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The Coding Career Handbook

Gain insights into landing and excelling at coding jobs through essential principles, strategies, and tactics. Explore unconventional career advice tailored for early-career software engineers.

Beginner

240 Lessons

10h 30min

Certificate of Completion

Gain insights into landing and excelling at coding jobs through essential principles, strategies, and tactics. Explore unconventional career advice tailored for early-career software engineers.
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This course includes

28 Quizzes
Course Overview
Course Content

Course Overview

The non-coding part of being a successful software engineer is very important, but also happens to be very under-discussed. This is a course about getting great coding jobs and doing well at coding jobs. Especially if you're earlier in your career, there's a lot here that you might otherwise take years to learn, and your manager will never tell you. This is NOT going to be a conventional career advice course. There is a linear discussion of Career Guides, followed by a nonlinear collection of Principles, ...Show More
The non-coding part of being a successful software engineer is very important, but also happens to be very under-discussed. Thi...Show More

Course Content

1.

Getting Started

1 Lessons

Get familiar with the essentials and realities of navigating a coding career.
Preface: Real Talk

2.

Part I: Your Coding Career

7 Lessons

Look at the stages, principles, company types, career layers, and diversity in your coding career.
Introduction: Your Coding Career
Principles Over Titles
Company Types
Career Layers
Diversity
The Five Career Stages
Quiz Yourself on Your Coding Career

3.

Code Newbies

4 Lessons

Break apart the journey from coding newbie to proficient developer, leveraging resources, community, and practice.
Introduction: Code Newbies
Explore Podcasts and Content
Build Community
Gain Team Experience

4.

The (First) Job Hunt

8 Lessons

Apply your skills to navigate the job hunt, leveraging networking, strategies, and interview practice.
Introduction: The (First) Job Hunt
Do the Math
Do the Work
Staying Motivated While You Search
Getting the Interview
Types of Interviews
Outside the Interview
Quiz Yourself on the (First) Job Hunt

5.

Junior Developer

6 Lessons

Take a closer look at thriving as a junior developer through support, learning, and value addition.
Introduction: Junior Developer
Finding Your Groove
Making Mistakes
Adding Value
Growing Your Knowledge
Quiz Yourself on Junior Developer

7.

Senior Developer

9 Lessons

Master the steps to navigate senior developer roles, balancing leadership, technical debt, and business impact.
Introduction: Senior Developer
Solutions vs. Patterns
Velocity vs. Maintainability
Technical Debt
Prudent Debt
Reckless Debt
Mentorship, Allyship, and Sponsorship
Business Impact
Quiz Yourself on Senior Developer

8.

Beyond your Coding Career

7 Lessons

Learn how to use diverse non-coding career paths to enrich your professional life.
Introduction: Beyond your Coding Career
Engineering Management
Product Management
Developer Relations
Developer Educator
Entrepreneurship
Quiz Yourself on Beyond your Coding Career

9.

Part II: Principles

1 Lessons

Look at effective strategies for personal and professional growth in coding careers.
Principles

10.

Learn in Public

7 Lessons

Work your way through learning in public to foster growth, build networks, and enhance careers.
Private vs. Public
Getting Started
But I’m Scared
Teach to Learn
Mentors, Mentees, and Becoming an Expert
Why it Works
Quiz Yourself on Learn in Public

11.

Clone Open Source Apps

2 Lessons

Explore coding skills by cloning and enhancing open-source apps, focusing on execution and iteration.
Why Clone Open-Source Apps?
Make it Better

12.

Know your Tools

4 Lessons

Map out the steps for mastering tools, avoiding FOMO, and understanding design patterns.
Introduction: Know your Tools
Avoid Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
Beyond the Tool
Quiz Yourself on Know your Tools

13.

Specialize in the New

4 Lessons

Investigate the benefits of specializing in emerging technologies for career advancement.
Introduction: Specialize in the New
Technology Complements
Lindy Compounding
Quiz Yourself on Specialize in the New

14.

Open Source Your Knowledge

7 Lessons

Practice using open-source knowledge to accelerate growth, share expertise, and foster collaboration.
Introduction: Open Source your Knowledge
Open Knowledge
Open-Source Knowledge
Personal Anecdote
Why Open Source YOUR Knowledge
Tips
Quiz Yourself on Open Source your Knowledge

16.

The Platinum and Silver Rules

3 Lessons

Discover the logic behind treating others and oneself with respect and consideration.
The Platinum Rule
The Silver Rule
Quiz Yourself on the Platinum and Silver Rule

17.

Good Enough is Better than Best

4 Lessons

Examine the benefits of embracing "good enough" over the unachievable pursuit of perfection.
Introduction: Good Enough is Better than Best
The Problem with Seeking “The Best”
The Dangers of False Confidence
Quiz Yourself on Good Enough is Better than Best

18.

