Staff Engineer

Leadership Beyond the Management Track

De: Will Larson

Narrado por: Shaula Evans

At most technology companies, you'll reach Senior software engineer, the career level for software engineers, in five to eight years. At the career level, your company's career ladder won't require that you work towards the next promotion; being promoted further is an exception rather than expected. This is also when many engineers are first given an opportunity to move into engineering management.

Over the past few years, we've seen a flurry of books unlocking the engineering management career path, like Camille Fournier's The Manager's Path, Julie Zhuo's The Making of a Manager, Lara Hogan's Resilient Management, and even my own An Elegant Puzzle. The engineering management career isn't an easy one, but there are maps available to help navigate it. What if you want to advance your career without becoming an engineering manager? The technical leadership path remains relatively undocumented, hard to navigate, and inconsistent across companies. Staff Engineer is your guide to building your career towards a staff engineering role, receiving the title, and succeeding within the role.

©2021 Will Larson (P)2022 Will Larson

Too much repeated info

It’s ok. A lot of repeated information and so it sometimes feels like having hit the back button when you haven’t. Multiple readers would have helped as there is lots on interviews in the last half of the book that feel kind of static with a single voice.

Useful and unique material, could be condensed more

I found parts of the book quite repetitive. However it is a unique resource in the field and it deserves credit for that. Definitely recommend it to folks who think they might need to hear more about others who’ve reached senior IC levels.

Good content marred by audio issues

As a staff software engineer myself, I’m part of the demographic this book is aimed at. The parts I was able to listen to were accurate and relatable.

Unfortunately there were many section where the audio just suddenly cut out and began in the next section. It was bad enough that I returned the title. It’s in my wish list and in a few months I’ll try to buy it again if the playback errors are fixed.

Mostly a series of interviews

Mostly a series of interviews. Most responses are similar in nature to understand the Staff Engineer role but not consistent enough to make a single plan to move into the role. The respondents’ experiences vary.

started out great

It started out great but as the other reviews mention, it gets very repetitive, especially the interview sections.