The Self-Taught Developer Relations Engineer

As a developer advocate, I can attest to the diverse paths into this field, which includes meeting people from various backgrounds and interests. Many developers transition into devrel after writing books or creating communities, such as Cory Althoff's book "The Self-Taught Programmer" and his Facebook group for self-taught programmers. Others, like Tonya Sims, join from their expertise in sports and community building. The role involves a mix of coding, marketing, and business, with responsibilities including maintaining SDKs, creating content, speaking at conferences, and engaging with developer communities. To succeed as a devrel engineer, one must have technical skills, empathy for developers, and comfort with public speaking. This field offers valuable skills and career advancement opportunities, making it an attractive option for programmers looking to diversify their careers.