Book Review - My Job Went To India (And All I Got Was This Lousy Book) by Chad Fowler
Category Book Reviews
This may well be the most important career book you read this year (and possibly ever)... My Job Went To India (And All I Got Was This Lousy Book) - 52 Ways To Save Your Job by Chad Fowler.
Contents: Choosing Your Market; Investing In Your Product; Executing; Marketing... Not Just for Suits; Maintaining Your Edge; If You Can't Beat 'Em; What I Learned In India; Resources
As a software professional, I'm as concerned about outsourcing and offshoring as the next guy. In a bottom-line economy, it's hard to compete against someone who can sling code at 10% to 20% of your wage. But where I start having major problems is with the knee-jerk "woe is me, it's not fair, we need protection" attitude that's all too common when this subject comes up. While it's possible to work towards those ends, the only thing you have firmly under your control is your own career. And there are things you can do to make yourself stand out in today's market, and to make sure you are always in demand.
Fowler worked in India running an off-shore consulting firm, and he understands the culture on both sides of the pond. His book consists of 52 short chapters that get right to the point of what you need to be doing to ensure you're not expendable. "Coding Doesn't Cut It Anymore" shows how learning the business is essential to making sure you can contribute and add value. If you're "just a coder", you can be replaced. "Invest In Your Intelligence" drives home the fact that you can't wait to be "given the opportunity" to learn something new. *Take* the opportunity! "Remarkability" shows how marketing and "being noticed" is essential to making sure people *want* to engage your services. Keeping your head down and just thinking you're good means that you have a fan club of one (and that one isn't making the outsourcing decisions).
There's absolutely no guarantee that you will have your job this time next year. Even if you do everything in this book, you might find yourself out of work. But if you choose to sit back and whine about the inequity of life, you'll probably be switching careers sooner than you'd like. But if you start taking the right steps now, you can take control of your career in a way that will minimize the risks to the highest possible degree. In my opinion, the information in this book is the *only* logical response that one can take in the face of offshoring/outsourcing.
Buy the book. Now. Read it all the way through. Now. Pick one or two things to start doing. Now. Then start reading through the book again, a chapter a week. A year from now, you'll be more secure and employable than you thought possible in today's job market. This isn't a recommended read... It's a *must read*.
It's that good.
This may well be the most important career book you read this year (and possibly ever)... My Job Went To India (And All I Got Was This Lousy Book) - 52 Ways To Save Your Job by Chad Fowler.
Contents: Choosing Your Market; Investing In Your Product; Executing; Marketing... Not Just for Suits; Maintaining Your Edge; If You Can't Beat 'Em; What I Learned In India; Resources
As a software professional, I'm as concerned about outsourcing and offshoring as the next guy. In a bottom-line economy, it's hard to compete against someone who can sling code at 10% to 20% of your wage. But where I start having major problems is with the knee-jerk "woe is me, it's not fair, we need protection" attitude that's all too common when this subject comes up. While it's possible to work towards those ends, the only thing you have firmly under your control is your own career. And there are things you can do to make yourself stand out in today's market, and to make sure you are always in demand.
Fowler worked in India running an off-shore consulting firm, and he understands the culture on both sides of the pond. His book consists of 52 short chapters that get right to the point of what you need to be doing to ensure you're not expendable. "Coding Doesn't Cut It Anymore" shows how learning the business is essential to making sure you can contribute and add value. If you're "just a coder", you can be replaced. "Invest In Your Intelligence" drives home the fact that you can't wait to be "given the opportunity" to learn something new. *Take* the opportunity! "Remarkability" shows how marketing and "being noticed" is essential to making sure people *want* to engage your services. Keeping your head down and just thinking you're good means that you have a fan club of one (and that one isn't making the outsourcing decisions).
There's absolutely no guarantee that you will have your job this time next year. Even if you do everything in this book, you might find yourself out of work. But if you choose to sit back and whine about the inequity of life, you'll probably be switching careers sooner than you'd like. But if you start taking the right steps now, you can take control of your career in a way that will minimize the risks to the highest possible degree. In my opinion, the information in this book is the *only* logical response that one can take in the face of offshoring/outsourcing.
Buy the book. Now. Read it all the way through. Now. Pick one or two things to start doing. Now. Then start reading through the book again, a chapter a week. A year from now, you'll be more secure and employable than you thought possible in today's job market. This isn't a recommended read... It's a *must read*.
It's that good.
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