I remember starting as a quarter-time Developer Advocate at SuperTokens like yesterday when you adore what you do; time flies!
As a result, I'd like to discuss how I got the job and what it's like to be a Developer Advocate in this article.
Why am I telling you my story?
This article will tell you how I got into developer relations. This article will serve as a record of my journey.
To begin with, I got the position by posting my work online and networking.
I'd like to show the power of social media, and many people have asked about my experience as a Developer Advocate. So I'd like to tell them my story.
Here's a quick recap of the last few months for me. It's been an absolute blessing, and I can't believe how much has happened and how incredible the journey has been thus far. Above and beyond my wildest expectations!
This is the official announcement tweet. ⬇
You’re not the sum of your writing.
— Ankur💻🎧💪 (@TheAnkurTyagi) December 17, 2021
You’re not the sum of your content.
You’re not the sum of your code.
Joined @supertokensio as a quarter time Developer Advocate.
I check in every day, but most work is async.
Let’s bring change in OSS & authentication space. 🙌
How Twitter helped me get this job
Lesson 7: Where there's a will, there's a way.
— Ankur💻🎧💪 (@TheAnkurTyagi) December 30, 2021
One more step towards lifestyle first approach which I learned from my mentor @dvassallo
- 1 Referral
- 1 Cold DM
- 2 Interviews
- 1 Pull Request
And I joined @supertokensio as a quarter-time advocate.https://t.co/mqIhSxz7ul
What is a Developer Advocate?
Developer advocates (also known as "developer evangelists" or "developer relations" individuals) are technical persons with solid communication skills.
It's an exciting and varied job that includes everything from public speaking engagements at conferences and meetups to developing demos and writing blog posts, articles, and books to creating audio-visual artifacts (podcasts, interviews, demos) to maintaining advocacy sites and much more.
They create and present in-person workshops and lecture-style talks.
Working as a Developer Advocate gives you the reach & ability to influence & effect change in software solutions that developers are creating today.
I strongly recommend that you read Wassim Chegham's blog post.
The Subtle Art of Being A Developer Advocate.
My experience and role as a Developer Advocate
I didn't have any prior experience in DevRel, but I did have an audience with good writing skills, so hiring me would be a risk-versus-reward gamble for SuperTokens.
My current responsibilities include the following
- SuperTokens ambassador program management
- Writing technical blog posts for SuperTokens.
- Twitter spaces series.
- Writing for the official Twitter account.
- Participation in the open-source community and the gathering of feedback
- Educate users on how to use SuperTokens and where to get help.
- Getting product feedback and directing it to the right person on the team
- Participating in Internal product feedback discussion, e.g., docs
Working at SuperTokens is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Every day is different due to the culture, peculiarities, and people.
I also spend time in the open-source community, speaking with people interested in giving it a try for the first time. This enables me to collect valuable data, such as feedback and pain points that could be addressed.
We listen to our community and ambassadors and act on their feedback because the community is a valuable relationship to the company.
My work highlights from the last few months
One of the best things I've done in recent months was launch and build the SuperTokens ambassador program.
A steady stream of ambassadors eager to represent your Startup is priceless for any organization.
As you can see in the launch tweet below, we added 20+ awesome people from the tech community who love open source within a month.
Launching your Ambassador program is an excellent way to provide your members with the tools and training they need to effectively tell your story in the same voice, thereby improving your brand.
Introducing the SuperTokens Ambassador Program.
— SuperTokens (@supertokensio) January 11, 2022
It’s a mentorship program that can help you to find your first devRel role
Come empower the developer community and build a brand while contributing to open source.
Exciting times ahead 🙌 pic.twitter.com/WJOxxbWufI
If you want to learn more about SuperTokens, I recommend reading the blog posts I've written up to this point.
1- Everything about super tokens - an open-source alternative to Auth0, Firebase Auth, and AWS Cognito.
2- How To Add Authentication & Secure HarperDB APIs Using SuperTokens in Your React App
Learn How To Add Authentication & Secure HarperDB APIs Using SuperTokens in Your React App.
— SuperTokens (@supertokensio) February 9, 2022
🖇 https://t.co/u9Rzvixbm8
{ author: Team SuperTokens} #DEVCommunity #opensource #startup
The next day, after one of the Twitter spaces, I saw this lovely tweet from Josh.
