This developer career blog has covered a lot of topics related to programming skills. But I haven't addressed one of the most important components of career success: passion. And who better to turn to for advice about generating enthusiasm than Steve Jobs?

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Alas, all of us are imperfect at the job interview process, on both sides of the desk. When we hire people to work for (or with) us, we sometimes bring on the wrong people. Find out what you can learn from stories of other managers' hiring disaster stories.

I asked dozens of people — developers and others — to tell me the story of their worst hiring decision. What made it the worst? What could they have done differently, if they'd known better? (And could they have known better?) How did that experience change their hiring practices?

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I don't mean to imply that it's a bad thing to be promoted — quite to the contrary. But as you move up the corporate ladder, things change. And you have to change, too.

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If you've picked up a language or development skill on your own time, it can be hard to sell that expertise to an employer. Here's two ways to do it.

This is an old question, but it's one that comes up at least once in every developer's career: How do I get a job using the skills or tools I want to use, if my current employer doesn't give me an opportunity to use them? I just found a variation on the question on a developer's discussion forum (edited slightly for clarity):

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I've worked from a home office for most of my career. Primarily, those years were spent as an independent computer consultant, freelance writer, or other role motivated by, "If I don't write, I don't eat." However, for eight of the last ten years I was an employee who worked full-time from a home office, so I've become particularly sensitive to the plight of others in the same position.

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A few years back, I wrote an essay about the best and worst tech interview questions and I dare say that you may find some of the suggestions valuable today. However, in re-reading that essay recently, my attention came to a screeching halt when I encountered this paragraph, which is ostensibly about the often-considered-lame question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

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When a software developer — or anyone, really — is looking for a new job, it's expected that you'll talk with the person to whom you report. Your new boss knows what she's looking for in the new hire (including technical skills and "team fit"), and since you're going to report to her she certainly will want to choose someone that'll make her happy. But how many other people should you expect to talk with?

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How do you know when it's time to stop staring out the window... and start coding?

The department had been given a new project. It was a bit like earlier projects, but had a few unique needs that made the application interesting. On the plus side, the software was built using the same framework that the team was used to. So the developers interviewed the users, gathered requirements... and that's when things went astray.

Maybe.

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Robert Heinlein wasn't really a programmer, of course. But in his writing career he said or wrote several things (in his own voice or that of a fictional character) that can help any software developer improve her code... or her career.

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Rather than whine about the low numbers of women in technology, I'll turn the spotlight on several geeky women — in programming, design, or other techie circles — whom you might like to discover.

I try to ignore gender in choosing the people to admire, really I do. But sometimes — well, it gets to me.

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Here's one quick way to tell how good a colleague is: How does he respond when he finds out he made a mistake?

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Or, Phrase Translation: Get Your Résumé Out

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Last week, I wrote about the resume mistakes that can give your job application a short trip to the recycle bin. That was mostly a list of DO NOT DO THIS, and I had plenty of leftovers in the DO THIS category. This week, as promised, I share the opinions of professional HR staff and tech recruiters about what they want to see — and too often do not.

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We all like to think that applying for a job puts your résumé in front of your prospective new boss: a hiring manager who understands the technical background you carefully explained in your career summary. But most programmers apply for new jobs through the Human Resources (HR) department, which exists to eliminate candidates rather than to find them. If HR decides your background isn't right for the job, the hiring manager will never know about you.

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No matter where we are in our careers, we are influenced by other people. Sometimes the people who teach us do so consciously, one-on-one; we call these mentors. Others have a wider impact. We call them leaders.

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