Personal qualities needed
Baruch Sadogursky: I'm constantly recruiting because the right kind of people for these roles are hard to find. Most of the functions in developer relations are technical.
There are obviously some roles that are not technical, such as a community engagement manager or a community builder, but developer advocates, engineers, and technical writers all have to be technical.
The other side of this role is that you need to be an outspoken and community-loving person. I used to say that people in developer relations need to be extroverts until I was corrected; I was told that many people who do these roles are not actually 100% extroverted. They don't necessarily get energy from other people, but they still know how to engage. I'm more cautious now when I talk about requirements in developer relations, although I think that it is easier for extroverts, who naturally get their energy from engaging with other people.
Geertjan Wielenga: Why is the...