Life in Balance: Amit D. Chaudhary’s Blog
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I finished reading the book My Job Went to India And All I Got Was This Lousy Book: 52 Ways to Save Your Job by Chad Fowler sometime in the last week or so.

Summary: It is a book for those in the field of software development with some focus on software developers particularly in the field of enterprise software (Java, Web, etc.) The goal of the book seem to be to kickstart thinking about career management and tips on getting better at your job. It reaches these and beyond very well.
Score: 4.5/5

I tried earlier to do a blog series on the book, but it fell off due to lack of time and also I wanted to provide enough information to make the decision on buying the book worth it, but not give the information away.

It was also my first pdf book purchase and found it to be definitely worth it. I still miss the feeling of having a solid book on my bookshelf. But having it in a free and clear pdf, makes it easier to search, read at work or home (Linux systems at both place), restart at the last point, make notes and so on. I would be definitely considering buying my next book in pdf form, especially the Pragmatic Programmer Titles.

Detailed review:

Here is a small portion of the takeway from the book followed by the chapter they are from.
Practices to bring into normal working and career:

-Work in a team with members smarter than you. Ch 8: Be the Worst and Interact with more people in your field using mailing lists or local groups, ch 41: Making the Hang

-Strive to maintain a daily, weekly and monthly todo list and plan. Ch 20: Daily Hit

-Create schedules on your own for how long certain tasks will take and track these. Ch 30: Say It, Do It, Show It

-Be humble, specially with non technical people at work and in life in general. Ch 32: Adventure Tour Guide

-You need to come to work with a mission. ch 36: Change the World

-Follow an alpha geek (Bram Cohen, Linus Torvalds, Steve Yegge or those in your field) and visit book stores to keep an eye on where the market is heading. Ch 46: Watch the Market

-Do self career reviews regularly. Ch 47: That Fat Man in the Mirror
Things to do or learn:

-Make a conscious decision to decide your field of expertise (.Net), it’s demand (Jobs, Salaries and so on) and Supply(Competition around the world). Then do the same for area of work (software developer, tester, manager, etc.) From Ch 1: Supply and demand .

-Understand revenue model, customer usage and other business aspects of your product and company. From Ch 2: Coding Don’t Cut It Anymore

-Every 6 months, take a look at technology field, see what is new and ahead on the curve. Consider learning about it. Java in 2000, Rails in 2005. Ch 3: Lead or Bleed? and ch 42: Already Obsolete

-Ch 12: Find a Mentor and Ch 13: Be a Mentor

-Do lots of work in your field to keep yourself sharp. For example, code code code. Use Code Kata or Programming Pearls From Ch 14: Practice, Practice, Practice

-Consider learning some methodology like Agile. Ch 15: The Way That You Do It

-Find areas of big gaps in your product and fix them. Ch 19: Mind Reader

-Learn to write and properly: emails, IMs, technical documents. Use a development diary to explain decisions, design, tradeoffs. Write articles for magazines. Learn to touch type. Ch 33: Me Rite Reel Nice

-Search for youself on Google and see what it tells about you and your skills to someone who does not know you. Ch. 38: Build Your Brand

-Be remarkable in your field, the authority. Ch 40: Remarkability

-Create a map so far of my career and plan future map. Ch 45: Make Yourself a Map

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