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Career Development

A collection of 12 issues

I Was Terrible at Conversations. Here's the Tape.

Here's a recording from one of the first cold calls I ever did, way back in 2013. Erika0:00/276.3721× I can't listen past 34 seconds without cringing. Notice that: * The call lasted almost 5 minutes, but because of how badly I started, I lost

Learning visual note-taking with Verbal to Visual

I was talking to a fellow course creator about the Skillshare course [https://www.chiaracokieng.com/gen-propel-skillshare-course-intro/] we're creating. He mentioned that including simple illustrations work super well for him. The ideas are more 'sticky' for students. I'm in love with words. I love

Giant Swarm observability stack, finally :)

As my time with Giant Swarm draws to a close, one of my last contributions is the documentation of our managed observability stack [https://docs.giantswarm.io/app-platform/apps/observability/]. I feel nostalgic as I reflect on this task. Looking way back to my notes in December 2019, one of

Resources: First 90 Days for Product Managers

I hope to write a proper post about it soon... But for the purposes of today's post, it's three more weeks until I start a new role 🥳 Today, I thought about how I might approach the first 90 days. In general, what's worked for

Ask for testimonials, always.

One of the most underrated, most useful habits I've built: When completing some work, leaving a job, etc. ask for testimonials on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiaracokieng/]. I learned this from Sebastian multiple times. First, when he wrote me my first LinkedIn testimonial, after which I

How I change careers so "easily"

In 8 years of working, I’ve held 4 different roles in 6 companies, based out of 3 countries. I went from Management Consultant to Product Marketer. From People Manager to Product Manager. I’ve worked for companies based in the Philippines, the US, and Germany. This has enabled me

Book: Gateless by Sebastian Marshall and Kai Zau

Co-authored by my hero and mentor, Sebastian Marshall [http://chiaracokieng.com/marshall/]. A guidebook for the modern career. Provides a useful framework of “the Four Currencies” you need to manage to create your own path in this new world – Capacity, Network, Signal, Assets. If you’re a person who’s

Joining a New Team: When to Move Fast, When to Wait

There is a popular idea that says to curtail your urge to immediately contribute and change things when you are new to a job. That your job is to first listen and get context. I agree. I’d also like to add some nuance. It is not so much, “Don’

Being misunderstood is the price of an interesting life

I attended our high school year reunion (10 years!). It magnified my chronic problem of answering two simple questions: What do you do? And what have you been up to? I’m currently Research Director, managing global operations, of a New York-based tech startup called OnFrontiers. Before that, I did

Reminiscing a four-year friendship with Sebastian Marshall

I’m rereading Ikigai [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006M9T8NI/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title] which I bought four years ago, in 2013. At that time, it was a major decision to spend $9.77 to buy an ebook on Amazon. I remember buying a Kindle so I could