What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Sr Developer Advocate at GitGuardian?
We connected with Dwayne McDaniel to find out!
Interested in learning more about GitGuardian and their job openings? Make sure to check out their company page on VentureFizz!
Where did you grow up? What did your parents do for work?
I grew up in Northwest Ohio, in a little town near Toledo. My dad was a health and safety inspector and also a preacher. My mom worked and retired as a school cafeteria manager.
Where did you go to college? What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?
I went to school for Computer Science at BGSU, Bowling Green State University, home of the Falcons, and 88.1FM WBGU, where I was a DJ for a few years.
I worked in a plastic injection molding company during and after college and delivered pizza, too. My first office job was as a Mortgage Quality Assurance Officer at a regional bank.
What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?
I love learning and solving interesting problems. I always encourage people to find work where they can learn. Given how fast cybersecurity evolves, I was really attracted to this space and GitGuardian as a company.
Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Senior Developer Advocate at GitGuardian?
I see my mission as consisting of five words: "Help people figure stuff out."
I love helping people get to that 'ah-ha' moment of understanding a problem or a technology. I also like being a conduit for feedback into and out from the company.
This takes the form of traveling to give talks at conferences of all shapes and sizes, writing blog articles and technical materials, and making videos. I also work with a number of our customers to get their teams up to speed on various issues and solutions.
Any tips for someone considering a career in your field?
If you crave a regular daily schedule and are not a fan of travel and conferences, stay away from DevRel (Developer Relations). But on the other hand, if you love problem-solving, talking to people to understand how to help them, and the challenge that no two days really look alike, then DevRel might be a good fit.
The best advice I have is to network, network, network! You never know where connections will lead you.
Day in the Life
Coffee, tea, or nothing?
Coffee. If I am home, I make a French press every morning. Good coffee does not need anything else. If I am on the road, any coffee is drinkable with enough sugar.
What time do you start working?
I am up and online by 7:30 am in whatever time zone I happen to be in.
What are three things that motivate you in your role?
- Knowing I am helping people better understand security and tech.
- The joy of making things. I love the creative process, though it can be frustrating at times.
- The fact I get to travel as much as I do. I love seeing the world and all parts of the US.
Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?
There are really two kinds of days for me:
First is when I am not traveling. Those days start by catching up on Slack and email. I live in Chicago, and the company is headquartered in Paris, so a lot goes on before I wake up. Mornings are normally hectic, and each day brings something new to tackle. In the afternoon, after the Paris office slows down, I tend to focus on content creation and planning for my trips.
The second kind of day is life on the road. I am actually writing this on a bus getting from an airport to my hotel for a conference in Pasadena, CA. The things I need to address from the Paris team and ongoing conversations continue but are responded to as I can. At events I both attend and give talks, have hallway conversations about the latest tech trends and news, and socialize as much as I can in the evenings. I actually love the manic energy of the road. I was just saying to someone the other day that I tend to get some of my best writing done at airports.
What time do you typically wrap up the work day?
If I am home, typically around 5 or 6, depending on the day. While that sounds like a very long day, I have adopted a long lunch to run errands as I work from home. If I am on the road, whenever the networking ends and I am back in my hotel. That varies wildly.
Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?
During a work week, I am always online (thanks to Android and Verizon), and sometimes you do need to reply to an email in the evenings. Weekends and days I take off are mine though, and I turn alerts off.
Any productivity hacks?
Get started on that project right now. The longer you wait, the more weight it carries and just getting it done frees you up to work on something else, maybe more fun.
I personally live an “Inbox Zero” life, which means accepting context switching throughout my day, but I rarely ever have a pile of emails to deal with at once as a result.
What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?
- Slack
- The United Airlines app
- Lyft
What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?
I was able to speak in front of a crowd of 750 people at an event in Paris in 2017. I once got to meet Richard Stallman while I was speaking at MIT. He sold me a stuffed gnu, which I still display proudly in my home office.
Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?
I have met so many inspiring people over the years I fear singling any of them out cause I would leave out so many. I do have one former coworker who did the same job as me who I still have a 1 on 1 call with every couple of weeks. He is my sounding board and a rational voice no matter what is going on. Thanks David!
There are also the folks in the Burbsec community in Chicago. It is a super supportive community that is always happy to share ideas and give feedback.
Biggest guilty pleasure song and/or artist?
Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus is one of the best songs ever written.
Most used Emoji:
:)
