Book Review: The Nomadic Developer Part Two

The second part of my review of the book The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the World of Technology Consulting continues on from my first post concerns the portions of the book related to getting into a consulting firm.

There is a lot of common sense in the book, and although this chapter does have have a lot of ideas that fall into that vein. "Appearance Matters" and "Be easy to work with" are a perfect example of something that you shouldn't have to be told. There are some definite points that may developers need to remember. "Always be learning" is one of those suggestions that I wish many developers would take to heart. For me, this is not a difficult thing to do as it is the reason I was drawn to software development and technology in general. Things are always changing, and I like to constantly improve my techniques and skills. There are many in this industry though that joined it because of the promise of high-paying jobs. We can definitely earn high rates for what we do, but only if your skills are in demand. Some of the other points that stuck with me from this chapter are:

* Be active in your technical community
* Demonstrate good writing skills
* Develop your network

The last item is one of the main concepts of the book, and to be honest, this is the area that I need the greatest improvement in. This idea only makes sense to me since for most of my life I have gotten job by being personally recommended by someone I know. Let's face it, a good resume can be put together by anyone who has been in the industry for a couple of years. Having a quality person hand your resume into the person in responsible for filling the position is worth more than anyone you could write on the piece of paper.

The next part of this book review is important for knowing what you need to know in order to join a firm.