful technology career demands more than just technical ability. Achieving your goals requires clear communication, top-notch time management, and a knack for navigating business needs. Master the “soft skills,” and you’ll have a smoother path to success and satisfaction, however you define that for yourself.

About the Book
Own Your Tech Career: Soft skills for technologists helps you get what you want out of your technology career. You’ll start by defining your ambition—whether that’s a salary, a job title, a flexible schedule, or something else. Once you know where you’re going, this book’s adaptable advice guides your journey. You’ll learn conflict resolution and teamwork, master nine rules of professionalism, and build the confidence and skill you need to stay on the path you’ve set for yourself.

What's Inside
  • Personal branding and career maintenance
  • Barriers that derail progress
  • The rules of the business world
  • Market analysis to keep tech skills fresh


About the Reader
For tech professionals who want to take control of their career.

About the Author
Microsoft MVP Don Jones brings his years of experience as a successful IT trainer to this engaging guide.

Quotes
Valuable advice for every stage of your tech career.
- Lee M. Cottrell, Pittsburgh Technical College

A must-have book for those interested in pursuing a successful and satisfying IT career.
- Irfan Ullah, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University

A unique book on how to build a successful tech career and lead a satisfying life!
- Ed Lo, Uber Technologies

I recommend the book to everyone!
- Markus Braasch, Credit Karma

Table of contents

  1. Own Your Tech Career
  2. Copyright
  3. contents
  4. front matter
    1. preface
    2. acknowledgments
    3. about this book
    4. liveBook discussion forum
    5. about the author
    6. about the cover illustration
  5. Introduction
  6. 1 Own your career
    1. 1.1 Job, career, success, and self
    2. 1.2 Start at the beginning: With yourself
    3. 1.3 What does success look like for you?
    4. 1.4 Creating a career plan for right now
    5. 1.5 Action items
  7. 2 Build and maintain your brand
    1. 2.1 Brand building: Know your audience
    2. 2.2 Social media and your brand
    3. 2.3 Your brand has a wide reach
    4. 2.4 Professionalism and your brand
    5. 2.5 How to sabotage your brand
    6. 2.6 Further reading
    7. 2.7 Action items
  8. 3 Network
    1. 3.1 Why networking?
    2. 3.2 The problem with digital communications
    3. 3.3 Ideas for in-person networking
    4. 3.4 Ideas for online networking
    5. 3.5 Etiquette for networking
      1. 3.5.1 In person
      2. 3.5.2 On LinkedIn
    6. 3.6 Becoming a confident networker
    7. 3.7 Action items
  9. 4 Be part of a technology community
    1. 4.1 The value of community to your career
    2. 4.2 Yes, you’re worthy of contributing
    3. 4.3 Ways to contribute and participate
    4. 4.4 Etiquette for participating
      1. 4.4.1 On Q&A websites
      2. 4.4.2 In open source projects
    5. 4.5 Action items
  10. 5 Keep your tech skills fresh and relevant
    1. 5.1 Fresh vs. relevant
    2. 5.2 Deciding what’s relevant
      1. 5.2.1 Proficient, not expert
      2. 5.2.2 Where to focus
    3. 5.3 Building strong learning muscles
    4. 5.4 Learning media
    5. 5.5 Assessing your relevancy
    6. 5.6 Tips for lifelong daily learning
    7. 5.7 Further reading
    8. 5.8 Action items
  11. 6 Show up as a professional
    1. 6.1 Be your word
      1. 6.1.1 Never promise what you cannot deliver
      2. 6.1.2 Always deliver what you promise
      3. 6.1.3 Be easy to work with
    2. 6.2 Be detailed and precise
    3. 6.3 Cut your losses when the time is right
    4. 6.4 Let Blue Sky mode happen
    5. 6.5 Draw a yellow line
    6. 6.6 Action items
  12. 7 Manage your time
    1. 7.1 Discipline, procrastination, and laziness
    2. 7.2 Time management
      1. 7.2.1 Time inventory: The TimeFlip technique
      2. 7.2.2 Time rationing: The Pomodoro technique
      3. 7.2.3 Time catalog: Knowing your capabilities
    3. 7.3 Multitasking
    4. 7.4 Action items
  13. 8 Handle remote work
    1. 8.1 The challenges of being remote
    2. 8.2 Creating a space
    3. 8.3 Creating a space when you have no space
    4. 8.4 Working with family
    5. 8.5 Adopting a routine
    6. 8.6 Explicitly defining a culture
    7. 8.7 Networking like you’re in the office
    8. 8.8 Remote work: Permanent or temporary?
    9. 8.9 Action items
  14. 9 Be a team player
    1. 9.1 The ups and downs of teams
    2. 9.2 A checklist for being a better team player
    3. 9.3 Dealing with less-effective teams and teammates
    4. 9.4 Contributing to an inclusive workplace
      1. 9.4.1 Help
      2. 9.4.2 Offer respect and support
    5. 9.5 Further reading
    6. 9.6 Action items
  15. 10 Be a team leader
    1. 10.1 The decision to lead
    2. 10.2 Leadership vs. management
    3. 10.3 The leader’s path
    4. 10.4 Getting into their context
    5. 10.5 Leading positively
    6. 10.6 Mistakes leaders make
    7. 10.7 Leadership beyond leading
    8. 10.8 Before moving into leadership
      1. 10.8.1 Don’t get promoted to your level of incompetence
