“Giving back” is one of the strongest signals in a competitive job market:
– Educational content
– Public speaking
– Open source software
– Info social accounts
– Podcasts and webinars
– Cause-driven pet projects
– Volunteering
It showcases professionalism, skills, being human, the ability to convey an argument, passion for helping out, and understanding how to zoom out and understand a topic/ecosystem holistically.
Back in 2015-2019, open source projects were a mandatory hiring signal when onboarding new engineers. The competitive pandemic market did loosen things up, but it’s a massive boost during interviews (especially for WordPress roles when meetup organization or WordCamp volunteering is included).
I put my money where my mouth is, and over the past 20 years, I have:
👨🏫 Trained over 60 courses (tech, business, marketing)
👨🏫 Led over 150 talks (conferences, meetups, webinars)
👨🏫 Written over 1,000 articles
👨🏫 Recorded over 450 videos
👨🏫 Produced 50+ podcast episodes
👨🏫 Written 2 books (and co-authored one)
👨🏫 Published over 250 weekly newsletters
👨🏫 Co-organized a handful of conferences and meetups (the first Freelance conference in BG in 2009, several WordCamps, various meetups)
👨🏫 Contributed over 100 patches to open source projects (including 30+ to WordPress itself)
👨🏫 Built dozens of free plugins and themes
If you’re undergoing a transition in your career journey, allocating time to giving back is both an act of being a great human being and a deeper development in your professional career.
It’s one of the best investments you can make long-term.
Giving Back Isn’t Charity—It’s Professional Growth
