Success in today's IT environment requires you to view your career as a business endeavor. In
this book you'll learn how to become an entrepreneur driving your career in the direction of
your choosing. You'll learn how to build your software development career step by step
following the same path that you would follow if you were building marketing and selling a
product. After all your skills themselves are a product.The choices you make about which
technologies to focus on and which business domains to master have at least as much impact on
your success as your technical knowledge itself--don't let those choices be accidental. We'll
walk through all aspects of the decision-making process so you can ensure that you're
investing your time and energy in the right areas.You'll develop a structured plan for keeping
your mind engaged and your skills fresh. You'll learn how to assess your skills in terms of
where they fit on the value chain driving you away from commodity skills and toward those that
are in high demand. Through a mix of high-level thought-provoking essays and tactical Act on
It sections you will come away with concrete plans you can put into action immediately. You'll
also get a chance to read the perspectives of several highly successful members of our industry
from a variety of career paths.As with any product or service if nobody knows what you're
selling nobody will buy. We'll walk through the often-neglected world of marketing and you'll
create a plan to market yourself both inside your company and to the industry in general.Above
all you'll see how you can set the direction of your career leading to a more fulfilling and
remarkable professional life.
