Carter Rabasa - Organizer of Cascadia.js & Founder of FizBuz

David and Carter discuss the genesis of Cascadia.js, life as in Devrel, and the positive impact of empathy.
Talking Points:
  • Origin of Cascadia.js
  • Balancing Personal Needs and Job Requirements
  • Specifics of Devrel position
  • Importance of self branding in Devrel
  • Setting achievable goals
  • Qualities of a Senior Dev
  • Importance of empathy
  • Developing empathy
  • Signaling values in your resume
  • Applying to all companies vs specific companies
  • FizBuzz Website
Quotable Quotes:
  • “I shipped one of the first NPM packages for Twilio.” - CR
  • “As an evangelist or someone who is in Devrel (Developer Relations), you are this interface between this internal engineering team at a company and the outside world of developers that are interested in checking out that companies API or that companies product.” - CR
  • “If you are in a Devrel role, part of your job is speaking at conferences.” - CR
  • “95% of what you do in a Devrel role is something you can learn.” - CR
  •  “People who operate and function well on a team, people who are incredibly clear in their communication, not just with their fellow engineers, but with their product managers or other stakeholders in the company. Those are the engineers that you see on that glide-path up.” - CR
  • “[ In Devrel ] you’re not just doing stuff and then walking away. You are doing things because they are tactically useful for specific outcomes that you are committed to achieving.” - CR
  • “What is the outcome that I am trying to drive?” - CR
  • “So much of being in Devrel is about empathy. So much about being successful as an engineer is about having empathy.” - CR
  • “If you want to start developing empathy as a junior dev, volunteer at a meetup, maybe even make a meetup.” - CR
  •  “You just got to remember that software is written by people for people, full stop.” - CR
  • “The number one reason why people went to meetups was to professionally network.” - CR
  • “The document [ portfolio ] you are trying to construct is like basically a marketing brochure for yourself.” - CR
  • “Screening people out is just as important as screening people in.” - CR
  • “When you are looking for a job and you haven’t had one … there may be a real temptation to talk to all companies.” - DG
  • “In an interview, the person that is interviewing you is desperate for you to say something about why they should hire you or what you care about.” - CR
Notes:
FizBuz Site
fizbuz.com
FizBuz Twitter
@FizBuzHQ
Carter’s LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/carterrabasa
Carter’s Twitter
@crtr0
Carter’s Website
carter.rabasa.com
Cascadia.js Talks
twitter.com/CascadiaJS
Junior-to-Senior Community
community.juniortosenior.io