Being Geek: The Software Developer’s Career Handbook 1st Edition by Michael Lopp (PDF)

Description

As a software engineer, you recognize at some point that there’s much more to your career than dealing with code. Is it time to become a manager? Tell your boss he’s a jerk? Join that startup? Author Michael Lopp recalls his own make-or-break moments with Silicon Valley giants such as Apple, Netscape, and Symantec in Being Geek — an insightful and entertaining book that will help you make better career decisions.With more than 40 standalone stories, Lopp walks through a complete job life cycle, starting with the job interview and ending with the realization that it might be time to find another gig. Many books teach you how to interview for a job or how to manage a project successfully, but only this book helps you handle the baffling circumstances you may encounter throughout your career.Decide what you’re worth with the chapter on “The Business”Determine the nature of the miracle your CEO wants with “The Impossible”Give effective presentations with “How Not to Throw Up”Handle liars and people with devious agendas with “Managing Werewolves”Realize when you should be looking for a new gig with “The Itch”

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: About the Author Michael Lopp is a Silicon Valley-based engineering manager. When he’s not worrying about staying relevant, he writes about pens, bridges, people, and werewolves at the popular weblog, Rands in Repose. Michael wrote a book called “Managing Humans” which explains that while you might be rewarded for what you produce, you will only be successful because of your people.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Great book that delivers what it promises. Being Geek lays out both the big picture of career management as well as some of the finer points of controlling your tech career in an industry where everyone around you assumes you would prefer to be left alone and code.Everything is covered from how to set goals within your current gig and beyond, to how to interact with a notoriously hard to read brand of co-worker. It covers topics that one might think taboo to ask a boss; simultaneously answering those questions and making them seem less inappropriate to talk with a manager about (e.g. your life after your current company or what your next position within the company could be.)Being Geek also brings into light the false assumption that developers should graduate into management. It points out what should be obvious but isn’t: developers don’t necessarily make good business liaisons. It goes on to elaborate on more “tech” geared career paths.The abstract discussion of how geeks interact with themselves and business, what to look for and expect in these interactions, and what tools there are to facilitate these relationships is also very useful. As you learn from the book, geeks like to organize things into systems; even their relationships. Having the relationships I experience with my coworkers outlined provided a surprising amount of clarity and perspective to my own work environment.The chapters can largely stand alone (I think the book is mostly an edited compilation of the author’s blog) and make for an easily digestible “cover to cover” read that also can serve as a reference. At times the book became a little too “self-helpy” for my taste, but then again that’s exactly what Being Geek is supposed to be.

⭐I’ve been reading Lopp’s blog, Rands in Repose, for some time. Lopp has a pretty good geek resume, with experience at Symantec, Borland, Netscape, and Apple. His blog is one that I always read, since he’s got a great gift for distilling lessons out of his experiences. This book is mostly a compilation of his blog posts, with some new essays added to help define the overall arc of a geek’s career as defined by starting at a new job to deciding to move on to the next one.Looking on my own experience in tech companies, I think that his advice is often spot-on. There have been times when I’ve read one of his blog posts after a difficult situation and found myself understanding it better. He’s got a keen eye for detail and for understanding the nuances of geek behaviour, as well as all of the interacting forces that come into play when you’re working for a big geek company. I’ve gone back to read half-remembered posts that I felt were pertinent to a given situation.I found it amusing that Lopp says in his introduction that he’s not writing a book that gives you ten steps for anything, or that will define the five characteristics of a top leader, but most of his essays are structured in just that form: distill a situation into some archetypes, identified by Capital Letters. For an occasional blog post, I don’t mind this style; as a book, this structure got rather repetitive. While I love the blog, I found that I couldn’t read the book for more than a half-hour without losing interest because the style just didn’t work for an actual book.Honestly, I was hoping for more. The blog is excellent. I hoped that a book would use the blog as a starting point and give more consideration, more depth. But it’s not there. If, like me, you’ve been reading his blog for some time, I can’t really recommend this book. You’ve read most of it before, albeit in a different order. The new pieces don’t really add that much. If you’re not a reader of his blog, this book is a good look at moving through your geek career. I’d recommend adding his blog to your reading list while you’re at it.

⭐The author of this book writes the popular “Rands in Repose” blog. IT people will recognize the situations Lopp describes, and may find some of his advice and insights to be useful.The chapters are strongly influenced by posts on the blog. While the chapters are interesting of themselves, there is little coherence between chapters, and some of the chapter headings are not a good description of the contents.Lopp’s other book, “Managing Humans,” may be a better choice for many readers. In that book, the chapters are more coherent, and the stories are more on-point.This was an enjoyable, quick read, which is why I gave it 4 stars. I just think the other book is better, which is why I gave that one 5.

⭐This is one of the most useful career books to read for people new in the tech industry. If you are in college or just starting your career, this is a must read book. It covers every topic from looking for a job, writing a resume, interview tips, offer negotiation, and what to do once you get the job. The one thing I don’t like about it is the crass language, but if that doesn’t bother you, then this book might be entertaining as well. Even for people who aren’t in software engineering will find useful tips because he writes it in a way that his advice is true for a variety of careers.

⭐I deliberately went for the long form of the book after reading several entries on Rand’s excellent blog. I wanted to ensure that I wasn’t missing any of the juicy details from between blog entries. While there were lots of insightful stories and many of the blog entries were expanded upon, I felt that I didn’t really take away much more than I found on the blog. I don’t wish to knock the book as I agree wholeheartedly with nearly all of it. I enjoy the style of writing, which makes an otherwise very dry subject much more entertaining. For me though, with 15+ years of experience, having read the blog and already in agreement with Rands, I found the book didn’t live up to my expectations. Having said that, I expect anyone just starting out on their career would find it more beneficial, and indeed fun. If you do wonder just what the hell your manager does, and how to kick their arse, then it’s pretty well covered in here.

⭐got it from someone who is a real geek (web developer) and they are very pleased with this book. the very short chapters mean they can jump from one topic to another if they want, which makes it an easy read (let’s face it, how many self-help books have you read from cover to end?) as well as focusing on one issue at a time. the range of ‘geeky’ issues they cover is excellent too. so yes i would totally recommend for oneself or if you want a present for a real geek, especially if they are beginning their career or considering a change.

⭐Bought as a present for my software engineer boyfriend who is on a job hunt at the moment and he keeps telling me he loves it 🙂

⭐It helped me consolidate and verbalize all the gut feelings I’ve been having in the recent times. I feel I have gained clarity over the software industry more vague aspects now. For me, the most prevalent feeling was the one which left me with the idea that I am missing something all the time, something that I don’t see. I definitely recommend

⭐I got this book for myself first and later bought three more copies as gifts for fellow geeks. I love this book in particular because it tries to maintain and outside view on “Being Geek” and not just enumerates things that geeks know themselves.It discusses some stereotypes and there is a chapter for partners of geeks that explains what it means to be a geek and what buttons to push with geeks.All in all a very good read that gave me a lot of inspiration.

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