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Checklist for submitting your staff eng story

  1. If you have questions, please review this template at src/markdown/drafts/template.md and the Share page first. At that point, it's best to ask them in your pull request, and you're also welcome to email lethain@gmail.com with questions.
  2. Make a copy of this template and put it into src/markdown/stories/firstname-lastname.md.
  3. Within your copy, please delete omit: true from the top of the
  4. Please add your story as a standalone pull request. Please do not make template or other changes within the that pull request.
  5. Don't worry about the date. We'll select a date based on when we complete editing.
  6. The slug should be /stories/firstname-lastname
  7. You're welcome to change any of the questions, including adding your own questions or removing some.
  8. You're welcome to inline images by creating a sub directory of your firstname-lastname within static/ and then including any images there. Please do not add any non-image content such as JavaScript, etc.
  9. Update the profile links at the top of the template (e.g. [blog](...) to point to whatever resources you prefer. This can be your Twitter, blog, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
  10. Note that by submitting your story, you're agreeing to the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. If you are not comfortable with this license, we understand but unfortunately won't be able to host your story at this time.

Checklist ends here!


January, 2020 blog twitter, linkedin

Tell us a little about your current role: where do you work, your title and generally the sort of work do you and your team do.

What does a “normal” Staff-plus engineer do at your company? Does your role look that way or does it differ?

How do you spend your time day-to-day?

Where do you feel most impactful as a Staff-plus Engineer? A specific story would be grand.

Can you think of anything you’ve done as a Staff-plus engineer that you weren’t able to or wouldn’t have done before reaching that title?

Do you spend time advocating for technology, practice, process or architectural change? What’s something you’ve advocated for? Can you share a story of influencing your organization?

How do you keep in touch with how things really work as you spend less time on hands-on development?

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How have you sponsored other engineers? Is sponsoring other engineers an important aspect of your role?

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You first got the title Staff Engineer at your current company. Were you hired as a Staff Engineer? If not, what was the process of getting promoted to Staff?

What two or three factors were most important in you reaching Staff? How have the companies you joined, your location, or your education impacted your path?

There is a popular idea that becoming a Staff Engineer requires completing a “Staff Project.” Did you have a Staff Project, and if so what was it?

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Can you remember any piece of advice on reaching Staff that was particularly helpful for you?

What about a piece of advice for someone who has just started as a Staff Engineer?

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Did you ever consider engineering management, and if so how did you decide to pursue the staff engineer path?

What are some resources (books, blogs, people, etc) you’ve learned from? Who are your role models in the field?

If you've enjoyed reading the stories and guides on staffeng.com, you might also enjoy Staff Engineer: Leadership beyond the management track, which features many of these guides and stories.

Staff Engineer book cover

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