Cracking the Tech Career

Chapter 1 Life at the World's Greatest Tech Companies 1 Life at Infinite Loop and Microsoft Way 2 The Differences 4 Big versus Little: Is a Start-Up Right for You? 5 The Job Title: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? 8 It's Not for Everyone 11 Chapter 2 Advanced Positioning and Preparation 12 A Positioning Framework 12 University 16 Graduate School 21 Career Graduate Degrees 22 The MBA 23 Part-Time Graduate Programs 27 Work Experience 28 Extracurriculars 30 Questions and Answers 33 Chapter 3 Getting in the Door 37 The Black Hole: Online Job Submission 37 Getting a Personal Referral 39 Career Fairs 41 Professional Recruiters 42 Additional Avenues 44 Networking 46 Social Networking 49 Questions and Answers 51 Chapter 4 Resumes 55 How Resumes Are Read 55 Nine Hallmarks of a Powerful Resume 55 The Structure 63 How Do I Shorten My Resume? 69 Resume Action Words 70 Questions and Answers 73 Chapter 5 Deconstructing the Resume 77 Resume #1 77 Resume #2 78 Resume #3 79 Resume #4 81 Chapter 6 Cover Letters 83 Why a Cover Letter? 83 The Three Types of Cover Letter 84 The Structure 85 Five Traits of a Strong Cover Letter 87 The Daring A+ Cover Letter 89 The Traditional A+ Cover Letter 90 The So-So Cover Letter 91 Questions and Answers 92 Additional Resources 93 Chapter 7 References 94 How References Are Used 94 Whom You Should Select as a Reference 95 Make a Good Reference Great 96 When Things Go Wrong 97 What If Your Bad Reference Is Your Former Boss? 98 Questions and Answers 99 Chapter 8 Interview Prep and Overview 102 Interview Questions 102 The Tech Interview Culture 103 Do Your Homework 104 Working with Your Recruiter 107 Communication and Behavior 109 Special Interview Types 113 After the Interview 116 Following Up with Your Recruiter 118 Dealing with Rejection 119 Questions and Answers 119 Additional Resources 122 Chapter 9 Define Yourself 123 The Pitch 123 Why Should We Hire You? 126 Why Shouldn't We Hire You? 126 Why Do You Want to Work Here? 128 Why Are You Leaving Your Job? 128 Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years? 129 What Are Your Strengths? 130 What Are Your Weaknesses? 131 Layoffs, Firing, and Unemployment 131 Questions and Answers 134 Chapter 10 Behavioral Questions 136 Evaluation 136 Mastering the Content 137 Mastering the Communication 140 Common Mistakes 143 Five Example Questions 144 Questions and Answers 150 Chapter 11 Problem Solving 153 Types of Problem-Solving Questions 153 Estimation Questions 154 Design Questions 160 Brainteasers 162 Questions and Answers 170 Additional Resources 172 Chapter 12 The Programming Interview 173 What's the Point? 173 What's Expected--And What's Not 174 How They Differ: Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon, Yahoo, and Apple 175 How to Prepare 176 Must-Know Data Structures, Algorithms, and Topics 177 Coding Questions 178 Algorithm Questions: Four Ways to Create an Algorithm 184 Object-Oriented Design 188 Scalability Questions 188 Testing Interviews 190 Questions and Answers 193 Additional Resources 196 Chapter 13 Getting into Gaming 197 The Culture: Is It All Fun and Games? 197 Job Positions: What Can You Do? 198 College Candidates 201 Reaching Out and Getting In 202 Personality Fit 204 The Gaming Interview--Three Tips to Doing Well 206 Questions and Answers 207 Chapter 14 Women in Tech 211 On Men and Allies 211 The Harsh(ish) Reality of Being a Woman in Tech 212 Advice for Women from Women (and Allies) 214 It's Friction, Not Obstacles 218 Questions and Answers 219 Chapter 15 The Offer 221 How to Evaluate an Offer 221 How Can You Negotiate an Offer? 228 Tricky Issues: Deadlines, Extensions, and Declining Offers 233 Questions and Answers 237 Chapter 16 Crafting Your Career 242 Define Your Career Path 242 Being Great 243 Manage the Review Process 244 Play a Bit of Politics: Build Strong Relationships 247 Identify a Mentor 248 Promotions and Raises 249 How and When to Quit 252 Questions and Answers 255 Chapter 17 On Luck, Leverage, and You 259 Index 261