I'm joined today by Brian Pulliam. I've personally engaged Brian as a career coach. In this discussion we'll talk a bit about coaching, and about how you can set yourself up to become a much better candidate in your job search as an engineering leader.
Introduction to Career Coaching:
- What is a career coach and how they differ from a manager or mentor.
- Brian Pulliam shares his journey from tech to becoming an athletics coach.
- "I was in tech for about 26 years...being an athletics coach with my wife...I sought out my own career coach."
The Value of Career Coaching:
- How a career coach can provide objective, unfiltered feedback.
- The benefits of having an advocate without conflicts of interest.
- "As a career coach, you know, I'm self-employed...no conflict of interest, maybe with your own boss."
Strategies for Career Growth:
- The importance of optimizing your career path like you would optimize code.
- Using career coaching to navigate sticky situations and grow professionally.
- "We optimize for memory, right? We optimize for CPU...coaches can help you learn how to optimize."
Interview Tactics and Mindset:
- The value of authenticity in interviews and presenting your true self.
- Why technical proficiency isn't the only factor in landing a job.
- How asking the right questions can set you apart from other candidates.
- "The person who starts writing code right away...is almost certainly not perceived as a senior developer."
Preparing for Market Fluctuations:
- Understanding the cyclical nature of the tech job market.
- How to prepare for job changes even when you’re happily employed.
- The analogy of tech hiring seasons and being ready for winter.
- "Tech has hiring seasons...the challenge with the hiring seasons in tech...they are of indeterminate length."
Building a Resilient Career:
- Insights into maintaining career readiness and job security.
- The importance of continual learning and adapting to market demands.
- "Test your ability to get a new job when you don't need a new job...the power you have when you go into an interview and you are happily employed."
Real-life Examples and Lessons:
- Brian’s personal experiences with layoffs and career transitions.
- Practical advice on leveraging your network and resources.
- "My very first job out of school...I got laid off very unexpectedly...26 years between layoffs."
Preparing for Interview Questions:
- How to handle unexpected questions by paraphrasing.
- Preparing for common interview questions derived from company values.
- "You should convert every single one of those core values into a question that starts with tell me about a time when you demonstrated X."
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