Alfonso Graziano

The Visible Engineer Introduction What visibility really means Being Visible, Valued, and Trusted at Work Speak Up in Standups and meetings Write It Down: The Power of Good Documentation & Updates Show and Tell: Demos, Internal Talks, and Sharing Wins Being a Multiplier: Helping Others Helps You How to earn your manager’s trust (and keep it)Making Visibility Part of Your Long-Term Career Plan External Visibility: Get Seen Beyond the Firewall Why bother? The magic of a tiny bit of online presence LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Mastodon, Oh My! Choosing Your Channels Your personal Website: a digital home you own Visibility = Opportunities: Promotions, Offers, Speaking Gigs Making Friends in the wild: Conferences, Meetups & Communities

The Visible Engineer

Why Visibility is the Missing Skill in Your Engineering Career

Introduction

What visibility really means

Let’s get one thing clear: visibility doesn’t mean self-promotion.

You don’t need a personal brand. You don’t need a slogan like “Code, Coffee, Crush It.”

Visibility just means people see your work. They know what you’re doing. They trust you. They remember you.

That’s it. Nothing fancy.

You might think, “My work should speak for itself.” In theory, yes. But in reality? Your work is often silent. If you don’t show it, people won’t notice.

And no, showing your work doesn’t mean bragging. It means explaining what you did and why it matters.

Let’s say you built a dashboard. Cool. But if you just say “I built a dashboard,” it doesn’t help much. Now try this:

“I built a dashboard to help support fix customer issues faster. Now they don’t need to search through 12 logs.”

Same work. But now it’s clear. Now people understand the value.

That’s visibility.

It’s also about being known for something. Maybe you’re the person who understands CI pipelines. Or the one who writes clear documentation. Or maybe you’re great at finding bugs.

Whatever it is, when people remember you for a strength they’ll ask for your help. They’ll bring you into important conversations. That’s how opportunities start.

I know what you might be thinking now: “If I talk about my work, won’t I sound annoying?”

Nope. Most of us actually don’t talk enough. We assume people already know what we did. We think it’s obvious. But people are busy. Your teammates are focused on their own tasks. Your manager might be in five meetings a day. If you don’t speak up, your work gets missed.

And in remote teams, this is even harder. You can trust me on this. I worked remotely for my entirely working life.

No hallway chats.

No overhearing what others are working on.

No quick “nice job” moments over lunch.

Your work lives in GitHub, Slack, Notion... scattered everywhere. If you don’t show the value, it disappears.

You can be a great engineer, fixing hard bugs, writing solid code, helping the team, and still be invisible. Not because you’re doing something wrong. But because no one sees what you’re doing.

I’ve been there. Early in my career, I thought being quiet and focused was enough. Just ship good work and everything will follow.

Spoiler: it didn’t. I got passed over. My impact wasn’t clear.

That’s when I learned that communication is part of the job. Not extra. Not “only for managers.” It’s how people understand what you’re doing and why it matters.

So what does being visible actually look like?

It’s when your team knows what you’re working on.

When someone says your name during planning because you solved a similar problem before.

When your updates are so clear, others forward them to different teams.

When a new hire asks for help and someone says, “Talk to you — you explain things really well.”

You don’t need to be loud. You don’t need to be perfect. But if you want to grow, people need to see your work.

And the good news? You don’t have to change who you are. Just a few simple habits: sharing updates, asking good questions or explaining your decisions can make a huge difference.

Visibility builds trust. Trust creates opportunities. That’s the power of communication.

Being Visible, Valued, and Trusted at Work

Speak Up in Standups and meetings

most of us have sat through standups like they were dentist appointments. Quick, routine, and something you just want to survive without saying much (even worse when you just woke up and you need a coffee, when your brain is still buffering). But if you're trying to grow your influence at work, those 15-minute check-ins and Zoom calls are golden opportunities. Seriously.

You might think, “I’m doing great work — people will notice.”

Spoiler: they won’t. Everyone’s busy. Even your manager is probably juggling 37 things at once, and half their brain is still stuck in the last meeting. If you don’t speak up, your work risks becoming invisible.

Being visible doesn’t mean bragging. It means letting your team know what you’re working on, what’s blocked (and what you’re doing about it), wha you’re learning and how it connects to the bigger picture.

When people know what you're doing and why it matters, they’re more likely to trust you, include you, and lean on you for important work. That’s how influence starts.

