Stories introduction

It didn’t take me long to realize after publishing my first book that I wasn’t the sort of person who enjoyed reading reviews of my work. At best, I felt good about myself for a moment, but often I just felt sad. During that window when I was still reading reviews, and I read one commenting that it was too Silicon Valley-centric for most folks to benefit.

That line stuck with me as I started to brainstorm what eventually became this book, and I wanted to avoid centering my own experiences to the exclusion of all others. Even more importantly, it’s clear to me that my career is built on a particular set of perspectives, luck, and privilege, and I wanted this book to be a useful guide for folks who experience the industry differently.

All of that is to say that the best parts of this book rest heavily on the candid and insightful interviews from industry practitioners, and I’m grateful to be able to include those interviews in this final, following chapter. Even if you didn’t get much from the book thus far, I hope you’ll find something unique in these career stories.

Next chapter: Keavy McMinn - Senior Principal Engineer at Fastly

Previous chapter: Negotiating your offer

Book

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.