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Showing posts from June, 2022

QR Codes

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We should stop teaching kids the current symbols of our alphabet, and instead teach them to read QRs. Imagine a future where 500-word essays are submitted as a single QR, or where Twitter's character limits are easily subverted. If all we know are QR Codes... what would our keyboards look like?
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Increasing Follower Counts

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If you're interested in growing your follower count, there are 2 things that have ever contributed to a spike in mine: Other people mentioning my name in their posts Interactions I've had while commenting on other people's posts The common thread here is that (at least for me) it's not about pushing out content. Content-Creation is a one-way megaphone and has trivial impact on follower count (again, at least for me.) Most of my time on LinkedIn is spent in messages, and then commenting/discussing on people's comments. Much of the content I do create is adapted from a conversation/interaction I've had. Maybe I'm doing it wrong - maybe the megaphone works better for others, but I never intentionally set out to become a "content creator" and get a bunch of followers. It... just... happened... In short, the best advice I can give is to focus less on the followers, focus less on content, focus more on interactions, and genuinely connecting with people,
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*Pauses...Checks Notes*

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 I can't say this enough: go back and read your notes from 3, 6, 9 and 12 months ago. You'll resurface key objectives (project, personal, etc.) that may have since gotten diluted. You'll spot incorrect assumptions you'd made and reevaluate. You'll be encouraged by how much you've learned, grown and accomplished since.
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Bring Your Own Materials

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Interview Tip: Bring Your Own Materials (#BYOM) The interviewer asks: "Tell me about your time at XYZ Company." Your response: "Sure! I actually put together a few visuals that will help me illustrate a project I was particularly proud of. It'll also help me explain my approach..." Not only does this help you steer the conversation, but it demonstrates how you communicate, how you break down complex concepts, and ... well ... it's oh-so-wonderfully-polished. It's better to have the materials ready and available. Diagraming in real-time can be a distraction, and waste valuable time - but if it's your only option, practice your diagrams in advance. And of course, the all-important disclaimer: don't share confidential info that isn't yours.
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On Systems Debt

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Pre-amble/tl;dr:  I recently published  The Lloyd Braun Principle of Agility  mostly as a silly-but-true observation about how that classic Seinfeld line "Serenity now, insanity later" relates back to Agile. I ended that post with a statement about how we need to better prepare for the "Insanity" that comes later. With that in mind, I'm introducing my approach to building productive teams. It's about paying down your   Systems Debt. The modern tech team is broken.  We rely too much on Seniors, and don't leverage Juniors. I've been thinking about this problem a lot over the last year, as I've adapted multiple teams to our "new normal." Months ago, I began an article to support the case that hiring managers should hire juniors. To make an effective argument, I knew I had to address a common concern: "First I need seniors to train the juniors..." Quickly the article grew and grew. If you're new to management, this is my "
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Database Chain Game (Flash)

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Another throwback to a game I'd started back in 2007. The object was to connect long-chains of databases and then backing them up on the retention server.
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The Lloyd Braun Principle of Agility

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If you're not familiar with the Serenity Now episode from Seinfeld, the tl;dr of it is that George's father Frank is given the mantra of " Serenity now..." to help curb his enthusiasm for angry outbursts. Impressed with its effectiveness, Kramer adopts the mantra for himself. George's childhood rival, Lloyd Braun, later cautions that this mantra doesn't address feelings, but bottles them up, and leads to huge explosive anger. And that's when he delivers the classic line: Serenity now. Insanity Later.  At the surface, it's valuable advice about controlling our emotions, and stress - but deep within this statement is a also a very important guideline for delivering Agile software. And while Seinfeld isn't known for technology, it's too perfect that the backdrop of this episode has Frank, George and Lloyd selling desktop computers. George, of course, struggles to keep up with the zen-like Lloyd, who has reached true Agile enlightenment. In fact,
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Popular

Let's Clear Up The Ambiguity!

