The dictionary aptly defines community as, ‘the condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common’.
As a techie, whether you are newly pivoting into the sector or you already have your feet firmly planted within, being a part of a community can be instrumental to your continued growth. Most of these communities are hosted on virtual platforms like Slack, Linkedin or Dribble and as such, it is easy for participants from across the globe to collaborate and participate actively. These communities usually involve members with like-minded goals and interests grouped together who share resources and answer questions
Typically, tech communities are grouped according to disciplines. For example, product people are participants of product communities like People in product, Product dive, etc.; while designers communities include She Designs Africa or Figma Africa. There are also a couple of communities which rather than focus on disciplines, focus on broader segments like She Code Africa focused on empowering African women in tech or Non Tech in Tech focused on techies in no-code roles like marketing, content creation, etc.
The importance of being a part of a community to grow your career are immense, however, this article will highlight a couple of them.
- Access to exclusive resources and job opportunities: True to its form, members of a community usually share resources within before pushing it to the general public. Some communities like People in Product organize bi-weekly interview prep sessions which contribute to job readiness. Also, most communities on slack have several channels dedicated to job opportunities, questions and feedback channels which can help contribute to overall career growth.
- Contribute to the growth of your network: Being a part of a professional community can help provide an easy way of organic networking. Considering that most communities are virtually hosted, you can oftentimes have people from different parts of the world in your community. This can contribute to your reach and access in your career and consequently serve to expand your personal network.
- Provide valuable learning opportunities: Hands-on learning cannot be overrated. As a newbie, being able to witness how interviews are conducted before you even have your first interview, or being privy to conversations among senior colleagues within your community is an invaluable experience.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the benefits of joining a professional community are immense. As a techie looking to grow your brand, expand your network or unlock more learning experiences, joining a tech community should be your go-to strategy.