讀書心得 Soft Skills (1-1) Career

本文出自 Soft Skills: The software developer's life manual (2015) John Z. Sonmez

意外地在天瓏發現了這本書然後就讀了起來，這本書是探討工程師該用什麼樣的心態和想法去規劃自己的職涯。我個人的看法是心態和想法會比職能還來得重要，在此也推薦本書給大家。

The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual. Remember: Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career! —Earl Nightingale

1. 用商業的眼光去思考 (Having a business mindset):

不要讓公司的一個特定角色定型你自己。把自己的職涯想像成是一個商品，唯有提供更多、更好的服務才能在市場上生存。

2. 設定自己的目標 (What are your goals?):

想像自己 5 到 10 年後的樣子並以此為一個大的目標，再設定一堆小目標使你能向大目標邁進。

• Sit down and write out at least one major goal for your career.
• Break down that major goal into smaller goals that correspond to:
• Months
• Weeks
• Days

3. 良好的人際關係 (Leave me alone, I just want to write code!):

職場上最重要的還是保持良好的人際關係。本書提及公司裡面會出現難以相處的同事，書裡的建議是敬而遠之。我也想不到更好的方法了， 如果有請務必在下面留言

4. 如何面試 (Hacking the interview):

書裡提到說找個公司主管有在經營部落格的，在他部落格狂留言讓他認識你這樣你面試就會無往不利 (這邊講的是利用奇特的手段 Hack 面試)。 我有看過不少部落格很有料的人被公司邀請去面試的例子。所以我也開始經營這個部落格XD

• Even if you aren’t actively looking for a job right now, make a list of companies that you’d potentially like to work for and who you know at those companies.
• If there are companies on your list that you’d like to work for, but you don’t know anyone at those companies, come up with a plan to meet at least one person working at one of those companies and build a relationship with them.
• Find at least one local user group in your area and attend a meeting. Introduce yourself to as many people as possible.

5. 專門化很重要 (Specialization is important):

The rule of specialization is that the deeper you specialize, the fewer potential opportunities you’ll have, but the more likely you’ll be to get those opportunities.

簡單地說 Specialization 會減少你的工作機會，增加你面試成功的可能性。

SPECIALIZATION AREAS

• Web development stack
• Embedded systems
• Specific operating system
• Mobile development
• Framework
• Software system

Learn as much as you can and become as flexible as possible, but also have a specialty that makes you unique and stand out.

6. 選擇公司 (Not all companies are equal):

1. Small companies and startups:

• If you’re the kind of person who thrives on energy and excitement and is always up to face a new challenge, you might find this kind of environment very engaging.
• With a small number of employees, each person’s contributions directly affect the bottom line and are noticed.
• I wouldn’t recommend choosing to work for a startup just because you might hit the lottery someday.

2. Medium-size companies:

• I’d say that medium-size companies often offer more stability than large companies, which often have large workforce reductions and periodic reorganizations.

3.Large companies:

• Many large companies offer career guidance to help you grow and learn within their organization.
• For many developers, large companies are frustrating, because they feel that their individual contributions don’t matter.
• Large impactful projects.

!! These are just some general guidelines about the different kinds of companies you might work for as a software developer, but every com- pany is different. !!