Josh took notes from one of the devRel Twitter spaces, and I really like this one.
Took some notes during the spaces conversation last week about how to start doing developer advocacy with @veratiago @TheAnkurTyagi @Nutlope @dev_christina and @ravinwashere
— Josh Colter (@joshcolter) December 19, 2021
This #devrel community on Twitter is pretty rad! pic.twitter.com/Q5yszxjriU
DevCommunity recognized me as one of the Top Author for 2021
Thank you @ThePracticalDev team for giving me such a wonderful gift 🎁
— Ankur💻🎧💪 (@TheAnkurTyagi) November 29, 2021
I will keep writing & sharing my experience with developer community. pic.twitter.com/jp67gtWvva
Some Tweets that drew a lot of attention from the community
You think you're unique until you have to buy a domain for your startup.
— Ankur💻🎧💪 (@TheAnkurTyagi) December 1, 2021
Login authentication progress 🚀
— Ankur💻🎧💪 (@TheAnkurTyagi) January 7, 2022
It's getting difficult for the UI/UX guys! pic.twitter.com/2wTDOFeY0n
Is it possible for you to work as a Developer Advocate?
Short answer -> Of Course Yes
Why I joined SuperTokens and my happiness checklist
Here's my list of must-haves, in no particular order
- I was looking for a new challenge in a different field.
- The company's approach to developing developer tools was appealing.
- Interaction with users and customers and witnessing the impact of my work.
- Outstanding coworkers with a great sense of humor.
- Because I've become a digital nomad, I can work from home or anywhere in the world.
Most importantly, get to meet and learn from new individuals in the community.
I like how our ambassador program receives a response within a month.
Members of the community do not want to be boxed in. They don't want to be confined in their tasks. They aren't task-rabbits at all.
Members of the community want to utilize their imaginations to improve a project. They want to present their thoughts and discuss about which ones have legs and which don't.
Time management as a Developer Advocate
I switched from SDET/Frontend developer role to developer relations when I joined SuperTokens in November 2021. It's a lot of fun, but no one warns you about how much there is to do.
I could be any of the following at any given time.
- Creating a blog post for a technical audience.
- Answering questions on social media platforms such as Twitter, Discord, Reddit, and LinkedIn.
- Developing and improving SuperTokens Ambassadors programs.
- Collaborating on content with other companies/developer advocates.
- Participating in a YouTube or Twitter Spaces interview.
- Collaboration with internal teams members.
- Several meetings with various stakeholders.
It can be quite disorienting! It would be effortless to work nonstop if there were no sound systems in place and no support from your boss & It can be extremely overwhelming.
But, as I've said before, you need mentors in your life, Advait helped me a lot to manage all the tasks & time while doing my stuff.
And I believe Sam blog post about Managing Time as a Developer Advocate (Without Losing Your Mind) is relevant. , which greatly aided me in planning my day and priorities. This is a must-read if you work in devRel.
Lessons learned over the last four months
The first four months at SuperTokens were spent learning the skills I needed to be successful in my role, learning about SuperTokens, and figuring out my unique perspective as a developer advocate.
Here are some of the things I'm learning:
1- Your personal brand and reputation as a Developer Advocate are tightly coupled to your job.
2- The most important lesson I've learned is that being yourself is essential.
3- It is essential to write things down, and good writing skills are required to be a developer advocate.
4- It's a good start to write them down, but actions and outcomes are even better. You can have brilliant ideas, but they are meaningless unless they result in brilliant content.
5- If you don't enjoy what you're doing, it will show in the end result, so work to your strengths.
I'm not sure what the next few years of my career will entail, but I believe that Developer Advocacy is the first of many steps that will allow me to achieve the goals I set for myself.
Conclusion
This is the path I took to get to SuperTokens. I was able to get a great job at a cool company because of my online presence!
I've joined SuperTokens, a group of like-minded people pursuing the same goal, and I'm ticking all the boxes and having a great time doing what I love.
If you have any questions about my journey or job, please leave them in the comments section!
For the most up-to-date information, follow SuperTokens on Twitter.
As a Developer Advocate, my job is to be available to developers, to teach and learn alongside them in public.
Connect with me on Twitter at TheAnkurTyagi.
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