Customer Reviews

The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the World of Technology Consulting

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Aaron has done something amazing here. He has written a book that anyone getting into consulting/contracting needs to read and own. The advice is really timeless and technology independent. A lot of the advice in here will help those outside of consulting invest in their careers and understand how to relate to the consultants that they work with.

Through this book, the reader learns how to take off the rose colored glasses and see a firm for what it is. You learn how to figure out when you are talking to a body shop and should negotiate for a good rate for the current contract. Likewise, if you are talking to a firm like a Magenic, ThoughtWorks, or something similar, the book lets you know that you should be figuring out if you want to stick with this firm for the long haul (because they are doing the same with you!).

The book is easy to read and has the detail needed to assist a contractor in navigating their local market, a consultant in understanding how their firm works, and helps independents find good partnerships.

If your day job involves writing code or managing those who write code, you should have a copy of this on your bookshelf. Re-read this book on a regular basis-- Aaron has advice in here that you will need to see again and again. Think of the book as a Peopleware for managing your career.

First a word of disclosure: I work in the Atlanta branch of the same software consulting company that the author works for.

Mr. Erikson's book, The Nomadic Developer, explained a lot of things about my own industry that I had never completely thought through before. For the most part I just enjoy developing software and my company affords me an opportunity to do it at a very high level.

The Nomadic Developer helped me understand how and why my company does this. The book is full of excellent ontologies of different consulting practices (which the author calls The Seven Deadly Firms), different valued consulting traits, as well as common consulting career-limiting moves (modelled on the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Envy, etc.), as well as advice on how to get ahead in consulting and where one's consulting career may eventually lead.

The book is also an excellent guide for those who think they might want to get into consulting. The author paints a vivid picture of what the life of a technologist-for-hire is like and provides recommendations on the sort of people who would thrive in this sort of environment.

Having just completed reading The Nomadic Devloper, my main impression is of Mr. Erikson's affection for his topic as well as his hilarious observations on the perks and pitfalls of consulting. One of my favorite sections of the book is the Consultopia, in which the author dissects the sometimes cynical world of consulting while pretending to provide a lexicon of common consulting terms. I've you've ever chafed at being called a "resource," then you need to read the Consultopia. It will leave you in stitches.

The book finishes off with a chapter called "An Anothology of Sage Advice" in which various consultants give their best shots at explaining how they have succeeded and, almost as often, how they have screwed up in their profession.

The Nomadic Developer provides a guy-on-the-ground perspective on this extremely challenging and lucrative profession. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This is an excellent read for those starting out as independent consultants. This book has been written by technical people; so much of their experience was familiar to me.

Erickson's "The Nomadic Developer" is slightly mistitled; I interpret the title to describe the life of an independent consultant more than life in a consulting firm; however, the author's preface describes exactly what the book is about. It is very easy to read and is very insightful.

I liked the "The Seven Deadly Firms" and found it a good characterization of reality. I also appreciate how the author differentiates between consulting and contracting. Erickson provides good advice on staying relevant from a technical perspective, surviving in a recession ("being overpaid is a curse", "billing work=good work", etc.), no-no's, and the internal management structure. At first I was put off by the author's turning the narrative over to various colleagues for commentary, but in the end, I felt it worked pretty well. I really enjoyed the last chapter, or rather the appendix, "A Consulting Lexicon"; it's not just a rehash of definitions but new content that is both comical and relevant - you can find definitions of come-to-Jesus meetings, FDD (faith-driven-development), purple squirrels, and vampires.

As a sometime consultant and as an IT manager (and thus a consumer of services from consulting companies), I found the book correctly captured much of what I have seen empirically. This book will be more appreciated by those newer to IT, because if you have been in the industry a decade or so, you have already lived through most of it.

I was hoping for a little more information on how consulting companies engage with clients, but that was not the book's focus.

Shannon Gaw
[...]

Erickson takes a humorous and thoughtful look at the IT consulting world (software development). New-comers to IT consulting receive an eye-opening look into the daily life of the consultant. The narrative is written to be insightful, humorous, down-right fun. His commentary is often punctuated with a comrade's viewpoint, often a dissenting view, but I found that those sidebar items lent the book credibility. The commentary is certainly bold, but opens a window into the business which any new consultant would find irresistible to peer through.

The seasoned consultant will find Erickson's "formulas" for the consulting business to be downright witty, spot-on, simply entertaining. His terminology and use of analogy are amusing for those of us in the trenches, fighting the consulting battle. His viewpoint is unique, and I found myself considering his advice for my daily routine.

This book needed to be written, because people get thrown into the world of consulting and end up disliking it quite a bit... knowledge is power.

This book way exceeded my expectations.

It should be required reading for graduating college students considering a role in Technology Consulting.

I also highly recommend it for existing consultants and those entertaining the idea of entering our fast paced (and highly rewarding) existance.

Great job, Aaron!

// Dave

Consulting can be a very lucrative field, but when you are coming from a full time IT position it's hard to see what the plus and minuses are. I think Aaron does a great job of not only explaining what to look for but also why the economics of being a consultant work not only to the consultants advantage but also to the firm hiring them. Even if you decide that you want to stay put with the company you are at, this book will give you a lot of insight into consulting that may help if you are looking at outsourcing development work.

Full of practical advice and observations. The structure is excellent, like the `seven deadly firms' and `seven deadly sins' of career limiting moves. I've seen many of these firms before, and committed some of the sins, and it's nice to hear that so many others have. The book offers honest observations of the profession's realities and `sad truths'. The lexicon section is also very insightful. The book can remove the mystery for those new to the profession.

I listened to a dotnetrocks podcast (on [...]) with Aaron Erickson where they were discussing topics from the book. I ordered the book to learn even more - and I was not disappointed. On the podcast they focused mainly on the deadly 7 firms, which basically are firms that you probably would not want to work for. However, the author explains how a well managed technical consulting firm works, why there is a demand for consultants, how the cash flow works in a healthy consulting firm, how to create a successful career in technical consulting, etc, etc.
I strongly recommend the book for techies that are looking for a career as technical consultants.