This post doesn't go far enough. One of the best things a programmer can do to better their career is to talk to no technical people. Talk to recruiters. Just pick up the phone. Then, learn to politely decline. Then, learn to ask questions. Then, expand your horizons. Maybe you can have a conversation with the QA department people for more than 20 seconds about a non-technical topic. Maybe you can talk to the CTO and ask them questions.
Most programmers find talking to nontechnical people like recruiters beneath them. They just want to crush the coding challenge, and be hired on the spot. The idea that there could be more to a job than writing lines of code is hard to fathom. Once you open up that world though, it's very interesting, and pays dividends.
Most programmers find talking to nontechnical people like recruiters beneath them. They just want to crush the coding challenge, and be hired on the spot. The idea that there could be more to a job than writing lines of code is hard to fathom. Once you open up that world though, it's very interesting, and pays dividends.