- Paperback: 408 pages
- Publisher: Addison Wesley; 1 edition (5 May 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0321606396
- ISBN-13: 978-0321606396
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 17.5 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 591,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
The Nomadic Developer
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Learn the Real Secrets of Succeeding as a Software or IT Consultant in Any Economic Climate!
Despite economic cycles, the idea of using technology to make a company more efficient and competitive–or perhaps even reach a new market– is appealing to all but the most desperate and cash-starved companies. More and more often, those companies look to technology consultants to fulfill their needs.
There are real advantages to being a consultant. You make contacts with a lot of different people; you get exposure to many industries; and most important, unlike a software developer in the IT department for a brick-and-mortar company, as a technology consultant, you are the profit center…so long as you are billing.
Consulting can be hugely rewarding–but it’s easy to fail if you are unprepared. To succeed, you need a mentor who knows the lay of the land. Aaron Erickson is your mentor, and this is your guidebook.
Erickson has done it all–from Practice Leadership to the lowest level project work. In The Nomadic Developer, he brings together his hardwon insights on becoming successful and achieving success through tough times and relentless change. You’ll find 100% practical advice and real experiences–his own and annotations from those in the trenches. In addition, renowned consultants–such as David Chappell, Bruce Eckel, Deborah Kurata, and Ted Neward–share some of their hard-earned lessons.
With this useful guidebook, you can
- Objectively assess whether the consultant’s life makes sense for you
- Break into the business and build a career path that works
- Avoid the Seven Deadly Firms by identifying unscrupulous technology consultancies and avoiding their traps and pitfalls
- Understand the business models and mechanics that virtually all consulting firms use
- Master secret consulting success tips that are typically left unstated or overlooked
- Gain a competitive advantage by adding more value than your competitors
- Continue your professional development so you stay billable even during bad times
- Profit from both fixed-bid and time-and-materials projects
- Build a personal brand that improves your resiliency no matter what happens
About the Author xiii
About the Annotators xv
Acknowledgments xix
Foreword xxi
Preface xxv
Chapter 1: Why Consulting? 1
Chapter 2: The Seven Deadly Firms 27
Chapter 3: How Technology Consulting Firms Work 59
Chapter 4: Getting In: Ten Unstated Traits That Technology Consulting Firms Look For 97
Chapter 5: What You Need to Ask Before You Join a Technology Consulting Firm 125
Chapter 6: Surviving 157
Chapter 7: Thriving 181
Chapter 8: Your Career Path 207
Chapter 9: Avoiding Career-Limiting Moves 231
Chapter 10: Is Consulting Right for You? 259
Chapter 11: An Anthology of Sage Advice 273
Appendix A: Consultopia: The Ideal Consulting Firm 311
Appendix B: A Consulting Lexicon 325
Index 343
From the Back Cover
Learn the Real Secrets of Succeeding as a Software or IT Consultant in Any Economic Climate!
Despite economic cycles, the idea of using technology to make a company more efficient and competitive–or perhaps even reach a new market– is appealing to all but the most desperate and cash-starved companies. More and more often, those companies look to technology consultants to fulfill their needs.
There are real advantages to being a consultant. You make contacts with a lot of different people; you get exposure to many industries; and most important, unlike a software developer in the IT department for a brick-and-mortar company, as a technology consultant, you are the profit center…so long as you are billing.
Consulting can be hugely rewarding–but it’s easy to fail if you are unprepared. To succeed, you need a mentor who knows the lay of the land. Aaron Erickson is your mentor, and this is your guidebook.
Erickson has done it all–from Practice Leadership to the lowest level project work. In The Nomadic Developer, he brings together his hardwon insights on becoming successful and achieving success through tough times and relentless change. You’ll find 100% practical advice and real experiences–his own and annotations from those in the trenches. In addition, renowned consultants–such as David Chappell, Bruce Eckel, Deborah Kurata, and Ted Neward–share some of their hard-earned lessons.
