Day 1
#100DaysOfDevRel
KNOW YOUR COMPANY
Have you ever purchased an item, loved it, and immediately wanted your friends and family to know just how good it is? You may experience a similar feeling when you land a devrel position that’s a great fit for you. Determining that fit is critical and what this post centers on because when you do produce content and talk to devs in the field, you want to believe in what you represent and be happy to talk your company up!
This is precisely what I did recently. I made a strategic decision that I wanted to work at a company full of
#java experts, building java-based software, and of a size where my impact would be quantifiable and intrinsically felt. That significantly narrowed down my short list which is a positive because aligning myself (resume/talking points) had already been taken care of. I’m happy to have found such a company in
@Vaadin. I did the requisite research from the company website, youtube, and social media postings and discovered a “happy herd of nerds”, passionate about their products and services - just the type of place I wanted to be. After a sensible progressive interview process, they decided the same.
Knowing your company or future company is more accessible now than ever. Many tech firms release white papers, publish blogs, and in some cases have open source software that you can fork/clone and try out on your own. This can be an invaluable resource for you to determine on the front end is this software something you’d enjoy representing. It has the added benefit of giving you a jump on presentation material should the interview process progress to that stage. The deeper you can get into the docs and demonstrate understanding, the better (thanks
@Bdougieyo!)
Unless you build it yourself, seldom will you find a perfect match of company, product or service. Doing your due diligence is one way to get as close as possible.
{Tomorrow: Know your role}
P.S. This is an abbreviated post from the original that was mysteriously lost in the X ether. Lesson learned
