People often try to kickstart their careers in Developer Relations (DevRel) and with good reason. Choosing Developer Relations as a career offers tremendous value for you to learn new skills and conduct meaningful work.
There is, however, one main issue, which is there is not one exact path when it comes to finding a job in DevRel.
Some of the challenges may be:
Role definition - a job title can mean one thing for one company and something different to others
Experience requirements - hiring managers often want someone with experience or able to showcase previous work
Skill set combination - knowing which unique combination of skills to use for the role
Standing out from the crowd
Now that we understand the common challenges, we can now look at ways to navigate through those issues and strengthen your chances of landing your first role in DevRel.
Developing the skills:
Show that you can code
This is one of the pillars of getting a job in DevRel. You must be able to understand and explain complex technical concepts and break them down in a way for developers to understand. You don't need to go as far as creating the next Twitter, but you should show previous engineering experience such as your side projects. Even a walkthrough of your favorite project can let others know that you have the technical abilities. Knowing how to code lets you empathize with developers as you would gain a better understanding of what their job entails.
Community building
Another important pillar is being entrenched in a community. Understanding how to build and keep communities engaged is key for DevRel professionals. There are many ways you can go about community building such as looking to join your local meetups or contributing to open source. You can even join forum groups like Stackoverflow to gain insight on what are the pain points and needs of developers. Community building is a great skill to have in order to showcase your organization, collaborative and management capabilities.
Content Creation
This is what helps you stand out from the crowd, by choosing what type of content you want to create. The main types of content creation in DevRel are technical writing, youtube videos, creating clear and concise documentation, and creating video content that demonstrates how to use specific technologies or frameworks. Attending workshops and webinars is also a great way to learn from industry experts. Hosting or participating in podcasts where you share insights, discuss industry trends and provide advice can also be seen as content creation in the developer community. So don't be afraid to get creative and try out different formats to see what works best for you!
While these three points aren’t prerequisites for every DevRel job, these are really good starting points to remediate the general challenges when it comes to finding a job in DevRel. Having at least two of the three points talked about can put you ahead of the game when it comes to job hunting.
As previously stated, there isn't just one role when it comes to developer relations. The roles are so broad that they fall into a few categories:
Developer Evangelist: This role involves being the face of the company. It’s focused on building awareness of the company’s product.
Developer Advocate: Usually can be interchangeable with “Developer Evangelist” but this role focuses on engaging with the developer community as often as possible.
Technical Writer: They create documentation, tutorials, API guides, and other written resources that help developers understand and effectively use a company's products or technologies.
Developer Experience Engineer: They focus on improving the overall developer experience with a company's products or APIs. They work on creating developer-friendly documentation, sample code, SDKs, tools, and libraries.
Community Manager: They ensure the smooth running of the developer community around a product or project. They facilitate discussions, answer questions, organize events, and provide support to foster engagement and collaboration among developers.
There are even more DevRel titles that are not provided on the above shortlist.
Tips for Effective Interaction with Developers
Understand their needs
Show genuine interest in their work
Provide clear documentation
Be responsive and approachable
Be direct
Offer valuable resources.
Final thoughts
To establish a rewarding and thriving career in the fast-evolving domain of Developer Relations (DevRel), prioritize those three aforementioned essential skills while actively shaping your personal brand and expanding your professional network. Succeeding in DevRel entails mastering technical expertise, fostering communities, creating compelling content, honing communication skills, and demonstrating empathy. Through unwavering effort, dedication, and a continuous pursuit of learning and development, you can emerge as a leader in the DevRel field, actively contributing to technological advancement and driving progress within the tech industry.