So I’ve hit my first Googleversary working as a Developer Advocate and thought it would be a great idea to write a post about how it has been working at Google so far. I’ll touch on my journey, my team, responsibilities and work-life balance.
Orientation
My first day at Google was pretty long, full of information and icebreakers. After receiving your equipment, you meet other Nooglers in your orientation class and sit awkwardly at a table until some kind extroverted soul sparks conversation. Luckily I was paired with two other Nooglers who have grown to become very good friends. The on-boarding process is pretty straight forward and involved mandatory classes for your org and other optional but super interesting classes spread out across several days. Spending time with your orientation class is normal for the first couple days but eventually you drift apart (*insert tiny violin*) but you join your team for the real fun.
Meeting My Team
I would love to say that I got to meet my team but no one was in the office for two weeks! Now before you jump to conclusions, being a Developer Advocate requires quite a bit of travel and my amazing team was doing amazing things. There were a couple people in the office and I was welcomed with open arms… until I realized I didn’t have a desk assignment. There was a mix-up but luckily things like this doesn’t bother me much. It also helps that your first six months are typically a ramp up period.
Joining Google Cloud DevRel(Cloud Developer Relations) has been amazing. I was asked “what do you really enjoy doing?” and I answered “Well before this call I was playing some Overwatch to calm my nerves”. No one actually plays Overwatch to “relax” or “calm their nerves” by the way. Needless to say, from that statement forward I became aligned with the Languages and Verticals team. We support communities for many programming languages and verticals. I have supported .NET communities but mainly focus on Cloud Gaming.
Ramping Up
I spent my first 6 months ramping up on Google Cloud Platform, game design with Unity, playing pool before going home, and getting lost in the massive NYC office. Also part of the ramping up process was navigating Google and finding decision makers for products you support. During this time, I met with teammates who also support languages, verticals and products in other offices via video conferencing, PM’s for gaming, and my managers and directors. I was also introduced to a great mentors, who helped with the navigation and understanding fundamentally how we support our gaming communities. With the help of my mentor, and my managers, I was able to focus on building great solutions and offer support for gaming communities.
Drinking From the Firehose
If you’re not familiar with the saying, Drinking from the Firehose, it means take on a large(often overwhelming) amount of something quickly. In this context, I was taking on the vast portfolio of Google Cloud products and services. I was learning how to use them(using .NET client libraries mainly), all the teams working in gaming, and various methods of advocating. I also learned of new announcements that would shape a lot of the work I do. One announcement that had an impact on my projects is Unity’s announcement of a strategic alliance with Google Cloud. Since the alliance was formed, I was able to work on GCP + Unity tooling. I’ve been having a great time working on it but the on-boarding was tedious. It took around two months to ramp up but doing so helped with my personal brand.
I have an analogy that may go over many heads but it happened to me so here it goes. Have you had a family member teach you how to swim by throwing you into the middle of a pool? I have! Obviously I am perfectly fine but the thing is I learned to swim diving in head first (although I did not dive in voluntarily). This is the feeling I had going to my first conference, Google Cloud Next 2018. Here I was assigned to staff several booths throughout the duration of the Next and had little knowledge of the actual products(I later learned I wasn’t the only one). I was given training but with little experience using the products made answering detailed questions a challenge. The part about the analogy I left out was that what I did not realize was throughout the panic of being thrown into the pool, I could stand on my tip-toes and would’ve been fine. I had something to rely on but I did not realize it in the midst of a conference with 20,000+ attendees. Part of my on-boarding classes was building solution architectures for mock client projects. Simply taking a step back and thinking about all our offerings made answering questions simpler. There was also a large amount of support from my surrounding teammates which speaks to the culture we have within Google DevRel.
Google Cloud DevRel Culture
The culture practiced by Google Cloud DevRel is one I am very thankful to have joined. Being able to support communities in areas you’re passionate about will help you connect with anyone. The team is soundly focused on that but it has to start from somewhere else. Being apart of this team for a year, I’ve realized that there really is no “I“ in team. Much like a lot of the culture practiced at Google, there is a lot of collaboration going on. I can rely on some of my teammates who are experts in a product or some area of computing/engineering. Within the company there is a lot of transparency and everyone makes themselves available to help. I can book time on a calendar of any employee but they will kindly turn down or request more information on the context of the meeting if they don’t accept right away. I really enjoying being able to set up a meeting and just ask to pick someone’s brain. The DevRel team is more likely to collaborate and accept meetings which is great since we approach our content from the user/developer perspective. Aside from seeing my teammates over video conferencing, we all enjoy seeing each other in person. It is like a family reunion when you meet up after a while at conferences or offices.
The Struggles
Now I painted a perfect picture for my first year but there are some things I did struggle with. I can say the thing I struggled with the most is dealing with imposter syndrome. I immediately began to compare myself to my teammates when I joined (the first day!). It wasn’t productive because since my teammates and mentors were already well known and figured out their DevRel narrative. Everyone “does DevRel” a different way. Luckily, getting over imposter syndrome in DevRel is relatively easy. Once you’ve given your first talk all of that stress/uncertainty disappears.
My first talk was a manga translator (something I enjoy) that could translate images on the web with a draggable transparent window. Think of it like Google Lens but for the web. I was behind on a series and reading the untranslated chapters was impossible. Translation on web pages does not work on images in Chrome either. This project was well received and the first successful moment I had since I joined which gave me a big self-esteem boost. Everything else that followed snowballed.
Another of my struggles had to be adjusting to travel. Within my first six months I traveled roughly once every 1.5 months which isn’t too bad. The last six months I have spend roughly 55 days away from home which is quite a bit considering as of today it is 134 days into the year. Now being away from home isn’t too bad when you get to see new places and meet new people. Although adjusting to timezones can be quite the challenge as well. My actual problem with travel is I’m never comfortable on flights. Definitely a personal problem but sooner or later I will get that wonderful upgrade and sleep like a baby.
Work-Life Balance
Work-Life balance is something I do not struggle with. I think there are too many ways to take a break or separate from work(for me at least). When I first joined, I would play pool before heading home from the office. Once you start meeting new friends and hang out with teammates you find more things to do. Google has many recreational activities you can join free of charge and I joined softball and volleyball. I play video games during lunch, board games Thursday nights, and video games daily before bed while still maintaining to support communities and my daily responsibilities. The great thing about working on this team is if you need a break, take it! It is easy to experience burnout so self-care is preached and practiced. Being able to separate yourself is the key to maintaining healthy work balance (in my opinion).
Wrapping Up
Well there you have it… Year one in the books! Now that I’ve hit the ground running I can’t wait to see what the next year will have in store. Feel free to check me out on the weekly Google Cloud Podcast or ask me any questions and I’ll happily answer them when I can.