      2. 10.8.2 Learn leadership
      3. 10.8.3 Measure your own success
    9. 10.9 Further reading
    10. 10.10 Action items
  16. 11 Solve problems
    1. 11.1 Problem-solving vs. troubleshooting
    2. 11.2 Clearly state the problem
    3. 11.3 Identify your levers
    4. 11.4 Negotiating solutions
    5. 11.5 Action items
  17. 12 Conquer written communications
    1. 12.1 Communicating is telling a story
      1. 12.1.1 The rules of storytelling
      2. 12.1.2 Applying storytelling to business communication
      3. 12.1.3 What about mundane, everyday communication?
    2. 12.2 Facing our fear of communicating
      1. 12.2.1 Analyze the causes of your fear
      2. 12.2.2 Address the causes of your fear
      3. 12.2.3 Conquer fear in written communications
    3. 12.3 Applying structure to your storytelling
    4. 12.4 Practice, practice, practice
    5. 12.5 Common written defeaters
      1. 12.5.1 Avoid passive voice
      2. 12.5.2 Prune that flowery garden
    6. 12.6 Action items
  18. 13 Conquer verbal communications
    1. 13.1 Stepping up to verbal communications
    2. 13.2 Conquering your fear of speaking
      1. 13.2.1 Fear of not having all the answers
      2. 13.2.2 Fear of being judged
    3. 13.3 Common verbal defeaters
    4. 13.4 Finding the right amount of assertive
    5. 13.5 Persuasion and the art of listening
    6. 13.6 Action items
  19. 14 Resolve conflicts
    1. 14.1 Conflict can be healthy and even deliberate
    2. 14.2 Seeking context
    3. 14.3 Returning to first principles
    4. 14.4 Relying on data
    5. 14.5 Using decision-making frameworks
    6. 14.6 A win doesn’t matter as much as the outcome
    7. 14.7 Action items
  20. 15 Be a data-driven, critical thinker
    1. 15.1 In business, never “believe”
    2. 15.2 Be a data-driven, critical thinker
    3. 15.3 Be data-driven
    4. 15.4 Beware the data
    5. 15.5 Further reading
    6. 15.6 Action items
  21. 16 Understand how businesses work
    1. 16.1 Businesses are people too
      1. 16.1.1 Businesses and their relationships
      2. 16.1.2 Customers and employees
      3. 16.1.3 One-sided relationships
      4. 16.1.4 Dealing with changes in the relationship
    2. 16.2 How businesses really make money
    3. 16.3 What does your business sell?
      1. 16.3.1 Example 1: Terri’s International Bulbs
      2. 16.3.2 Example 2: Martin’s Theme Parks
      3. 16.3.3 Example 3: Pat’s Fruity Clothing
      4. 16.3.4 Know the details of the business
    4. 16.4 Understanding risk and reward
    5. 16.5 Further reading
    6. 16.6 Action items
  22. 17 Be a better decision-maker
    1. 17.1 Deciding who decides: Decision-making frameworks
    2. 17.2 Deciding what to do: OKRs, rocks, and pebbles
      1. 17.2.1 Rocks and pebbles
      2. 17.2.2 OKRs
      3. 17.2.3 Priorities, priorities
    3. 17.3 Deciding what to drop: Opportunity cost
    4. 17.4 Deciding what’s enough: Good, better, best
    5. 17.5 Deciding what to believe: Being data-driven
    6. 17.6 Deciding together: How to negotiate
    7. 17.7 Further reading
    8. 17.8 Action items
  23. 18 Help others
    1. 18.1 Why help?
    2. 18.2 Yes, you can
      1. 18.2.1 The toxic relationships that keep us from teaching
      2. 18.2.2 You are definitely worthy of teaching
    3. 18.3 How humans learn
    4. 18.4 The value of repetition
    5. 18.5 Getting in and doing it
    6. 18.6 Why analogies work . . . and how they can fail
    7. 18.7 Do it like Socrates
    8. 18.8 The importance of sequencing
    9. 18.9 Rest time is crucial
    10. 18.10 Further reading
    11. 18.11 Action items
  24. 19 Be prepared for anything
    1. 19.1 What can happen?
    2. 19.2 Basic preparedness goals
    3. 19.3 Cash on hand and credit
    4. 19.4 Social safety nets
    5. 19.5 Insurance
    6. 19.6 Prestaged job hunt tools
    7. 19.7 Action items
  25. 20 Business math and terminology for technologists
    1. 20.1 How much do you cost?
    2. 20.2 Reading a P&L statement
      1. 20.2.1 Revenue
      2. 20.2.2 Expenses
    3. 20.3 Averages
    4. 20.4 OpEx and CapEx
      1. 20.4.1 Understanding the two types of expenses
      2. 20.4.2 Driving business decisions
    5. 20.5 Business architecture
    6. 20.6 Further reading
    7. 20.7 Action items
  26. 21 Tools for the modern job hunt
    1. 21.1 Job hunt tasks to do now
    2. 21.2 Review your brand
      1. 21.2.1 Your professional brand and the job hunt
      2. 21.2.2 Reviewing your public footprint
      3. 21.2.3 How would others describe your brand?
    3. 21.3 Update your résumé
      1. 21.3.1 Résumé rules
      2. 21.3.2 Starting your résumé
      3. 21.3.3 Every résumé is unique
      4. 21.3.4 Analyze the job posting
      5. 21.3.5 Writing your résumé
      6. 21.3.6 Formatting your résumé
      7. 21.3.7 Should you hire a résumé writer?
    4. 21.4 Nailing the interview
    5. 21.5 Understanding compensation packages
      1. 21.5.1 Compensation package elements
      2. 21.5.2 Negotiating your compensation package
    6. 21.6 Further reading
    7. 21.7 Action items
  27. index

Product information

  • Title: Own Your Tech Career
  • Author(s): Don Jones
  • Release date: August 2021
  • Publisher(s): Manning Publications
  • ISBN: 9781617299070