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soft skills (The software developer's life manual) - Coggle Diagram
soft skills
(The software developer's life manual)
section 1: Career
Having a business mindset
Focus on what service you’re providing and how to market that
service.
Think about ways you can improve your offering.
Think about how you can specialize the service you’re providing to serve the needs of a particular type of client or industry.
Focus on being a specialist who provides a very specialized set of services to a very particular type of client
set goals
write out at least one major goal for your career
Break down that major goal into smaller goals: Months, Weeks, Days
Tracking your goals
interview
find company -> find contact at company -> build rapport with contact -> get personal referral for job -> interview
Employment options
The employee
The independent consultant
The entrepreneur
Specialization is important
SPECIALIZATION AREAS
❂ Web development stack
❂ Embedded systems
❂ Specific operating system
❂ Mobile development
❂ Framework
❂ Software system
companies
Small companies and startups
Medium-size companies
Large companies
Being a professional
What is a professional?
Have principles that they abide by
Are focused on getting the job done right
Aren’t afraid to admit when they are wrong or
don’t know
Consistent and stable
Takes responsibility
Creating your first product
Finding an audience -> Testing the market -> Start small -> Getting started
Fake it till you make it
you should act as if you’ve already succeeded at accomplishing a task or feat before you even begin it
section 2: Marketing yourself
Channels for marketing yourself
Blog posts Either through your own blog or guest posts on other people’s blogs.
Podcasts Create your own podcast or be interviewed on an existing podcast.
Videos Create topical videos or screencasts and tutorials on sites like YouTube.
Magazine articles Write an article for a software development magazine.
Books Write a book, like this one, or self-publish your own book.
Code camps Most code camps will allow anyone to speak.
Conferences A great way to network, and if you can speak at one of these events, even
better.
What is a brand?
makes up a brand
a message, visuals, consistency,
and repeated exposure
STEPS FOR CREATING A BRAND
❂ Define your message.
❂ Pick your niche.
❂ Create a tagline.
❂ Create an elevator pitch.
❂ Create visuals.
Your primary goal:
Add value to others
section 3: learning
Step 1: Get the big picture
get a big picture of what it’s
about and how big it is
Step 2: Determine scope
what exactly you want to learn
Step 3: Define success
Step 4: Find resources
❂ Books
❂ Blog posts
❂ Online videos
❂ Experts or people already knowledgeable about the topic you
want to learn about
❂ Podcasts
❂ Source code
❂ Example projects
❂ Online documentation
Step 5: Create a learning plan
what order you should learn it in
step 6: Filter resources
step 7: learn enough to get started
learn the basics and get right into
playing the game
step 8: Play around
For this step, you want to take what you learned from step 7 and actually get started
step 9: Learn enough to do something useful
Curiosity is a critical component of learning—especially self-learning
step 10: teach
way to teach
❂ Write a blog post.
❂ Create a YouTube video or tutorial.
❂ Give a presentation.
❂ Have a conversation with a friend or your spouse.
❂ Answer questions in an online forum.
find a mentor || being mentor
Finding gaps (your weakness) in your knowledge
Where you’re spending the most amount of time
Repetitive tasks that could be improved
Things that you don’t fully understand
Job interview questions you can’t answer
section 4: productivity
It all starts with focus
productivity plan
Quarterly planning
Monthly planning
Weekly planning
Daily planning
e Pomodoro Technique
don’t worry about setting a goal
for how many pomodori to get done in a day
using the technique and
chart how many you get done for an entire week
the quota system rules
❂ Pick a repeatable task.
❂ Define an interval in which that task must be done and repeated.
❂ Define a quota for how many times the task should be done during a given interval.
❂ Commit. Make a firm commitment to meet your quota.
❂ Adjust. Make your quota higher or lower, but don’t adjust during
an interval
Multitasking dos and don’ts
Cut out any multitasking that isn’t true multitasking
Any time you’re doing a mentally taxing activity, try and combine it with a physical activity
Batch together any smaller tasks that can be done at one time instead of multiple times
If you’re facing a wall of some sort in your career or personal life, try and push past it.
Imagine that your motivation and interest will eventually return. And result will increase strongly
Habits consist of three things: a cue, a routine, and a reward.
Working hard: How to do it
section 5: financial
Negotiations begin before you even apply for the job
First person to name a number loses
How you get the job is extremely important
stock
estate investment
section 6: fitness
section 7: spirit
