The Power of Community and Content: How I Got Hired at Hashnode

It's story time. I want to share a life-changing story with you. A few changes in my life opened up many doors for me, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without those – and I probably wouldn’t work at Hashnode.

How It Started

In late 2020, I came to the realization that I spent too much time mindlessly scrolling on Instagram, looking at photos of fitness influencers, food, and whatnot. Even worse than the time spent there was that it made me feel worse, not better. I realized that it was, in fact, a lose-lose habit for me – a habit with only downsides and almost no benefits. (I was more up-to-date about what some friends were doing, if that counts as a benefit.) I had to change something.

I knew that social media can be very beneficial – for those creating the content. But I didn’t want to become the next fitness or food influencer (even though I love both). I had – and still have – another passion: software development. I wanted to join a community where those people hang out and creating content there. That community was not on Instagram, it was on Twitter (now X 🙄). So here comes my first post (not comment) on X:

The post had no engagement (the comment was from a colleague) but I knew that you have to work for some reach. For me, some followers are a driver for motivation. I know that some people are reading what I am writing about. But you don’t start there from day one. So what was my game plan (I didn’t have this from day one either, but it would have been better)?

What kind of content do I want to share? I knew that writing in itself can be very helpful to learn and internalize things. You really have to understand a topic in order to be able to write about it, and writing about it helps you to remember it. I already did that in college. Even if nobody reads my content, it would be beneficial for me. It has a positive Return On Investment (ROI).

So I would write about:

• things that I am currently learning or doing (and already know)

• obstacles that I have overcome

But writing content is just one aspect of it. The other is engaging with the community. Becoming part of the community. So I started to comment on other posts, ask questions, and cheer others on. Also, this is kind of a “grow hack“ in the beginning because the chances are higher that people see those comments compared to your posts if you have a very small following. But that was not my main intention. The main intention was to become part of the community.

How It Went

Time passed, my consistency in creating content increased. It started to be fun.

About half a year later I came to the conclusion that my learning benefits would be even higher if I’d write long form content: blog posts. Also, they are longer lasting. A Tweet (Xeet? 🤔) gets lost shortly after it has been published. But a blog post remains relevant for a longer time. But how to start blogging?

I am a developer, it stands to a reason that I thought about creating my own blog. But I knew that I’d probably get lost in the process and maybe would never create any content. Also, I would start at zero again, no readers. I knew that there were blogging platforms that provide some visibility to your content from the beginning (at least more than having to rely on Google alone). I discovered Hashnode and was thrilled! Why?

• I can start writing content right away

• it has a built-in community + it is developer-centric

• I can use my own domain (I reap the benefits of my content, not (only) the platform)

It was the perfect fit for my needs. So, I created my Hashnode account and blog, and published my first article:

Why Svelte is different – and awesome!, my third article, ranks on page one for “why svelte“ and was featured on Hashnode which provided me a few thousand reads without my blog being known by anybody. Crazy!

Just a few articles later, this happens:

@sandeep, co-founder and CTO of Hashnode, reached to me on X via DM 🤯 Do you think this would have happened if I would still be looking at sweaty people on Instagram? I doubt it!

I turned down that opportunity and said I’d love to stay in contact though. Why? I was quite happy at my current job, I wasn’t sure if 100% remote was for me, and I was unsure how it would be to work for a foreign company (taxes, legal, etc.).

Time went by, I continued to be active in the community and writing content. This led to other cool opportunities, like writing a paid blog post for LogRocket: Authentication in Svelte using cookies. After that, they also asked if I’d like to do some workshops, but I have declined that (maybe it would have been another door-opener, who knows).

In January 2022, Sandro Volpicella reached out to me on X. He just started working at Hashnode and asked if I’d like to jump on a call with him. Sure! I was curious how he likes it and how all the tax/legal stuff is working out. It turned out that he was very happy and excited. All the tax/legal stuff was also no big deal. So some of my major doubts had been erased. Also, in the meantime, Covid-19 led to everybody working from home. That was okay for me, too (even though going to an office every once in a while would be cool). Another doubt gone. I decided to reach out to Sandeep again.

Shortly after my call with Sandro, I spoke with Sandeep. It went well. I liked what he told me about Hashnode and he was also quite nice and casual which I enjoyed. In addition to that, Hashnode got another funding in the meantime which changed the modalities a bit. We had scheduled another appointment, and I got a little take-home task. Just a few weeks after my call with Sandro, I joined Hashnode myself 🚀 (Good job Sandro cashing the bounty for me 😅)

How It Is Going

Looking back, it is wild how many opportunities opened up since I made my initial decision to use social media as a tool, participating in a community and write about my learnings. To me, this is the craziest cheat code that everybody could use to boost their own career.

This year, I was a little less present on social media and less active on my blog. But for good reasons: I became a dad of twins and recently bought a house. I will do my best to be more active again. At least I managed to attend some in-person events like AWS Summit Berlin and Amsterdam, and the AWS Community Day DACH in Munich. Meeting people in person and building personal relationships is the next level. It's also quite enjoyable 😊

TLDR;

• Switching from being a social media consumer to a content producer
  is a game changer.

• Being an active part of a community
  is a game changer.

• Writing long-form content about your learnings and experiences
  is a game changer.