Introduction

As a tech enthusiast, it is very exciting to learn from top professionals and explore various viewpoints in the industry. I had a chance to talk with Graham and got the golden opportunity to learn about his experiences and knowledge.

In this blog, I will be sharing our discussion which covered a wide-range of topics including Content Creation, DevRel, Twitter growth, Time management and much more. So, let's just dive into it...

Who is Graham?

Graham has worked as Developer Advocate in Daily.dev. He's a content and technical writer at Dev.to, and regularly shares tips, tricks, and tutorials on accessibility through his writing. He is also a fan of podcasts and Twitter spaces and has a special interest in the field of accessibility.

Is JavaScript tough?

When you start learning any programming language, it's tough. But It gets easier as we go along. There are many good resources to learn Javascript. FreeCodeCamp is probably the best place to start learning.

You can also join different communities as 100devs ask questions about the topics you want to learn. And the best approach to learn something is to practice by creating projects and writing blogs about what we've learned.

Should I Create a YouTube Channel?

It's a very good initiative to create Video Content. Creating videos has many benefits, it makes your online presence accountable, helps to grow your personal brand etc. But creating a video is not that easy. There's a lot that goes into it. You have to learn about editing and how to promote it and everything else, which is very Time Consuming. As an example, every minute of a video takes like 10 to 15 minutes.

If you're doing it just because you think it will help you learn stuff then fine, it doesn't matter. But if you're doing it because you want to actually grow the channel and everything then there's a lot involved in that.

What is DevRel?

A DevRel is a bridge between a company, product and the developers. Whether that's a bridge to bring them on board, or to educate them about a product, and to get them involved in the community, doesn't matter. You are like the communication channel of the company, so that's the way to look at it.

What do I have to Do to become a DevRel?

The problem is there are at least three types of DevRel. And this is the thing you have to consider first before you can even consider what route you want to go.

The types are:

1. Community Builder:

   They maintain Discord and Slack communities and organize some live streams. They mainly interact with the users to take their feedback and report that to the Company.

2. Content Creator:

   They Educate people about How to use that product. They do this by making videos, writing blogs, doing courses, speaking at events, doing workshops, and other types of content creation to make the end users aware of that product.

3. Product/Developer Experience:

   They are more technical than the previous ones. They will be working on code examples, integrations, writing docs, etc many things to improve the developer experience.

Golden Tip:

"Get the coding under your belt first because no matter which of the three roles, you at least need to have a half-decent understanding of what it's like to be a developer and stuff.

So get that done first, then look at the DevRel stuff."

Is the DevRel and Developer Advocate the same thing?

Developer advocate is part of devRel. That's the way to look at it. They're part of each other sort of thing. So a developer advocate is someone who is on the evangelism side of things and builds other advocates and communities that are like that particular part of it.

The interesting fact is that Developer Advocacy and DevRel have not been perfectly defined yet! Everyone has their own way of Defining it.

Does the number of followers matter in DevRel?

Yes! Follower count matters but it isn't the only or the most important thing.

You can be a very effective DevRel with 20 followers because you are more likely to be DevRel in the sense of community support and that side of it. You could probably also be a marketing DevRel because you can still be the face of a company and build its social media accounts. But it certainly helps to have a strong following when you go for that type of DevRel role because it shows that you know how to build an account.

The more followers you have, the more opportunities you will get. DevRel is one of those things that you hope people end up reaching out to you rather than you having to reach out to them for the roles.

Twitter or LinkedIn, what is important in terms of getting a job?

For getting a job, LinkedIn is more important than Twitter. It's a professional network, it's designed for getting jobs. You can showcase your skills. People are looking for people to employ there. It's the right place to put it.

You might need 20,000, but 50,000 followers on Twitter for it to become a very useful tool for leveraging to get a job. Whereas on LinkedIn, a thousand good connections will get you all the jobs you need.

"That's a general tip of if you're going to put the effort in LinkedIn, that's where to put your effort in."~ Graham

How to Grow on Twitter?

Twitter Growth Tips:

1. Join Twitter spaces and get known around Twitter spaces.

2. Ask Questions in Public.

3. Comment on other people's stuff a lot.

4. Try to Tweet Five or Six times a day.

5. Post about the things that you learned.

How to Manage Time Properly?

Time management tips:

1. Don't think in weeks, think in months:

   That changes your perspective on how you approach things and what you prioritize. And that is the secret that most people, 99% of people fail on that one.

2. Use Your Spare Time:

   When you get a spare hour, I'm just going to write down a few ideas and stuff like that.

Conclusion

This coffee chat with Graham was an amazing and enlightening experience. I hope to have the opportunity to engage in more discussions with influential people in the tech industry. Although this session only touched on a fraction of what I can learn from Graham, I am eager to continue gaining knowledge from him in the future.

If you're interested in similar blogs featuring insights from top professionals, be sure to follow me on Hashnode. Thank you for reading, and here's to more exciting learning opportunities in the tech world.