Learn to Advocate for Yourself with Developer Advocate Rizel Scarlett

Meet Rizel Scarlett 🇺🇸! Rizel is a Staff Developer Advocate at TBD. She's also a career changer, software engineer, and community builder!

Rizel dropped out of psychology studies after running out of money. Then she went into IT support, then into coding, and then realized that, after working in an organization that teaches women and non-binary people of color to code, developer advocacy could be a great career for her!

In this episode, you will hear how Rizel learned to code, paved her own path, and knew when to pivot. You'll learn why internships are cool and what to be on the lookout for if you're looking for your first opportunity. Rizel will also teach you why you need personal branding and how to do it even if you're an introvert - complete with step-by-step instructions on writing a blog post, practicing public speaking, or networking.

This is a rebroadcast of one of our favorite interviews!

🔗 Connect with Rizel

⏰ Timestamps

Why Rizel switched from psychology to IT and, later, to coding (01:43)
Rizel tried many different jobs. Here’s why that’s not a bad thing! (03:48)
How Rizel approached learning to code (05:55)
Community and camaraderie are important parts of learning to code (06:50)
How Rizel decided to enroll in a bootcamp (07:58)
On learning to code with your significant other (08:31)
Thinking like a programmer comes with practice (09:46)
Why Rizel pursued internships (10:50)
Why connections are important (12:20)
What was Rizel’s internship experience like (13:21)
What should you look for in an internship or your first job? (13:58)
Break (15:54)
What juniors bring to the table (17:00)
How Rizel discovered developer advocacy and got hired as a developer advocate at GitHub (18:15)
What does a supportive manager do (20:18)
How Rizel approaches personal branding (22:08)
You can’t expect people to find you. The best person to advocate for you is you (22:25)
How to work on your public speaking (24:25)
How to work on your writing and how Rizel approaches writing blog posts (27:08)
How to get involved with the community (30:48)
Closing advice: it’s okay to switch your focus, take your time, and maintain a list of your wins! (34:43)

🧰 Resources Mentioned

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