Book Image

Developer Career Masterplan

By : Heather VanCura, Bruno Souza
5 (1)
Book Image

Developer Career Masterplan

5 (1)
By: Heather VanCura, Bruno Souza

Overview of this book

Written by industry experts that have spent the last 20+ years helping developers grow their careers, this book offers invaluable insights and guidance tailored to the specific needs of technical professionals. By discovering the secret of continuous learning and adapting in the ever-evolving field of software development, you’ll explore various learning paths with formal and informal methods, as well as gain an understanding of the value of certifications to validate your skills. This book will teach you the significance of building a strong support network, holding crucial conversations, and taking ownership of your career growth. You'll delve into acquiring both soft and hard skills, becoming a well-rounded and sought-after developer. Packed with practical examples, stories of successful developers, and real-world applications, the chapters will equip you with actionable advice on how to push beyond your comfort zone and embracing communities to enhance your teamwork abilities. Additionally, you’ll uncover the benefits of joining open-source projects, speaking at conferences, and building a personal brand to amplify your visibility and reputation. By the end of this book, you'll have a well-laid-out long-term and short-term plan for your career progression, equipping you with advanced technical skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to effectively manage relationships within your organization.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1 The Basics: Learn and Practice the Technical Skills
7
Part 2 Get Involved: Participate in the Community
13
Part 3 Create Impact: Share and Lead

How do we improve our skills?

Let us think about what skills are important for us to increase our abilities. Most people think of hard skills as technical skills and soft skills as people skills. Although there is some truth to that, it is not a solid definition of hard and soft skills. Some people believe that hard skills or technical skills, because they are hard, are difficult, but that is not a solid definition either.

What are hard skills?

We do not call hard skills hard because they are difficult. We call them hard because they are precise. Hard skills are skills that need specific precision. Imagine, for example, typing on a keyboard.

You need to be very precise with your finger movements to type fast; the more precisely your fingers move on a keyboard, the faster you type. To be a better typist, what you need to do is improve the precision of your fingers’ movement – the faster your brain is able to send signals to your fingers, the faster you’...