GeekGoals

Using leadership skills to grow your technology career

Tom Levesque — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:57:37 +0000

It sounds counterintuitive, but learning new technical skills will not significantly increase your chances of moving up the corporate ladder in the technology world. So what skills should you develop to grow your career?

Why a University Education is Not Your Ticket to a Great Career

Tom Levesque — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 03:07:24 +0000

While a university degree may help you to learn specialized knowledge and hone your critical thinking skills, it is not a job training program.

Talking to Executives: a lesson in workplace communication

Tom Levesque — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:23:36 +0000

CEOs and other executives see things with a very different "lens" than a geek does. While a geek might think about how cool their solution was, an executive thinks, "how will we monetize that?" Many executives simply filter out all the details they don't believe are important, which could be a large portion of what you're saying -- if not everything you're saying.

Technology Resume Writing: The Ultimate Guide

Tom Levesque — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:26:25 +0000

Creating the killer technology resume is a bit of a black art. Many resume guides explain the importance of things like good formatting, spell-checking, and grammar. And while it's true that grammatical mistakes can ruin your resume just like wearing wrinkled clothes can kill an interview, simply avoiding these pitfalls alone won't be enough to succeed. With that introduction, here are the fundamentals that I believe you need to build a great resume.

Climb the corporate ladder with the VIP rule

Tom Levesque — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:56:11 +0000

Do you sit at your desk all day, working away, thinking that everyone knows what you're doing and how valuable it is to the company? The reality is that management, and especially senior management, has no idea what you're up to or why it matters. Even your peers might only have a foggy idea what it is that you do.

Developing leadership skills: 3 things to know

Tom Levesque — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:21:45 +0000

If you're a geek with leadership aspirations, this article is for you. Geeks typically have personal strengths that are great for writing algorithms but less useful for leading teams and organizations. I personally believe that both "geeks" and "leaders" (broadly speaking) bring valuable ideas to the table. If you can be both, it will help your career immensely.

Employee Loyalty: why being too loyal can slow your success

Tom Levesque — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:57:48 +0000

Corporations exist solely to maximize shareholder value. You can use this information to predict the behavior of your employer based on simple financial rules. Moreover, you can use those predictions to maximize your own profit (salary) and minimize your risk (joblessness).

How to ace a technology interview, Part 3

Tom Levesque — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:16:28 +0000

This final article will tell you the key to successful interviews: you have to take the lead.

How to ace a technology interview, Part 2

Tom Levesque — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:15:14 +0000

In Part 2 of this series, I talk about the importance of being honest and up-front with your interviewer. You have to talk about your strengths AND your weaknesses.

How to ace a technology interview, Part 1

Tom Levesque — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:13:33 +0000

Many interviewing guides have been written, but most seem to focus on "quick tips" like how to dress, shake hands or mirror body language. I have found that these tactics hardly matter if you don't understand the fundamentals laid out in this three-part series on how to ace a technology interview.