Embarking on the DXMentorship Journey: The Journey PART 1
A Chronicle of Growth in my Developer Relations Journey
Have you ever stumbled upon an opportunity that felt tailor-made for your career aspirations? Well, that's exactly what happened to me when I casually scrolled through my LinkedIn feed and discovered a post by MaryBlessing, sharing her DXMentorship journey and how much she benefitted from it. In same post, she talked about the opening of applications for DXMentorship Cohort 3.
The prospect of being mentored in Developer Relations (DevRel) piqued my interest, aligning perfectly with my desire to enhance my skills in this dynamic field. Excited and eager to immerse myself in the world of DevRel, I jumped on it and signed up for the programme. A few weeks later, I received an email from them informing me that my application was successful and that I had been accepted into the cohort 3.
The email arrived whilst wrapping up my year, so you can understand my joy; it was a fantastic way to end 2023. I decided that for the duration of the programme, I would document every stage. So stay tuned as I carry y'all on my DXMentorship journey; I will be adding my sessions and task updates here on a regular basis.
DXMentorship KICK OFF: ONBOARDING
The journey officially began with the DXMentorship onboarding, and so the intentional documentation of this mentorship expedition begins. The onboarding call which can also be called introductory call, held on 21/12/2023. It was an amazing experience as I got to virtually meet with the other participants and learn of their different backgrounds. We received insights into the cohort's plans, valuable tips for maximizing the program, and an introduction to the curriculum, program calendar, and the esteemed experts who would guide us. Alongside this, our first task materialized – the creation of our profiles in the DXMentorship GitHub repository. A comprehensive walkthrough video ensured we navigated this step seamlessly. As the meeting concluded, we eagerly anticipated the official start date of our cohort on January 10, 2024, an exciting marker for our journey ahead.
First Task Completed!🎉
FIRST SESSION: INTRODUCTION TO DEVELOPER ADVOCACY
In my previous update, I walked you through our onboarding meeting and the corresponding task that was given to us. Let's now journey into the program's first session, which unfolded on 12/01/2024. This session was led by the insightful Ekene Eze, where he delved into the world of Developer Advocacy, marking a significant step in our mentorship program.
In this session, Ekene started off with introducing us to the meaning of DevRel, the necessary devrel tools to know, the possible career paths to explore and the relevant skills to acquire.
First Session in Progress!
He went ahead to discuss our task two, what it involves, the deadline for submission and all the necessary information needed for a successful completion.
Afterwards, Task two was given which was to write a detailed blogpost on “what is DevRel”. The goal of the task is to teach someone with little to no knowledge of DevRel what it is and helping them decide if this is a career they would want to consider. This session was a nice beautiful way to ease into DevRel and I'm so looking forward to the second session!🤗
SECOND SESSION: TECHNICAL WRITING SESSION
The second session, led by our lead Ekene on 27/02/2024, proved to be an enlightening experience as we had an awesome guest, William Imoh join our session to add richness to our learning journey and talk us through technical writing . My excitement for this particular session stemmed from my uncertainty about navigating the intricacies of technical writing. I was genuinely open to soaking in all the valuable tips and insights that could enhance my proficiency in this domain. To my delight, William not only delivered but exceeded expectations, leaving me with a wealth of knowledge to grease the wheels of my technical writing skills.
Second Session in Progress!
The session commenced with a warm introduction by William, who graciously shared insights into his background before diving into the business on the day. William started off with the mistakes technical writers make which includes not finding one's voice as a writer, writing in informal words and using random words instead of incorporating industrial terms relevant to the article's context.
He then went ahead to provide invaluable tips on becoming a better technical writer. Among which, the importance of collaboration in writing stood out, encouraging writers to engage with others for diverse perspectives. Diversification was encouraged to keep content fresh and engaging, with the advice to review and seek feedback from both self and fellow writers. He also mentioned that in order to stay active as technical writers, we have to read and consume more articles as we never know where the next inspiration would come from.
Furthermore, he urged us to view our audience as not just mere individuals but as a collective entity, akin to a state. This approach would help us come up with a tailored and effective communication strategy.
Williams brought his session to a close by graciously fielding questions from my fellow mentees. Not only that, but he also extended a helping hand, offering to review articles for those among us seeking constructive feedback.
As the session transitioned, Ekene Eze stepped forward, sharing his insights on how to foster consistency as technical writers. He then unveiled our second task—a creative challenge to write a post about a topic we deeply care about. He also provided clear instructions on how to approach the task before gracefully bringing the session to a conclusion.
It was indeed a session filled with valuable insights and practical guidance and I was genuinely grateful to be a part of it.
If you've read through up to here. Thanks for staying with me and I hope you had a good read.
While I initially intended to document my entire DXMentorship journey in this article, I've decided to break it down into parts for a more digestible read. With that said, this marks the end of Part 1. The forthcoming Part 2 will delve into updates from the third and fourth sessions, so on.
If you've journeyed with me thus far, thank you for staying with me, and I hope you found this read both informative and enjoyable. Stay tuned for more update!
**Happy Reading!**✨
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