How to Get a Job in Developer Relations
Developer relations is the coordinated strategy to build beneficial relationships between organizations and developers. Companies often invest in developer relations when software engineers or developers are their primary users or can influence the purchase or adoption of their product.
Alex Lakatos works in developer relations as a developer advocate. This is Alex’s story as told for HackerNoon, lightly edited and published with permission.
How do you get a job in developer relations?
I didn’t wake up one day and decide I wanted to work in developer relations when I grew up. My idols and role models were developer advocates, and I didn’t think I was good enough to be the same. I was also a senior developer and didn’t want to give that up to be a “junior” again.
Developer relations is a new industry. There are many roles and responsibilities that overlap: evangelism and advocacy, marketing and community, and technical writing and developer experience. However, the skills required for developer relations jobs depend from company to company.
The importance of community building in developer relations
Many companies have open-source programs explicitly designed to build a community of developers. Generally, most open-source projects won’t say no to newcomers who want to help, and you don’t have to code.
Mozilla Reps and Fedora Ambassadors are two popular open-source projects. For example, Fedora Ambassadors liaise between FLOSS projects and the Fedora community.
The role of public speaking in developer relations
Public speaking is a much-needed skill in developer relations, even if there are fewer in-person events. Many developer relations professionals host learning sessions and train people online through workshops, conferences or calls.
Some public-speaking resources I recommend are:
- Global Diversity CFP Day: It’s a tech industry-wide community event built on the success of events like ScotlandCSS and ScotlandJS. It’s now a focused one-day event to help you go from idea to conference submission-ready talk.
- Toastmasters: It’s a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. The focus is on improvised topics, which can help you get more comfortable stepping up in front of strangers, which can come in handy when you have a Q&A as a developer relations pro.
How to improve your technical writing to get a job in developer relations
It’s getting easier to get started with technical writing. What helped me most was transforming writing from a skill into a habit. Write consistently. It can be as simple as writing at least 100 words every day.
Some technical writing resources that can help you get started are:
- Blogging for Devs: They have a free email course and a paid community, which can help you develop skills or get past your writing plateau.
- Google’s technical writing courses: Google offers learning resources to help you improve your technical documentation. Learn how to plan and write technical documents and what it takes to be a technical writer at Google.
The bottom line
Some developer advocates and developer relations professionals will advise you to be a solutions architect first. I call BS. There are junior developer advocates and junior community managers who work in developer relations. One of the most impactful skills is understanding developers’ pain points. The industry also needs fresh perspectives, so diverse backgrounds are crucial.
Developer relations requires a great deal of passion and empathy. It’s essential to find a company or community fit. It can help if you’ve already got some domain knowledge with a community or product you use often or are passionate about.