Episode 119 Rohit Ghumare, Developer Advocate, Community Builder, Public Speaker

We’ve invited Rohit Ghumare to speak with us in this episode of the podcast, not just to ask him about his impressive Twitter following (although this will come up), but also to find out how he organises his time as a community organiser and developer advocate. As Richard knows all too well, startups require everyone to become a multi-hyphenate. But even in bigger organisations, with a whole team surrounding you, the work of a developer advocate can never be categorised simply. So Rohit talks us through what an average day looks like for someone in his position. From advocacy meetings to speaking at conferences, to coordinating between large groups of people. You’ll see why people skills are a must-have.

As we mentioned, Rohit has built up an impressive network across a variety of social media platforms. He’s fortunate in this regard, as follower numbers have become more of a concern for developer advocates in recent months - no thanks to the increase in job openings with follower requirements. How does Rohit feel about these roles? Well… they’re a bit of a red flag. And although he says not to quote him on that, we can’t help but agree. For him, it’s about what kind of person you are. Hiring someone with a high follower count may get your company some engagement, but it doesn’t mean that the person themselves will gel with your team.

He also has some great insights on the point of internal vs external hiring. What are the pros and cons of both? When it comes to speaking, he prefers to bring in people who already possess those skills. But for other devrel positions, he believes that people already working on your team have knowledge and interpersonal skills that would take an outsider months to grasp. By giving them a chance to prove themselves, you potentially unlock parts of people they themselves wouldn’t have thought to access. We think this logic checks out pretty well!

Reach out to Rohit here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohit-ghumare/
Find out more and listen to previous podcasts here: https://www.voxgig.com/podcast
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