Complementing your professional journey with community involvement

There is no single route to improving your skills and becoming technically astute as a developer/designer, especially today. Traditional academia, self-taught courses, mentorship, portfolio projects and open source contributions - all of these (and more) can be seen as "pins" on your career map. And what of community involvement? Does it have a place in the busy schedule of a growing professional?

This presentation covers why community involvement is no longer a "nice to have". Through reflecting on my own journey through GDG, GDE and beyond, I attempt to motivate how it can have real effects on your abilities and lead to career opportunities. I also share my own approaches to allocating time, finding a niche and avoiding burnout in the process.

This was presented at GDG DevFest South Africa 2019:
https://youtu.be/9Z93b0aZDrM

It was also presented at Google's SSA Community Summit 2020:
https://youtu.be/WNGhva-vps0?t=277

Transcript

1. Complementing your professional journey with community involvement Nick Rout @ricknout Developer Advocate at Google
2. “I am ${career.now}” “I want to be ${career.next}”
3. “I am ${career.now}” “I am interested in ${career.passion}” “I am working on ${career.sideHustle}” “I am learning ${career.newSkill}” “I probably should be ${career.childhoodDream}” “I want to be ${career.next}”
4. “I am ${career.now}” “I want to be ${career.next}” workExperience mentorship portfolio academia selfStudy sideProjects
5. career.community.allocateTime()
6. What/where/who is community?
7. • Meetups and user groups • Conferences • Workshops • Blogging & writing • Social media and online communities • Open source • Outreach
8. People!
9. People! career.type == community.type
10. Do I have ⏱? Will I reach ? Will I benefit?
11. Do we have ⏱? Will we reach ? Will we benefit?
13. My journey...
14. “I am a junior Android developer” “I want to be a developer/designer at Google”
15. Engaged with Google+ •R.I.P. •First taste of using social media for career things •A glimpse into the broader Android community •Curating posts and ensuring correct info
16. Attended first GDG Meetup •Discovering there is a local community •Forming a voice and opinion •Learning (from others) outside of work •A time to unwind
17. Spoke at GDG Cape Town •Combatting nerves •Public speaking and responding to debate •Deep-dive into a particular topic •Companion GitHub projects for portfolio
18. Helped to run a workshop •Hands-on teaching and people skills •Entirely about helping others •Realizing the complexity of the basics by explaining to beginners •Tiring yet rewarding
19. Became a GDG co-organizer •Responsibility •Event co-planning, catering and “on-the- ground” work •After-hours motivation
20. Engaged with Twitter •Ah, so that’s where everyone on Google+ went •Heightened visibility - as an individual and for GDG •Online etiquette
21. Became a GDG organizer •More responsibility •Sourcing and encouraging others to speak •Event planning and community management •Linked up with GDG Johannesburg
22. Joined a Slack group •OMG - Extreme imposter syndrome •So. Much. To. Learn. •Mustering confidence to ask (and answer) questions •A bit too much idolising...
23. Started blogging •Re-ignited a passion for writing •Solved needs at work by generalising a problem •Improved general professional communication •At first, a broad variety of topics
24. Went to Google I/O •Huh, the people I was idolising are just normal folks IRL •The first taste of a conference... •Realising that “you can’t know it all” •Interactions with other GDG members and Googlers
25. Found a niche •Went back to what I loved... Material Design •Filled a gap where knowledge was lacking •Deep familiarity with the design system and library •More consistency in engagement and content
26. Spoke at DevFest SA 2018! •The first “big stage” •The nerves again •A step up in quality of content and delivery •Great coverage on Twitter, YouTube and SpeakerDeck •The conference
27. Spoke at droidcon Kenya •Independent, purpose- driven travel •Keeping the quality bar high •Speaking to an international audience •Panel discussion
28. More overseas conferences •GDD Kraków (Poland) •droidcon Boston (USA) •mDevCamp (Prague, Czech Republic) •droidcon Berlin (Germany) •Overcommitted and had to pull out of some
29. Experienced burnout •Too much travelling (first world problems, sorry) •Not enough time at home with family/friends •On top of work, monthly blogging and normal life... •Manage your time and wellbeing
30. MDC-Android contributions •Further deepening of knowledge in a specific area of interest •OSS procedures and etiquette •Improved programming by considering that you are impacting other developers/users
31. Became a GDE •Failed the first time •Either: give up or try harder •Yay! Recognition but also responsibility •Interactions with very smart, helpful people
32. Joined Google • ✅ •Ultimately a continuation of GDG, conferences, blogging, OSS, GDE, etc. •Community engagement can be a career
33. • Sharing knowledge with others - online, locally and globally • Improved public speaking and people skills • Recognition and greater confidence in abilities • Deeper knowledge of niche/focus areas through writing and teaching • Improved dev/design skills • Event organising and etiquette • Awareness of wellbeing • Travel opportunities
34. Some final words...
35. ssaCommunitySummit.enjoy()