I have spent years sitting with engineers who are brilliant at their work and completely lost in their careers. Not because they lack talent. Because nobody ever asked them the right questions.
Most career advice skips the hard part. It tells you to update your LinkedIn, learn a new skill, optimize your resume. It assumes the problem is visibility. It is usually not. The problem is that somewhere along the way, you started building someone else’s version of your career accumulated from advice, from what got rewarded, from the slow pressure of other people’s definitions of growth.
I built this template after one too many conversations where someone asked me: where do I even start.
It is not a job search checklist. It is a set of questions to ask yourself before you touch any of that. Starting with the one that matters most is the direction you are moving actually yours.
There are four stages. The first one has nothing to do with the market. It has everything to do with you.
If you use it and something doesn’t fit your situation, change it. If something lands uncomfortably close to the truth, stay with it before you move on. That discomfort is usually where the real work is.
About the Author
Tino Almeida is a tech leader, coach, and writer reshaping how we think about leadership in a burnout-driven world. With over 20 years at the intersection of engineering, DevOps, and team culture, he helps humans lead consciously from the inside out. When he’s not challenging outdated norms, he’s plotting how to make work more human, one verb at a time.
I’d love your input.
I believe that the best systems aren't built in isolation they are refined through shared leadership and collective insight. This template is a starting point, but I want it to be a living document.
Is there a 'deal-breaker' question you’ve faced in a pitch that isn't covered here?