Technology permeates our everyday lives.
And in a time where “software is eating the world” , we’ve become so used to the smartphones, tablets, computers and apps that most of us can’t imagine living without. All of which are enabled not just by a single company, but by developers all over the world.
The phenomenon of collaborative development for the success of a technological platform has given rise to a new breed of technologists that are required in a tech company, otherwise known as “Developer Evangelism”.
Developer Evangelism hasn’t been around for a long time. Whether it’s at a tech conference or even in our own homes, I’ve realized that our unconventional jobs require some explaination – so starting from this month, we’d like to start telling you a bit more about what we do at Microsoft.
Not a typical career path in the IT industry
“When I started my academic journey in polytechnic focusing on IT, I always thought that I might end up becoming a programmer or in a system administrator type of job.
The first time I was exposed to “evangelism marketing” was through the Microsoft Student Partners program. Getting involved with the program for the past 5 consecutive years made me realize that this is a very unique and exciting role that exists in the IT industry. It’s definitely not your typical desk bound IT job.”
The role of the Developer Evangelist
The DE is the tech company’s representative to the developer community helping to win the hearts and minds regarding the company’s platform. It is a technical role with the mission of engaging the broad community of developers and driving excitement around developer related technologies.
DEs in general must be able to talk about technology intelligently and enthusiastically to developers, developer managers and senior management. Passion, curiosity, technical depth, and exceptional communication & presentation skills are key qualities that will help them succeed in this career path!
Being an all-rounder
While coding is an important facet of the job, there are many other hats that you need to put on as a developer evangelist. Most days you are out and about as an advocate for the company – speaking and doing demos at some tech event or sales call, but it’s not unusual to find yourself organizing events, brainstorming for marketing campaigns, being a judge for tech contests such as Imagine Cup, troubleshooting for other developers and so on.
A typical work week for Chun Siong involves “…meetings, both internal and external are a common item on the weekly calendar. We hold regular events for developers and attend lots of events as well. These networking and communication opportunities with developers and business owners make your calendar more interesting. You never know who you’re going to meet and what’s going to surprise you in an industry that’s moving so quickly.
On a daily basis, I spend a couple of hours catching up on technology news and doing hands on learning on new technologies.”
Noon comes and it’s time for lunch. For the DPE team at Microsoft, lunch is a great time to celebrate birthdays, catch up on each others’ lives and just in general enjoy all the good food that Singapore has to offer. We usually end up at Lau Pa Sat, where they serve up local dishes that are not bad (try the Ayam Penyet, the You Tiao, Porridge and Yong Tau Foo)
2pm. Nothing beats the adrenaline rush (and sometimes fear) you experience speaking in front of a large audience.
Depending on your schedule and the day’s event, you almost always find yourself having to present at a conference or meeting, speaking to a variety of audiences – government officials, students, teachers, developers, CIOs, CEOs, startups and IT professionals.
DE’s have to be well versed in a broad range of technologies – from mobile to cloud, hardware to software. It’s a never ending learning journey for us, especially since the industry moves quickly.
What it takes to be an exceptional Developer Evangelist
An exceptional Developer Evangelist not only speaks well and is truly passionate about enabling people with technology, but takes time to understand developers’ needs and is committed to the community.
“Passion for technology and a willingness to share your knowledge with others is a must. While developer evangelists differ in their personality, expertise and how they engage with people, the common trait would be a strong interest in technology.
If you are always following the startup scene /technology announcements /software and hardware development news, you are one step closer to what is required of you as a developer evangelist.”
Some nights are burnt with Hackathons. While tiring, it’s an amazing thing to be part of, especially when you have so many people gathered together with a single goal bring their ideas to reality through code.
Rob Miles once said that developers are possibly the luckiest people in the world right now, because we are given the many tools and capabilities to showcase our creativity. We couldn’t agree more.
It’s our job to help you achieve those goals.
What’s the first sign that you might be fit for a role as a developer evangelist? I think it’s to be a true geek at heart.
“I started being interested in computers when I was 10. It was an exhilarating experience back then if you had a 486. This meant your PC could support cd-roms. Over the years I got curious about tweaking software and optimization for windows operating systems and occasionally testing out some Linux distros. At times I did some upgrading of computers like most folks do, playing around with PSU, RAM, CPU, HDD, Motherboard and more…
In today’s context, I’m following really exciting development revolving around Mobile Devices, Cloud Computing, Search Engine Optimization, Solid State Disk and more…
There are really amazing things and innovations coming out from student projects and the startup community as well.”
We thrive on collaboration. If you have an interesting idea or seek to explore creative ways of using our technologies, feel free to reach out to us and we will be glad to dive in the deep end with you. We thrive on your success, be it personal or professional.
From Windows 8 to Windows Phone Development to Kinect Development, if you live and breathe codes, get to know Chun Siong.
**POST UPDATE** We are searching for a Developer Evangelist who is specialized in HTML5, JavaScript, Ajax, jQuery, ASP.NET. If you think you have what it takes to become a Microsoft Developer Evangelist – Drop us an email at a-johua@microsoft.com with your resume, blog link (if you have) and a short description of your interests! Looking forward to hearing from you!
Watch out for our next segment on what its like to be a Program Manager for Microsoft Bizspark!
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