Developer advocate: building trust with developers
The roleWhat does a developer advocate do
Developer relations, or DevRel, is the work of building a relationship between a company and the developers who use its product: APIs, SDKs, cloud platforms or developer tools. A developer advocate writes tutorials, builds demo apps, speaks at conferences, answers questions in the community and brings developer feedback back to the product team.
A typical task: a payments company launches a new API. The advocate builds an open-source demo app, writes a step-by-step integration guide, runs a live webinar and reports the five places where developers get stuck most often.
Titles vary: DevRel engineer for more technical roles, developer relations manager for people who lead the team and strategy.
Day to daySkills and tools
| Skill | What it is used for every day |
|---|---|
| Programming | Demo apps, sample code and SDK examples |
| Technical writing | Tutorials, guides and docs |
| Public speaking | Talks, meetups and webinars |
| Community: Discord, GitHub | Answering questions and helping users |
| Content: video, blog | Reaching developers where they learn |
| Metrics | Sign-ups, active integrations, feedback |
Getting startedHow to become a developer advocate
There is no direct entry from zero. Most advocates are developers who enjoy explaining, writing and speaking.
How to become a developer advocate: write tutorials for tools you use, contribute to open source, give a talk at a local meetup and build a public body of work. Those are the strongest answers to developer advocate interview questions.
Picked by the Hoorya editorial team: from a first beginner course to advanced level.
Public Speaking
Public speaking skills.
Udemy list prices in US dollars. Udemy runs frequent discounts, so a course may cost less in your region.
No budget? Pick an open API you use, build a small demo, write a step-by-step tutorial on a blog or dev.to and share it in the community.
GrowthCareer path in developer relations
Most people come from software development with a public profile. Senior advocates own a language, region or product area.
Later steps: developer relations manager, head of DevRel, or product management for developer products.
Developer advocate jobs exist mainly at companies whose customers are developers: cloud platforms, APIs, databases and AI tools. Remote developer advocate jobs are very common.
What you buildWhat this work teaches you
You will learn to explain technical topics to beginners and experts alike.
The job also builds confidence in public, because every talk is a small performance.
Pros
- A mix of coding and communication
- Visibility in the tech community
- Pay close to senior developers
- Influence on the product
- Lots of remote work
Cons
- Impact is hard to measure
- Travel and weekend events
- Roles exist mostly in developer-focused companies
- Risk of losing hands-on skills
- Budgets follow marketing budgets
This career often suits the ENFJ type
Take the free Hoorya personality test and see how close your profile is to this specialist’s.
PayDeveloper advocate salary in the US and abroad
First come several years as a developer, when DevRel itself does not pay yet. The BLS does not track advocates separately, but developers earn a median of $133,080 a year. The developer advocate salary for experienced people is usually near or above that level.
UnfilteredWhat the work looks like day to day
A typical week: writing a tutorial or sample code, answering community questions, preparing a talk and a meeting with the product team about feedback.
Event weeks are different: a meetup to host, a hackathon to run or a conference abroad.
Career growth
From advocate to head of developer relations or product.
Job satisfaction
High for people who like coding, teaching and meeting people.
Stability
DevRel budgets follow marketing budgets and can shrink in hard times.
Work-life balance: fine, 6 out of 10
An uneven rhythm, with peaks around events, launches and travel.
Remote work is very common. Stress is moderate.
