Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track
Original price was: $25.00.$20.22Current price is: $20.22.
Price: $25.00 - $20.22
(as of Nov 16, 2024 13:05:24 UTC – Details)
At most technology companies, you’ll reach Senior software engineer, the career level for software engineers, in five to eight years. At the career level, your company’s career ladder won’t require that you work towards the next promotion; being promoted further is an exception rather than expected. This is also when many engineers are first given an opportunity to move into engineering management. Over the past few years, we’ve seen a flurry of books unlocking the engineering management career path, like Camille Fournier’s The Manager’s Path, Julie Zhuo’s The Making of a Manager, Lara Hogan’s Resilient Management, and even my own An Elegant Puzzle. The engineering management career isn’t an easy one, but there are maps available to help navigate it. What if you want to advance your career without becoming an engineering manager? The technical leadership path remains relatively undocumented, hard to navigate, and inconsistent across companies. Staff Engineer is your guide to building your career towards a Staff engineering role, receiving the title, and succeeding within the role.
Publisher : Will Larson (January 31, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 371 pages
ISBN-10 : 1736417916
ISBN-13 : 978-1736417911
Item Weight : 3.53 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.84 x 9 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book full of information, ideas, and links. They say it provides great guidance and shares real-world examples. Opinions are mixed on readability, with some finding it interesting and energizing, while others say it’s tedious and hard to get through the initial chapters.
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13 reviews for Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track
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Aaron Lee –
The definitive guide
very comprehensive, well researched book that has guided a generation of senior and staff engineer. as a senior manager, it guides me how to approach and manage my senior IC better
Sebastian Machuca Arias –
Great exposure to what staff engineering is
As an staff engineer myself, having an external perspective of what does the role entitles in other organizations has been tremendously valuable. Some of the guides or initial chapters are very practical but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the experiences of some of my colleagues in other companies.Highly recommended to anyone looking beginning a staff engineer or to someone that wants to check areas of personal growth
10/10 –
Golden tidbits
So many golden tidbits, buy the book ð
Ibrahim Lawal –
Thank you!
Iâm sure you get this from a lot of readers. Please add my thanks to the long list and know it is very heartfelt. The collection of interviews were very diverse, and truly helped me see various ways the Staff Engineer role can be viewed in various places. I wish I had read them first perhaps Iâd have spent less than 3 months completing the book. It was quite hard getting through the initial chapters. Suggestion: print as 2 different books and keep the interviews rolling in! Iâm definitely recommending this!!
Luis Espinal –
Perfect for me
As someone who has been working as a Staff Engineer for several years, this book answered several important questions I had about my role and expectations. Moreover, it clarified things that I’ve observed (about operating at Staff level), that I didn’t understand until now.I wish I have read this book sooner, earlier in my career. FYI, I have both the print and Audible versions.This is not a book about engineering management, and it is not about coding or project management. If that’s the mindset you are coming from, this book will disappoint.If you are interested in knowing what comes after a Senior engineering level (whether you are a senior or junior developer), and how to operate at that level and beyond, this is the book for you.There’s a certain “filtering” that comes with this topic since engineering positions that come after Senior-levels only occur in mature companies that 1) are sufficiently large, 2) are product or service oriented (not limited to web/IT support to other businesses) and 3) are likely to have substantial IP and patents.I would still recommend this book even for engineers working at firms to do match these criteria, since it covers significant material on how to operate efficiently as a team lead.
Donn Felker –
A Summary of what a Staff Eng Might Be/Do
This book get’s a lot of praise, but I’m not seeing why its rated so high. I’ve spoken to many Staff+ level engineers (at various companies, FAANG companies included) who feel this same way about this book.Having read it nearly 3 times now, I have come to the conclusion that this book is merely a collection of archetypes that define what a staff engineer might be and might do. The prescriptions to become a staff engineer, while useful, are not applicable to various staff positions and/or companies. They’re merely examples of what you can do to attain the level of staff, but all specific to whatever use case might have gotten someone staff by doing such a thing.The reality of the Staff Engineer role is this: It’s a relatively new role in the industry. It’s in its infancy. Every companies Staff Engineer does something differently than another company. There are many paths to becoming a staff engineer. Staff Engineer at company A is completely different at Company B. I mean vastly different.Ultimately this book will help you understand the various roles a staff engineer can have and what they might do. In my personal experience you’ll find that staff engineers often wear multiple hats across an organization and fit within many different archetypes throughout the year/month or even week and day. Some may say thats an organizational and company culture problem, and I agree, but thats where this role is – it’s new, uncharted territory and applying the Staff label (and above) is merely what happens after Senior engineer, if you decide you want to stay on the technical track.I found myself struggling to finish this book each time I read it because at times it seemed on topic, then other times it would dive into another topic completely unrelated. It felt discombobulated at times.Lastly, the interviews/stories at the end with various Staff engineers felt like filler/fluff for the book in my opinion. They offer some insight into the Staff role, but were particular to each persons experience, which goes to show this role is in fact early in its development.Overall this book is a good generalization on what a Staff Engineer could be, but thats about it.
Oleg Dulin –
Very useful book, but too Silicon Valley-bro lingo
I got the audio version of this book. Somewhere in the middle the author says that his other work was criticized as being too Silicon Valley-centric This one is no different. The author talks about companies like Uber, Stripe and Dropbox as if myriad of other companies donât exist that have similar career paths for engineers.Nevertheless, the knowledge conferred is valuable and transferable.
BMAN1703 –
Read this book!
Just like An Elegant Puzzle, this book is so full of info, ideas, and links out to even more info and ideas. I’ve out ten hours into reading this and going down the rabbit hole of all the articles linked from the book. Get the kindle version for ease of transitioning through to the linked topics. Great for managers trying to understand their staff+ folx better and especially for Staff+ folx. Already recommending this to everyone and anyone I can get to listen.
Cliente Amazon –
Define o que é um especialista de verdade e ainda fala de arquétipos percebidos nos Staffs Plus Engineers. Embora seja adpatado a realidade internacional, vale a leitura.
H Elsayed –
The book is very useful and full of others experiences. It can help a lot to have good understanding of the role.I think it aldosterone very helpful for mid-level engineers to determine their path and also work on their skills early in the career to reach staff positions
Serhii Vasylenko –
Die Lektüre von ‘Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track’ war für mich ein Wendepunkt. Sie ist voller inspirierender Einsichten, die nicht nur motivierend, sondern auch tiefgründig informativ sind. Das Buch lässt sich auÃergewöhnlich leicht lesen, wodurch komplexe Konzepte einem breiten Publikum zugänglich gemacht werden. Es ist ein unschätzbarer Leitfaden für jeden, der eine Karriere in der technischen Führung anstrebt und bietet Klarheit darüber, was in solchen Rollen zu erwarten ist und wie man darin hervorragend sein kann. Dieses Buch ist ein Schatz an Weisheit für aktuelle und zukünftige technische Führungskräfte.
Aliaksandr Kantsevoi –
Extremely insightful information.However the quality of book is not great, sometimes pages fall out.
Nirmal –
Itâs great to have a read and get to know the insights from other engineers from different companies. Good points and interesting topics covered in this book.