Becoming a developer advocate

Mark Heckler: This is one of those career fields that it seems you can slide into almost by accident, but I guess it's not really an accident. It does feel a bit more serendipitous than following a carefully plotted path.

There's an old stereotype that those of us who really like to live in the code may not necessarily have the most refined interpersonal skills. It's important to remember, though, that tech is a wide field and categorizations are not overly useful beyond a certain point. There are many of us who love to code and we enjoy the challenge, the thrill, and the intellectual stimulation that coding gives us very viscerally. Then there are people who also really enjoy talking with others and sharing what they do. They really want to be out there mingling and growing from their experiences.

I got into this role by doing a lot of coding and starting to share what I was doing with others. At the micro-level, you...