Episode 186 | Gayle Laakman McDowell - Creating Authority

Guest: Gayle Laakman McDowell @gayle Gayle Laakman McDowell talks with Dave Rael about technical interviewing, business and entrepreneurship, humility, and impostor syndrome Gayle Laakmann McDowell is the founder/CEO of CareerCup.com and the author of Cracking the *interview books (Cracking the Coding Interview, Cracking the PM Interview, and Cracking the Tech Career). Her background is in software development, with a BSE/MSE in Computer Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Wharton School. She previously worked as a software engineer at Google, Microsoft, and Apple. In addition to running CareerCup and writing books, she consults with tech companies on their engineering hiring process and with startups to help them through acquisition interviews. Chapters: 0:56 - Dave introduces the show and Gayle Laakman McDowell4:55 - How Gayle became and interviewer and ulitmatley an authority on technical interviews and interviewing8:37 - The nature of Gayle's life currently and the balance of the different types of activities9:40 - Advice for interviewing for technical jobs and what to seek from an interview11:08 - How Gayle started the website that became launched her business13:32 - Gayle the entrepreneur15:21 - The winding road to Gayle's current life and turning her website into a business19:38 - The switch in perception from side project to business21:21 - Human nature, learned behavior, and the reasons we tend to belittle our own successes - the perception of things we don't understand and mystical, difficult, and unapproachable23:38 - Advice for programmers to understand business better27:25 - The things that "light Gayle up"28:42 - Gayle's story of failure - slow to market because of minimizing her own accomplishments33:16 - Gayle's motivations for going to business school36:11 - The success of Gayle's first book39:55 - Gayle's thoughts on having "made it"40:50 - How Gayle stays current with what she needs to know42:35 - Gayle's book recommendations46:30 - The things that have Gayle most excited49:26 - The things about which Gayle likes to geek out50:15 - Gayle's top 3 tips for delivering more value53:59 - Keeping up with Gayle Resources: Gayle's Blog Gayle's Business: Career Cup Gayle on Quora Gayle on Facebook Cracking the Coding Interview: 189 Programming Questions and Solutions - Gayle Laakmann McDowell Cracking the Tech Career: Insider Advice on Landing a Job at Google, Microsoft, Apple, or any Top Tech Company - Gayle Laakman McDowell Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology - Gayle Laakmann McDowell The source of "Atoms are a drag" - What Would Google Do?: Reverse-Engineering the Fastest Growing Company in the History of the World - Jeff Jarvis Cricut Gayle's book recommendation: Stumbling on Happiness - Daniel Gilbert The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich - Timothy Ferriss Yes Man - Danny Wallace Gayle's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Say yes to things Take risks, don't trudge along, and be willing to stop and pull back Be less humble with your own successes - impostor syndrome is a sign you're normal, not that you lack something