Overview

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Hello! My name is Roy Ferguson (aka Royfius) and I’m a career consultant at Washington University in St. Louis. I have a degree in Computer Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science and have over 30 years of industry experience in numerous technology leadership roles. My focus/area of emphasis currently is career planning and development in the areas of Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Data Science.

I regularly contribute to the associated twitter account (@akaRoyfius) as a means of creating a dialogue between my advisees and others who have a passion for the field of software engineering.

Please join in the discussion -- we can all benefit from one another’s insights and experiences.

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Ideas? Comments? Criticisms?

Feel to reach out and contact me at akaRoyfius@gmail.com

-or-

join the discussion on twitter: @akaRoyfius

Either way, I’d love to hear from you!

Building the Plan

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Regardless of where you’re at in your career -- a career plan will help you achieve more and to do it quicker. It’s much easier to hit a target if you know what that target is…

Why a written plan?

If you’re like most people (me included), I have other roles/tasks/responsibilities that have real deadlines (expectations from other people). And if I don’t make some commitments to myself (e.g. deadlines) then it simply doesn’t get done. Even if it does eventually get done -- it gets put off and then often hurriedly performed. Your future is far too important not to make and keep commitments to yourself.

Your plan can be general -- or it can be very detailed…whatever works for you. But, generally each career plan will have the following basic elements: An Objective and associated Tasks

For Example:

Objective

e.g. To Find a mid-level job in Machine Learning

Tasks

  1. Update Collateral Materials
  2. Search Job Boards / Make Application
  3. Research and Network within target companies
  4. Prepare for Behavioral and Technical Interviews

Each of these tasks should have targets/goals and deadlines. For instance, you should have a date in mind when you plan on having your Resume, Cover Letter and Coding Repositories, a goal as to the number of positions you will apply to per week - the number of hours you will spend on your search and networking each day. When will you prepare for the Technical Interviews - how? how much time will you devote? etc.

The objectives will vary depending on your stage of career development, as will the associated tasks. But regardless, a well-conceived, well-organized Career Plan will help steer you in the right direction and will help you make progress. The following is a partial list of tasks that might be included on your Career Plan:

  1. Prepare/Update Collateral Materials
    Refer to the following pages:
    • RESUME
    • COVER LETTER
    • CODING PORTFOLIO
  2. Conduct Job Searches (even if you’re not looking for a job - routinely assessing the job market)
  3. Interview (How to perform well on Behavioral and Technical Interviews)
  4. Networking (How to build and sustain your contacts)
  5. Negotiating (How to get what you want…or at least what you need)
  6. Career Development (Once you’ve landed the dream job)

Note that even if you’re not actively looking for a new position - some of the tasks are on-going, such as: Market Assessments, Career/ Skills Development, and Networking (w/ people). Chances are, that if you’re a practicing Software Engineer, or an aspiring one - you’ll find having a written Career Plan will help in one or more aspects of your career development.

Exploration

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To hit a target it helps to know what you’re aiming at….

Software Engineering is a broad field with my specialties/focus areas. The following is just a small sample:

So, which one are you? Or, which one would you like to become? What are these specialities paid? What are the work environment like? Their Job prospects?

How do you go about the task of learning what it is like to have a particular focus area?

To answer these questions -- you’ll need to do some research (apply elbow grease here). While there are an overwhelming amount of information on the internet that purports to answer these questions for you - it’s best to rely on your own results (and your own conclusions).

Here’s are some suggested tasks:

  1. Build out the section of your career plan for this research -- assign self-imposed deadlines.
  2. Identify every flavor of software engineer you possibly can. Try to identify roles (and associated titles) for every position that might lend itself to someone with a fundamental software engineering skillset (don’t worry if you have those skills currently or not)
  3. Search the job boards (e.g. See the JOB SEARCH) for positions using those titles. I’d capture (screen snap/scrape, etc.) each job posting that I found of interest and put it in a word doc. Take note of job titles, starting salaries/ranges, responsibilities, qualifications. Try to answer the question: Why does this job posting appeal to me? Why doesn’t this one appeal to me. Answering these questions will lend insight into the kind of Software Engineer that you should consider evolving into.
  4. Finally, for those Software Engineering roles that you are particularly interested in: reach out to individuals who are currently working in those fields. And ask them what they like working in that role? What don’t they like? What advice would they offer to someone looking to transition into that specialty. See the NETWORKING page on ideas of how to go about conducting “Informational Interviews”.

