InfoQ Homepage Careers Content on InfoQ
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Skills and Insights for First-Time Managers
The skills and capabilities required to be an effective first-time engineering manager are often orthogonal to those of an IC. These range from people management through to delivery of projects. We report on recent podcasts featuring Ben Greenberg, Matt Stratton and Shopify's James Stanier as they share practical management patterns for prospective, new and seasoned engineering managers.
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How Growing Tech Engineers Enables Growing Yourself as a Leader
It’s challenging to grow into a new role when you are still holding on to what you have been good at and really love, and what you’ve been doing in your previous role. By attaching to everything you used to do, you are also depriving the people around you of an opportunity to grow and learn to master those skills and take on those responsibilities too.
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How Big Tech Lost its Way - Accountability and Leadership
Accountability in big tech companies seems to be lacking; it’s rare for people in senior positions to be held accountable. Engineers should be conscious of the culture they want to work in and watch out for their well-being, whereas companies should invest in their leaders to support people’s best work. Andy Walker gave a talk about how big tech lost its way at QCon London 2023.
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Building a Lifelong Technical Career in Software Development
Technical experience matters because it adds to the value chain. In engineering companies, the technical knowledge accumulated by people over many years can provide the basis for the next generation of products and projects. Sven Reimers spoke about building a lifelong technical career in software development at QCon London 2023.
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Challenges and Skills for Staff+ Engineering, Learnings from QCon New York
The QCon New York 2023 track Staff+ Engineering: New Skills, New Challenges comprised four talks that went into decisions with buy-in, growing people, the art of staff+, and deciding between individual contributions and leading people.
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Why Technical Experience Matters: Sven Reimers at QCon London
Sven Reimers, system engineer at Airbus Defence & Space, shared a few lessons on his journey about How To Build a Lifelong Career in Software Development and the Value of Engineering at QCon London. In this session, Reimers discussed what one can do to advance in a technical career based on real world experience.
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The Journey of Going Back to Testing after Being a Testing Manager
Returning to testing after having become a test manager can be challenging. For Julia María Durán Muñoz it meant finding a company that appreciated her experience and recognized her desire and ability to do technical work. It can help to get training to update your knowledge, refresh your technical skills, and practice your skills before starting interviews.
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How to Become a Staff-Plus Engineer
If you are interested in becoming a staff-plus engineer, take time to explore your values and start discussing your career goals and ambitions with your manager. You can engage with engineering communities to develop your skills. Staff-plus engineers are able to lead tech people, where getting things done goes beyond their individual capacity to grow and mentor others.
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The Path to a Staff-Plus Engineer Role: from Management Back to Tech
When working in tech, a managerial career may not be for you. Fabiane Bizinella Nardon went from being a manager back to tech, becoming a staff plus engineer and creating a staff plus friendly company. She presented A CTO That Still Codes: My Tortuous Path to the Staff Plus Engineer Role at QCon London 2022 and will present at QCon Plus May 10-20, 2022.
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Becoming an Effective Staff-Plus Engineer
To increase your effectiveness as a staff-plus engineer, it can help to develop your communication, listening, technical strategy, and networking skills. Blanca Garcia Gil presented Five Behaviours to Become an Effective Staff-Plus Engineer at QCon London 2022 and will present at QCon Plus May 10-20, 2022.
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Remain in Tech by Becoming a Staff Plus Engineer
Engineers who want to remain focused on tech can follow the path toward a staff plus engineer. Staff plus engineers enable others to have impact. Bringing the people along can be hard; you need to work on your communication and influential skills. Nicky Wrightson presented The Secret Strategy for Landing That Staff Engineer Role at QCon London 2022 and will present at QCon Plus May 10-20, 2022.
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How Open Source Can Pave the Path Towards a Staff+ Role
Open source contributions and long-term community engagement can help you on your path to a staff+ engineer role. Written communication skills are key for the async and remote work which is common in open source. Your contributions should be aligned with business needs, which can give you visibility that opens up career possibilities. Alex Porcelli presented at QCon London 2022.
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Becoming a Staff Plus Engineer: Leadership and Communication Training Matters
The poor industry support for engineers who want to pursue a technical career affects them; many outstanding technical individuals find themselves forced to seek a management position. The path to a staff plus engineer role is not straightforward. Training on leadership and communication for staff plus engineers can help them to become a better tech leader.
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Five Behaviours of Successful Staff Plus Engineers
Staff plus engineers act as technical leaders to have a bigger impact. Their ability to get things done goes beyond their individual capacity to grow and mentor others. The tech industry has moved away from thinking that engineers work individually and collaboration is one of the most important behaviours in a staff plus role.
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Moving from Self-Doubt and Imposter Syndrome toward Seeing the Benefits of Diversity in Technology
As someone with a non technical background, Charu Bansal, has navigated the imposter syndrome in her career, often wondering what value she could bring to security. In her talk at The Diana Initiative 2021, she showed how having a diverse perspective helped her to solve challenging security problems as she pivoted from a non-technical career into information security.