Making it Big in Software : Get the Job. Work the Org. Become Great (Paperback)

Here’s all the information you need to jumpstart your software career: the best ways to get hired, move up, and blaze your way to the top! The software business has radically changed, and this book reveals today’s realities–everything your professors and corporate managers never told you. In his 20 years at IBM as a software architect, senior manager, and lead programmer, Sam Lightstone has briefed dozens of leading companies and universities on careers, new technology, and emerging areas of research. He currently works on one of the world’s largest software development teams and spends a good part of his time recruiting and mentoring software engineers. This book shares all the lessons for success Sam has learned…plus powerful insights from 17 of the industry’s biggest stars.

About the Author:
Sam Lightstone is the creator of MakingItBigCareers.com as well as Program Director and Senior Technical Staff Member with IBM’s Software Group, where he works for one of the world’s largest software engineering teams on product strategy and R&D. Sam is a sought-after public speaker, author, inventor, recruiter, and mentor. He has presented to dozens of Fortune 500 companies, industrial and scientific conferences, and major universities on topics related to careers, new technology, and emerging research needs. Sam has been quoted in eWeek, InformationWeek, InfoWorld, and the MIT Technology Review. His management career has spanned from small high-performance applied research teams up to large-scale projects with more than 200 staff across multiple geographies.

Sam is the founder of the IEEE Data Engineering Workgroup on Self Managing Database Systems and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Autonomous and Autonomic Computing Systems. Sam is inventor and co-inventor of more than 30 patents and patents pending and author of several books and scientific papers. In 2003 he was awarded the title of IBM Master Inventor for his contributions to IBM’s patent portfolio and his sustained work mentoring software engineers about the process of invention. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University and a Master of Computer Science & Software Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Features:
* Offers powerful career insights specific to the software field: insights that can't be found in any other career book
* Includes never-before-published interviews with legends like Steve Wozniak, James Gosling, Marc Benioff, Linus Torvalds, and Marissa Meyers

Table of Contents:
Part I: Fundamentals
* Makin’ it Big
* What Good Software Is Really About
* School Versus Job
* Mission Impossible? Getting a Job in Software Development
* Making the Most of the Early Years as a Software Developer
* Essential Skills. Some are Even Technical
* The Sweet Science of Software R&D Organizations
* Career Killers

Part II: Leadership
* Working the Org
* Successful Software Project Proposals
* Career Advancement
* Time Management
* Avoiding Software Development Overruns
* Zen and the Critical Art of Balance
* Secret Insights on Software Project Management
* The Big Leagues: From Medium-Shot to Big-Shot

Part III: Greatness
* Leadership in Software Innovation
* The Big Leagues: From Big-Shot to Visionary
* If Knew Then What I Know Now
* Going out on Your Own: The “Software Startup”
* Compensation: Kuh-ching!
* Making It Big?