Camille Fournier

This book gives a lot of good snippets of advice for where to start when you find yourself in a particular part of your career journey.

However, I struggled with the books focus on prescriptive advice. I would find myself questioning the why behind some practices, but finding a lack of context on where a particular practice would succeed or where it could fall down (some had more context than others).

Never the less, I did get some insights and ideas for things to try, and the book does a good job of putting forward the authors opinions on how to succeed in each role. For those nearer the beginning of their journey I can see this book being invaluable, and for others the opinions provide useful food for thought.… (mehr)

My path to software was not traditional. I always did well at mathematics in school, but I liked many things that weren't technical - journalism, religion, poetry, and medicine all pulled my strings at some time. I have ended up producing software used in medical research. As such, I figured that I needed to study the traditional career path in software/technology to try to meld my diverse skill-set with more traditional steps.

Camille Fournier has provided a book that describes that path. She moves step-by-step through a typical career in technology - from first job to senior management with all the steps and choices in-between. This "bird's eye view" lets someone see the path behind them, around them, and ahead of them. As such, it can be used as a framework to enhance one's skills relevant for the longer term.

The main situation that Camille does not address at length is the non-traditional one. Those who switched from people-doctor to computer-doctor are not addressed. As technology continues to become increasingly ubiquitous around us, careers in technology will probably be wedded with other interests. It would be interesting to hear her thoughts and experiences on this matter.
… (mehr)