Career Development

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To Graduate School or Not Graduate School?

That is the question.

Walt : Daddy what's gradual school?

T. S. Garp : What?

Walt : Gradual school. Mommy say's she teaches at gradual school.

T. S. Garp : Oh Gradual school is where you go to school and you gradually find out you don't want to go to school anymore.

Building your story

Collateral

Career Collateral are work product that supports your Career Development particularly work product that helps you find your next, hopefully better, job or project assignment.

Collateral includes:

Refer to the applicable page for more information.

Resumes

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Most jobs require that you submit a resume as a part of their application process. It will be the proverbial first impression and will act as the lone consideration made by the employer when considering whether to actually give you an interview. The resume gets you the interview. The interview gets you the job.

What Your Resume Says About You

Your resume is a visual tool that markets who you are and what you have to offer to employers. The content and format represent your personal brand. A document that is error free, easy to follow, and visually clean indicates your attention to detail and clear communication skills. Strive to include and describe experiences in the way that is most meaningful to your audience.

Make it Easy to Read

Employers spend just seconds reviewing each resume so it’s critical to make your information easy to absorb. • Aim for one page: Most employers prefer one page resumes. If you have more relevant content, two full pages is preferable to an odd half page. • Margins and typeface: Margins should be even on all sides, but can go as low as .5 inch. With the exception of your name, which should be bigger, your typeface should be 10-11 point font. It’s generally smart to use the same professional typeface throughout. • Make each line count: You might be able to slim down your name and contact information, or remove your mailing address. Rephrase bullets that have one or two words that run to a second line. Condense words and phrases to make them more concise without losing meaning. • Eliminate old or irrelevant experiences: This is especially important if they can be trumped by recent, similar ones. • Consistency and visual balance: Check for consistency and parallel structure in the way you list key information such as headings, titles, dates, and locations. Also ensure your document is visually balanced, meaning you fill the page evenly and leave enough white space. • Use reverse chronological order: In most cases employers expect to see your most recent experience at the top of each section. If you have two concurrent experiences, list the most relevant first. • Be wary of templates: These lock you into formatting that can be restrictive as your document evolves. • Tailor section headings to showcase skills or group types of experiences: Rather than listing one giant Experience section, consider using more specific headings (e.g. Teaching Experience, Social Media Experience, Voluteer Experience).

The Technical Resume

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Alternate Resume

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Cover Letters

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document

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Code Portfolios

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document

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Job Search

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Tailoring Collateral

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Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet ut et voluptates repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.

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Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.

Networking

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Interviewing

Behavioral

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repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.

Technical

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repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.

Job Offers/Negotiation

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repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat. Temporibus autem quibusdam et aut officiis debitis aut rerum necessitatibus saepe eveniet ut et voluptates

repudiandae sint et molestiae non recusandae. Itaque earum rerum hic tenetur a sapiente delectus, ut aut reiciendis voluptatibus maiores alias consequatur aut perferendis doloribus asperiores repellat.

About

Hello!

My name is Roy Ferguson (akaRoyfius) and I’m a career consultant at Washington University in St. Louis. I have a degree in Computer Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science and have over 30 years of industry experience in numerous technology leadership roles. My focus/area of emphasis currently is career planning and development in the areas of Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Data Science.

I regularly contribute to the associated twitter account (@akaRoyfius) as a means of creating a dialogue between my advisees and others who have a passion for the field of software engineering.

Please join in the discussion -- we can all benefit from one another’s insights and experiences.

Thanks for stopping by!

Roy Ferguson

Ideas? Comments? Criticisms?

Feel to reach out and contact me at akaRoyfius@gmail.com

-or-

join the discussion on twitter: @akaRoyfius

Either way, I’d love to hear from you!