Career Ladder

Why Heads of Engineering Should Master Storytelling

Storytelling is an essential skill for engineering leaders as it helps them communicate ideas, align teams, and convey values in a memorable way. In the current digital transformation era and remote work environment, storytelling becomes even more important. It enables leaders to express how their organization will adapt and innovate, establish connections between teams and clients, foster trust, and alleviate anxiety. A good story needs to be intriguing, authentic, involve the team, have a specific goal, and recognize the team's higher purpose. Storytelling can be applied in team meetings, onboarding new members, and providing feedback. Overall, storytelling is a powerful tool for effective engineering leadership that inspires action and facilitates behavioral change.

Reclaiming Productivity: Time Management Tips

The author discusses the importance of time management and introduces time blocking as a critical technique. They explain that time blocking involves scheduling all tasks, to-dos, and projects, rather than just setting aside general blocks of time. The author shares their personal challenge of having too many tasks and tools to keep track of, and how they found a solution in Reclaim.ai, an AI scheduling automation app. They explain how they use Reclaim.ai to manage their tasks, set priorities, and estimate task durations. The author also mentions the benefits and downsides of using Reclaim.ai, as well as alternative methods for time blocking.

Owning Your Career Growth

Owning your career growth is essential for success, and managers should have a clear career ladder to inspire their reports. Keeping a journal of tasks and achievements is a great way to document your progress and be prepared for reviews or career transitions.

What to Do When Candidates Turn Down Your Job Offer

Candidates are increasingly turning down job offers, even from top multinational technology companies. This could be due to employers not doing enough to pitch their company to candidates during the interview process. To resolve this, employers should create a framework of training for interviewers to ensure they spend time talking about the company's mission and vision, and how the role fits into the candidate's career goals. Additionally, employers should advocate for their brand, speak up about their Glassdoor job ratings, and instill a high amount of confidence in potential employees.

Craft or Context?: Simplifying the Career Path

This article discusses the importance of formalizing a career path and the tools used to do so. It explains how the author used spreadsheets and professional tools to create a simplified two-pronged career path for their organization. It also explains the three dimensions of growth (scope, time frame, and size) that need to be considered when managing a career path. Finally, it highlights the success of the career path and how it was used to promote several engineers.