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Job seeking is hard - especially when you factor the ambiguity around expectations, the lack of transparency and consistency around process. It's frustrating dealing with the sheer subjectivity of everyone's opinions. Just think of even the basics: How long should your resume really be? Traditional black and white, or modern? Should you include a headshot? Oh - and cover letters - are those needed? Is anyone actually reading the cover letter? What are they looking for? Is there a bias for people with a more traditional background? Worst of all: The dreaded typo  that you catch only after applying to your dream job.  Are typos really going to cost you the opportunity??? To help bring some clarity to the process, I surveyed a bunch of hiring managers. The results were really interesting, and very illuminating.     If you're on the job hunt, I hope this information helps out! One final note: My recent post,  7 Steps to Writing an Amazing Resume , factors a lot of this feedba
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FAQs for a Software Engineering Hiring Manager

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Technical Interviews have evolved a lot since the early I transitioned from being a Software Engineer to an Engineering Manager. Particularly in the post-Covid era, there's been a greater emphasis on the person, which I think is an important and welcome change. Over the decade of interviewing hundreds of coders, I've also had the pleasure of working with various bootcamps, colleges, and hundreds of individual job seekers on LinkedIn. Across all the changes over the past years, across the various locations and mediums, something remained consistent throughout: The questions I get asked.  With that in mind, I thought - why not make a FAQ from my perspective as a hiring manager? While this is my perspective, it's based off years of observation and supporting data. But that being said, advice is not fact. You may disagree with certain points, and that's OK. Opinions we disagree with allow us to better understand our own views. At best, I hope these responses help you
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7 Steps to Writing an Amazing Resume

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  Since sharing my resume template  I've received plenty of feedback from job seekers, HR and hiring managers - all of whom value its purpose. Two (now former!) jobseekers even shared that as soon as they used my template, they were getting calls. Something about this template works, and given the traction it's getting others, I wanted to share - in more detail - why  this approach works so well.  Before continuing, let me give an important disclaimer: This resume isn't a miracle cure that's going to land anyone their dream job. Unless they're filled with lies, resumes are only as good as the candidate themselves. But they can also be a whole lot worse. This template and approach are all about maximizing the potential candidates have by highlighting and summarizing key areas.  Last point before beginning: If you don't know me, it's worth stating this advice comes from more than a decade of having hiring a broad range of coders: straight out of college, high
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7 Steps to Building your Portfolio MVP

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Often when I suggest to coders that they build a portfolio, I'll hear back: "I don't need one..." "With all the effort it takes to apply, where will I find the time?" Simply put, having a portfolio's never going to hurt your chances at landing a job - it can only help. That second question is where a lot of struggle - because applying to jobs can be time consuming. Especially if you're wrapping up a bootcamp, or having to manually type in your resume info after uploading your resume. That's why I made these 7 steps which, when done correctly, can really help you stand out with a hiring manager. And, the best part is, it should only take you 2 days. Being the Agile-Obsessive that I am, it's all about maximizing value while minimizing effort. Fix links to your Resume, GitHub, LinkedIn, etc. at the top where they're always accessible. Link to everything here - and then remove all other links on your Resume except your Portfolio link . It sa
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Work Experience vs Professional Experience

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In reviewing a bunch of resumes this week, I noticed quite a lot of resumes with a  "Work Experience"  section. In each of those resumes, people had de-valuing some very valuable  experience - and I write that with no exaggeration. The problem is people were looking at their experience purely through the "Job Title/Relevancy" lens and had reduced their experience down to a list of discrete, random, disconnected jobs. No interconnectedness, no narrative thread weaving through it all. As much as you may feel some jobs have no way of being connected, the reality is  you   are always the connection . To not connect them on your resume is to lose all that growth, knowledge, skills, impact, value, and trajectory. In other words - you lose the " You " in the resume. I recommended they start with a small change. Reword "Work Experience" to "Professional Experience" because, ultimately, every single job they had was in service of building their
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