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tim-chandler edited this page Oct 13, 2017 · 16 revisions

John Sonmez Soft Skills Notes Follow-up

  • Not working for someone else
  • Blacksmith (Baker?)
  • Employer is a customer for MY business of software developer
  • My service: Service of developing software
  • Goals: know big goal, work towards them as small goals. think backwards from big to small
  • Don't be a ship floating aimlessly in the ocean - figure out at least one goal right now. Set intervals to keep accountable
  • People skills vs "leave me alone I just want to write code"
  • Your job as a software developer is to learn to deal with people
  • Rewarding positive is more effective than punishing negative
  • Babies wearing suits and ties - avoid "arguments" at all cost
  • Except poisonous people, caustic, stay out of their way, limit interaction. they leave a trail of destruction behind them and have bad things happen all the time. they try to present themselves as the victim. not much to do as a coworker or boss - change jobs. don't get sucked into their trap. minimal, non-emotional responses are best
  • Action Item: Track every daily encounter with a person - including email and phone calls
  • how to hack the interview: set cards in your favor before going into interview.
  • quickest way to pass interview:
  • blog means they recognize you ahead of time
  • get interviewer to like you prior to interview. technical skills are minorly important
  • follow blogs of the people and comment for those at a company you like. they recognize your name
  • referrals are best, or stalk the employer
  • when laid off and need a job now: contact early, do a pre-interview to meet and talk about company. 5 minutes to "touch base"
  • Be autonomous - less headache, demonstrate you get things done without asking. be a go-getter. technical skills are important, but much less
  • Right now finding a job. read blogs, read tech books, develop network now, read/comment on blogs, get to know recruiters, practice interviews even when not looking
  • Action: make list of companies i would like to work for, and who i know there. start stalking the people at those companies. find user group in area and introduce myself
  • working as employee - stable, benefits, no freedom,
  • book recommendation: Anti-Fragile (cab driver)
  • independent consultant - trades one boss for many bosses. set own hours, freedom to choose jobs if you can be picky, they expect to reach you and expect work done predictably. this is the cab driver. gives highest earning potential. $300/hour or more, 600+ now for him, no glass ceiling. won't make a fortune immediately, rarely 40 hours per week billed, lots of time spent looking for clients and overhead,
  • Entrepreneur - no stability, but super max potential, creates own business product with their own software skills. allows you to put time in now that pays in the future (as opposed to lots per hour)
  • Book took 3-4 months and could have made him no money
  • SAAS = pluralsight,
  • Action: make a list of who fits each of the three. set up meeting with people to ask what it is like.
  • Specialization is important. real estate lawyer for divorce? i think not.
  • specialization is not the language you develop in. it doesn't talk about what you can actually do. it's like talking about a hammer. worried about pigeonholding? specialization generally opens up opportunities.
  • what is a specialty?
  • stack specialties, layer specialties, embedded systems, operating systems?, mobile application or specific mobile, printer language, platform/framework specialization mostly around very expensive frameworks like SAP
  • picking specialty: pain points, things you solved in last job, what kind of questions do you answer most, stack overflow questions i would answer. make as specific as possible
  • John Papa: Silverlight to SPAs
  • T-shape, have broad base, but have a specific area in that base to deeply specialize. can't be broad base in all things, will have a branch somewhere
  • List all kinds of specific developments you can do. List what you have done. Job search the job specialzations to see if it is specific enough or not
  • Figure out what size of company you want to look for
  • Small companies and start-ups: rapid growth, fast to profit or goal, many hats, less defined roles. energy/excitement
  • Don't choose start-up just for stock option. do it because you like building
  • Medium sized: most are like this. have been around, have business, but not momentum to make fortune 500. more stable than large in many ways. pace is a bit slower, slow and steady is best. Risk averse. Won't get bleeding edge stuff
  • Large companies: deep company cultures, fancy CEOs you'll never meet, lots of procedure and process. lots of interviews, must conform. cowboys/renegades not wanted. opportunities - lots of good training opportunities, career guidance, have opportunities to work on really large stuff. easy to go off the radar. complex political systems, hard to avoid.
  • Internal software development vs the product being software. the second is more tech growth. also more AGILE
  • Action: make list of companies you worked for or are in area and identify where they fit in.

Corporate Ladder

  • taking responsibility: take on the projects nobody wants to take this. responsibility > money choice. also mentoring
  • Visibility: make a list of everything i did during the day. send out a message at end of week. "weekly report", and include why it is important. allowed you to look productive without bragging. also good for reviews. Be a problem solver, instead of a problem announcer
  • Action: How to take more visible in current job. what is plan to educate self on, one skill over next year. what to do in next week to take on more responsibility
  • Book: The War of Art
  • Pro vs Amateur - showing up, overcome vices, etc.
  • Book: The Power of Habit
  • Bob Martin - Saying No article
  • Secrets of the Millionaire Mind
  • Action: How to build habits, what are my good ones, what are my bad ones?
  • Start work on the side first before quitting
  • Track your time when you work for yourself. 4 hours per day is about right even though harder than ever
  • Book: So Good They Can't Ignore You
  • Getting work is a numbers game, need to keep putting yourself out there.
  • In-bound marketing - best way to do this. Blog is great,
  • On blog get their email to eventually convert them to customers, podcasts, run your own podcast, speaking, etc.
  • In-bound marketing takes time to build
  • Self-employment tax (covered by employer partly). $50 may be $65 after translation, need book-keeper, legal, power, etc, booking time. $75-100 is needed really. Generally about double your rate.
  • Freelancer: $100-self employed, non-billable, etc. Need to determine what the market can support
  • Focus on what your work is worth for the client, as opposed to as a commodity. Focus on what you can save client, or increase their revenue.
  • Keep raising rates until the client says "no". If they never say no, it's too low.
  • Action: Who can use my services, create email template. Point out my value instead of what i can do technically, send to small portion of list, alter template, send out again, etc.
  • I will teach you to be rich - blog, Book: The Lean Startup
  • YCombinator - accelerator program
  • WFH: Time management -
  • Self motivation: See "Drive" by daniel pink - lacking this is unsolvable
  • Schedule and routine is important, fixed schedule per week and routine
  • Have time box for getting work done is good. develop routine and habit
  • Remove distractions, willpower won't do it. remove TV
  • Set 15 minute timer and must focus on task, then can break or keep moving forward. perdomo. gets momentum
  • Loneliness - join software development group, gym 3xweek, coffee shop, conference geek talk release. skype/hangouts, coworking spaces
  • Fake it till you make it with technology you don't know. Act as if and learn. It's common, not everyone knows everything.
  • Hire a resume writer "Information Technology Resume Service" on SP.com, consider graphics designer to make it pop
  • Ask recruiters for opinion about resume and if it works. check on services. See beautiful resumes on SP.com/ss(something)
  • Pat Flynn - Smart Passive Income .com
  • Fiverr - Uplift freelancer
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