With this useful guidebook, you can
- Objectively assess whether the consultant’s life makes sense for you
- Break into the business and build a career path that works
- Avoid the Seven Deadly Firms by identifying unscrupulous technology consultancies and avoiding their traps and pitfalls
- Understand the business models and mechanics that virtually all consulting firms use
- Master secret consulting success tips that are typically left unstated or overlooked
- Gain a competitive advantage by adding more value than your competitors
- Continue your professional development so you stay billable even during bad times
- Profit from both fixed-bid and time-and-materials projects
- Build a personal brand that improves your resiliency no matter what happens
About the Author xiii
About the Annotators xv
Acknowledgments xix
Foreword xxi
Preface xxv
Chapter 1: Why Consulting? 1
Chapter 2: The Seven Deadly Firms 27
Chapter 3: How Technology Consulting Firms Work 59
Chapter 4: Getting In: Ten Unstated Traits That Technology Consulting Firms Look For 97
Chapter 5: What You Need to Ask Before You Join a Technology Consulting Firm 125
Chapter 6: Surviving 157
Chapter 7: Thriving 181
Chapter 8: Your Career Path 207
Chapter 9: Avoiding Career-Limiting Moves 231
Chapter 10: Is Consulting Right for You? 259
Chapter 11: An Anthology of Sage Advice 273
Appendix A: Consultopia: The Ideal Consulting Firm 311
Appendix B: A Consulting Lexicon 325
Index 343
Inside This Book
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book,
By
This review is from: The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the World of Technology Consulting (Paperback)
If you ever wanted to now about what is involved in being an IT consultant this is the book to buy. If goes into depth about what you can expect and what to look out for. Probably the best section of the book is about the various worse types of consultancy firms and how make sure that you don't end up working for one of them. This includes tips on what to ask for at an interview and what sort of answers you might get back.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews) 6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wish I had this when I started consulting,
By Scott "Scott" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the World of Technology Consulting (Paperback)
Aaron has done something amazing here. He has written a book that anyone getting into consulting/contracting needs to read and own. The advice is really timeless and technology independent. A lot of the advice in here will help those outside of consulting invest in their careers and understand how to relate to the consultants that they work with.
Through this book, the reader learns how to take off the rose colored glasses and see a firm for what it is. You learn how to figure out when you are talking to a body shop and should negotiate for a good rate for the current contract. Likewise, if you are talking to a firm like a Magenic, ThoughtWorks, or something similar, the book lets you know that you should be figuring out if you want to stick with this firm for the long haul (because they are doing the same with you!). The book is easy to read and has the detail needed to assist a contractor in navigating their local market, a consultant in understanding how their firm works, and helps independents find good partnerships. If your day job involves writing code or managing those who write code, you should have a copy of this on your bookshelf. Re-read this book on a regular basis-- Aaron has advice in here that you will need to see again and again. Think of the book as a Peopleware for managing your career. 8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for anyone in consulting,
By James Ashley - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the World of Technology Consulting (Kindle Edition)
First a word of disclosure: I work in the Atlanta branch of the same software consulting company that the author works for.
Mr. Erikson's book, The Nomadic Developer, explained a lot of things about my own industry that I had never completely thought through before. For the most part I just enjoy developing software and my company affords me an opportunity to do it at a very high level. The Nomadic Developer helped me understand how and why my company does this. The book is full of excellent ontologies of different consulting practices (which the author calls The Seven Deadly Firms), different valued consulting traits, as well as common consulting career-limiting moves (modelled on the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Envy, etc.), as well as advice on how to get ahead in consulting and where one's consulting career may eventually lead. The book is also an excellent guide for those who think they might want to get into consulting. The author paints a vivid picture of what the life of a technologist-for-hire is like and provides recommendations on the sort of people who would thrive in this sort of environment. Having just completed reading The Nomadic Devloper, my main impression is of Mr. Erikson's affection for his topic as well as his hilarious observations on the perks and pitfalls of consulting. One of my favorite sections of the book is the Consultopia, in which the author dissects the sometimes cynical world of consulting while pretending to provide a lexicon of common consulting terms. I've you've ever chafed at being called a "resource," then you need to read the Consultopia. It will leave you in stitches. The book finishes off with a chapter called "An Anothology of Sage Advice" in which various consultants give their best shots at explaining how they have succeeded and, almost as often, how they have screwed up in their profession. The Nomadic Developer provides a guy-on-the-ground perspective on this extremely challenging and lucrative profession. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By Amaz user - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Nomadic Developer: Surviving and Thriving in the World of Technology Consulting (Paperback)
This is an excellent read for those starting out as independent consultants. This book has been written by technical people; so much of their experience was familiar to me.
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