Customer Reviews

Computer Job Survival Guide

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The main thing that is different about this book is it talks about things about computer jobs that you normally don't see in print that often.

One main idea is your long term computer job longevity can greatly be impacted on what you do in your first computer job. If you are 1 of 100 people programming and you only get to see a small part of a project, your skills don't increase that much. If you are 1 of 100 people but split in 10 projects and you work on a project from start to finish, you will learn a lot of new skills in a short period of time that are useful to other companies.

You need to constantly increase your skills that are in demand outside of your company because you may be in trouble if you are fired or laid off.

Another idea in the same vein is start off as a maintenance programmer instead of as a developer. You may learn more of the system and also add many new skills compared to a developer that only sees a small part of a project.

The main thrust of this book plus her other books is you need to take control of your career. I worked 15 years at 1 company without much of a career plan and I had a hard time finding a job when I got laid off. If I had these books 5 years or 10 years or even 15 years into my career, I would have known what to do to stay in a technical career. The 5 years that I have been contract programming along with Janet's books, I now realize how I want to continue the rest of my career. Janet's books explains why and how I will achieve these goals.

I enjoy mentoring people who are interested in moving into the high tech world but don't know where to start. I used to spend hours explaining how the IT world is divided up, what different technology choices there are and how they relate to jobs and training alternatives. Now I suggest people exploring information technology careers read Janet Ruhl's book; she's much better than I at explaining how everything works. I like this book so much, I've bought it as a gift for three prospective computer professionals.

But the Computer Job Survival Guide is equally good for those of us who are already computing professionals but want to continue to move on and up. Janet reviews some common-sense job skills, such as salary negotiation, but also hits on new hot topics, like stock options, working for start-ups, and when, how and whether or not to move from technical work into management.

Full disclosure: I am a regular vistor at Janet Ruhl'son-line forum...I've read her other books as well.

Janet askedfor title suggestions a while writing the book, and now seeing thebook, I think "The Complete Guide to Managing Your ComputerCareer" would be quite descriptive. There are sections, evenwhole chapters on tailoring your resume, interviewing, evaluating theopportunity, and salary negotiation.

Chapter 5 "ContractConsulting" is a distillation of the advice and horror tales wehave seen on Janet'son-line forum. This alone makes it worthwhilefor the non-beginner, non-employee like myself.

Appendix A lists 25questions to ask at an interview with a client or recruiter. It isquite similar to the one I developed for my own use last year.

Ifyou haven't already, buy this book. Especially if you're a newbie, aneftie thinking about taking the consulting plunge, or even a grizzledveteran - you will learn something useful, and it will cost you aboutan hour's pay or less.

Like all Janet's books, it is easy to read and covers all relevant and important issues without insulting one's intelligence. Highly recommend along with all other books by the author.

I bought and read this recently. It is another concise guide to the computer field and would benefit those just entering as well as those who have been around it longer, as I have been. There are chapters on what the field is all about, how to get in, how to keep your job once you are in, and how to successfully switch jobs when needed. The book benefits from statistics gathered from the author's web site, on which seasoned IT folk contribute both good sense and anonymous salary/rate info. The Appendix A "25 questions to ask at the interview" is worth the book price. My fellow programmers and I have traded such lists among ourselves to prep for the next interview, but this one is particularly well done and worth its weight in gold (or dollars).

Thousands of young people today enter the information technology world, blinded by the promise of high salaries yet painfully unaware of the potholes facing them. The first book they ought to purchase is Computer Job Survival Guide.

Whether you are an aspiring developer in an established "bricks and mortar" firm, or a wet-behind-the-ears novice in the latest dot-com, this book will get you off to a good start. I only wish I had a book like this when I entered the field twenty years ago; it would have saved me a lot of grief.

Particularly relevant is the advice about dealing with stock options and negotiating contracts. Though there is controversy about just how much of a programmer "shortage" there really is, there is no doubt that IT professionals face a bewildering array of contract options and have an urgent need to negotiate intelligently. This book gives them the ammunition they need.

Janet Ruhl is no novice in this field. I have treasured her books for years. I have a shelf next to my desk that has three types of books I read regularly: first, my technical books; second, my non-technical books I read for enjoyment; and third, Janet Ruhl's books on all the various aspects of IT employment and consulting.

This book should be on every computer professionals bookshelf.

Though geared for the american labour market, most of the content is applicable to professionals in any country.

The topics dealt with involve every possible facet of a career in IT: breaking into the field, the importance of a first job (IT apprencticeship), looking for work (how to write resumes, handle interviews), the merits of contracting, going into IT management, job hopping, etc.

Great reference book for anyone in the field, or considering working in IT.

The Good
This book is an awesome preview of the world of Software Engineering/Information technology. The huge difference between academia (with professors having little experience in "real world" non-academic activities) and real-world jobs (which has long lost its connection with academia) would be less surprising, less frustrating and a way easier transition if every entry-level candiate read this book in its entirety. I highly recommend this book.

The Bad
The author does not write this book as if she is writing a textbook or journal article. She write it as if she is having a conversation. This is not neccessarily bad (sometimes a relief if you are tired of textbooks.) But the problem with this approach is that you do not get references for citations and ideas are not always rigorously developed. You should not read this book to learn how to write professional software engineering documents.

The Ugly.
Thats all folks. There is not going to be another edition. The book did not sell well enough to justify one. Software Engineers generally do not read "self-help" books when there are problems. Rather they buy software books like those from Jesse Libery or Dietel and Dietel. Just look at the disparity between self-help software books to programming books. This trend does not encourage publishers to make more self-help books this Ruhl's book. This is sad because technical skills alone will not enable you survive in software engineering/development and many leave this up to chance for newbies to catch on.