First Principles Thinking

5 Lessons

Enhance your skills in understanding and applying First Principles Thinking for effective problem-solving.
Introduction: First Principles Thinking
Logic
Epistemology
Applications
Quiz Yourself on First Principles Thinking

20.

Pick Up What They Put Down

5 Lessons

Investigate how engaging with content creators can enhance learning and build connections.
Introduction: Pick Up What They Put Down
What happens when you do this?
Why does this work on them?
Why does this work on you?
Quiz Yourself on Pick Up What They Put Down

21.

Part III: Strategies

1 Lessons

Build on strategic decision-making in coding careers, from learning strategies to industry trends.
Strategies

22.

Intro to Strategy

4 Lessons

Get familiar with strategy's role in career success, vital decision-making, and effective planning.
Strategy in Your Coding Career
What is Strategy?
How Do I Use Strategy?
Quiz Yourself on Intro to Strategy

23.

Learning Gears

6 Lessons

Discover the logic behind adaptive learning gears to navigate diverse knowledge and growth paths.
Explorer
Settler
Connector
Miner
Why Gears
Quiz Yourself on Learning Gears

25.

Betting on Technologies

5 Lessons

Find out about strategic technology choices for career growth and mitigating risks.
Introduction: Betting on Technologies
Data-Driven Investing
How to be Early
The Value of Values
Quiz Yourself on Betting on Technologies

27.

Engineering Career Ladders

5 Lessons

Follow the process of career progression, role expectations, and company-specific ladders for engineers.
Introduction: Engineering Career Ladders
When and Why to Ladder
What Companies Want
Individual Company Ladders
Quiz Yourself on Engineering Career Ladders

28.

Intro to Tech Strategy

7 Lessons

Approach tech strategy by integrating technical skills with business needs for impactful development.
Introduction: Intro to Tech Strategy
Software is Eating the World
Horizontal vs. Vertical
Business Models
Platforms and Aggregators
Other Strategic Perspectives
Quiz Yourself on Intro to Tech Strategy

30.

Megatrends

5 Lessons

Get started with leveraging megatrends in technology to drive innovation and disruption.
Introduction: Megatrends
Definitions
Examples of Megatrends
Building Your List of Megatrends
Quiz Yourself on Megatrends

31.

Part IV: Tactics

1 Lessons

Go hands-on with key tactical skills for career growth, including negotiation, design, and time efficiency.
Tactics

32.

Negotiating

5 Lessons

Break down complex ideas in negotiation to increase earnings, advocate value, and secure offers.
Introduction: Negotiating
General Advice
Patrick McKenzie on Salary Negotiation
Haseeb Qureshi on Ten Rules for Negotiating
Josh Doody on Fearless Salary Negotiation

33.

How to Learn in Private

5 Lessons

Map out the steps for optimizing private learning and enhancing coding skills.
Introduction: How to Learn in Private
Improving What You Consume
Getting More Out of What You Consume
Go Meta
Quiz Yourself on How to Learn in Private

34.

Design for Developers in a Hurry

7 Lessons

Discover methods to enhance user engagement with appealing designs, easy-to-use tools, and practical design principles.
Design for Developers in a Hurry
Spark Joy Repo
Layout
Typography
Color Palette and Backgrounds
Icons and Illustrations
Easter Eggs

35.

Lampshading

6 Lessons

Learn how to improve using lampshading strategically to foster collaboration and embrace vulnerability.
Introduction: Lampshading
When You’re Very Senior
When You’re New
Storytime!
Lampshading
The Stupid Question Safe Harbor

36.

Conference CFPs

9 Lessons

Step through the process of crafting and submitting effective conference CFPs to enhance your speaking career.
Introduction: Conference CFPs
Watch a lot of Talks
Pick a Conference
Pick a Topic
Pick a Genre
Pick a Title
Write an Abstract
Building a CFP Process
Example CFPs and Peer Review

37.

Mise en Place Writing

7 Lessons

Unpack the core of pre-writing, ideation, research, and flexible improvisation for effective writing.
Mise en Place Writing
Writing isn’t Just Writing
Components of Pre-Writing
The Pre-Writing Workflow
The Infinite Kitchen
Improvisation is Okay
Quiz Yourself on Mise en Place Writing

38.

Side Projects

5 Lessons

Break apart the importance of side projects, balance, project ideas, practical advice, and inspirational examples.
Introduction: Side Projects
Code-Life Balance
Project Ideas
Project Advice
Further Inspiration

41.

The Operating System of You

6 Lessons

Enhance performance by upgrading mental frameworks, habits, health, productivity tools, scheduling, and intrinsic drive.
Introduction: The Operating System of You
Coding Career Habits
Your “Hardware”
Your “External Devices”
Your "Scheduler"
Your “Kernel”

42.

Conclusion

1 Lessons

Build on the importance of emotional well-being, mental health, and personal growth in coding careers.
The Emotional Journey of Your Coding Career

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