Track: Professional Skills¶
Career development, communication, interviewing, negotiation, and leadership. The skills that determine career trajectory as much as technical ability.
Goals¶
- Articulate technical work in business-relevant terms
- Prepare for and perform well in behavioral interviews
- Negotiate compensation, scope, and boundaries effectively
- Manage conflict productively without avoiding or escalating
- Write clearly and argue logically in professional contexts
- Understand organizational power dynamics and leadership patterns
Prerequisites¶
- None (this track is domain-independent)
- Recommended: some professional experience to contextualize the material
Learning Path¶
Module 1: Career Engineering¶
| Step | Activity | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read primer | topics/career-engineering/primer.md |
| 2 | Study real-world patterns | topics/career-engineering/street_ops.md |
| 3 | Learn the footguns | topics/career-engineering/footguns.md |
| 4 | Read communication primer | topics/professional-communication/primer.md |
| 5 | Study communication patterns | topics/professional-communication/street_ops.md |
| 6 | Flashcard review | knowledge/data/cards/career-engineering.tsv |
Module 2: Interview Preparation¶
| Step | Activity | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read behavioral primer | topics/behavioral-interviewing-and-storytelling/primer.md |
| 2 | Study real-world patterns | topics/behavioral-interviewing-and-storytelling/street_ops.md |
| 3 | Learn the footguns | topics/behavioral-interviewing-and-storytelling/footguns.md |
| 4 | Read interviews primer | topics/behavioral-interviews/primer.md |
| 5 | Flashcard review | knowledge/data/cards/behavioral-interviews.tsv |
Module 3: Negotiation & Conflict¶
| Step | Activity | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read negotiation primer | topics/negotiation-and-influence/primer.md |
| 2 | Study negotiation patterns | topics/negotiation-and-influence/street_ops.md |
| 3 | Learn the footguns | topics/negotiation-and-influence/footguns.md |
| 4 | Read conflict primer | topics/conflict-management-and-assertiveness/primer.md |
| 5 | Study conflict patterns | topics/conflict-management-and-assertiveness/street_ops.md |
Module 4: Writing & Argumentation¶
| Step | Activity | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read writing primer | topics/writing-and-clarity/primer.md |
| 2 | Study writing patterns | topics/writing-and-clarity/street_ops.md |
| 3 | Read logic primer | topics/logic-rhetoric-and-argumentation/primer.md |
| 4 | Study logic patterns | topics/logic-rhetoric-and-argumentation/street_ops.md |
Module 5: Leadership & Organizational Dynamics¶
| Step | Activity | Resource |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read leadership primer | topics/leadership/primer.md |
| 2 | Read power primer | topics/power/primer.md |
| 3 | Read vendor management primer | topics/vendor-management/primer.md |
| 4 | Read change management primer | topics/change-management/primer.md |
| 5 | Flashcard review | knowledge/data/cards/leadership.tsv |
Suggested Pace¶
- Intensive: 1 module per week (5 weeks total)
- Steady: 1 module per 2 weeks (10 weeks total)
- Interview sprint: Modules 1-2 in one week, Module 3 in a second week