You don’t need to become a TED speaker overnight. Just be clear, consistent, and a little bit human. Try something like:

“Yesterday I worked on the payment bug that was causing issues for customer X. I figured out it was a race condition in the API call, and I’m testing the fix today. If anyone’s curious, happy to walk you through it later.”

Boom — short, helpful, and opens a door for collaboration. No need for drama.

What if you're shy or not a native speaker?

Welcome to the club! I remember my first meetings as an employee in an international company, my English was terrible (I even cried from desperation after my first day, but this is another story).

Here’s the trick: prepare 1–2 sentences before the meeting. Just write them down with bullet points. It removes the pressure of improvising, especially if English isn’t your first language.

You could also mention impact:

“This should help reduce support tickets related to payment failures, which are about 20% of our incoming requests.”

That’s the kind of thing that gets remembered.

Meetings aren’t just for updates, they’re chances to build trust and show leadership. Ask thoughtful questions. Offer to help. Reflect on trade-offs. These things make you stand out more than a fancy title ever could.

For example:

“Hey, I noticed we’re choosing X over Y. Are we doing that because of time constraints or something else?”

Curious, calm, and collaborative. That’s leadership material right there.

What about other meetings?

Standups are just one piece of the puzzle. Let’s talk about other common meeting types and how to make your presence felt without becoming “that person” who always talks but never says anything useful.

Planning meetings are a great chance to show that you care about more than just code — you care about the why. Ask about goals. Raise concerns early. Offer ideas.

“I think this solution works, but it might create some tech debt. Should we timebox this or revisit it in a retro?”

Even a simple “is this aligned with our quarterly goals?” can make you sound like a strategic genius (even if you just skimmed the goals doc that morning).

Retros aren’t therapy, but they are a place to raise issues in a calm, respectful way. Skip the blame, focus on improvements.

Good:

“I felt a bit rushed during the last sprint, especially with the late changes. Could we plan some buffer time next round?”

Less good:

“Everything was terrible and I hated it.”

Also: don’t just point out problems — suggest fixes.

1:1 shouldn’t be a status update. Use them to:

Share what you’re proud of

Ask for feedback

Mention what you want to learn or improve

Check in on how your work is being perceived

Example:

“I’ve been focusing on reliability lately. Is that coming through in how the team sees my work?”

Managers love this. It shows you care and that you're thinking like a grown-up.

Meetings are shared spaces. The goal isn’t to fill airtime — it’s to move things forward. Keep your points clear. Don’t ramble. Avoid solving problems live unless asked. And always be the person who listens and contributes.

People remember clarity. People trust consistency. And the more visible and helpful you are in meetings, the more likely they’ll think of you when opportunities come up.

Write It Down: The Power of Good Documentation & Updates

You know what’s better than being the loudest voice in the meeting? Being the person who writes things down so no one has to guess what happened later. Funny enough: now you can use AI to do that - which works actually well. But taking notes “by hand” sometimes is super helpful.

Writing is one of the most underrated ways to build trust and influence at work. It’s quiet, it’s thoughtful, and — best of all — it sticks.

Documentation isn’t just for future-you who forgot how that script works. It’s also for teammates who join next week, for managers who want clarity without pinging you, and for people in other departments trying to understand what’s going on.

Good written communication shows you’re organized, thoughtful, and reliable. Those are grown-up traits. People notice.

At some point your manager will come up with “hey, how is going feature X?” or “can you send me an updated architecture diagram? I got a client meeting in 30mins and he wants so see some”. Trust me, documentation can make you look great (if you do your homework).

Also, written words scale. You say something in a meeting? Ten people hear it.

You write a solid update or doc? It can help a hundred — even months later.

You don’t need to produce a thesis (even because people will not read long content). Aim for short, clear, and useful. Some examples:

Daily or weekly status updates in your team Slack channel

Clear pull request descriptions

Project updates in Notion, Confluence, or whatever flavor of wiki your team uses

Short guides for “how this works” or “how to run this locally”

Retrospective notes or action items

Tech decision records (aka “Why the heck did we choose this approach?”)

It doesn’t need to be pretty. It just needs to help others (and future-you).

A good update is like a good standup: short, informative, and goes to the point.

Try a format like:

What’s done

Finished integration with payments

Fixed edge case causing duplicate invoices

What’s next

Writing tests for new billing flow

Coordinating with ops to roll out safely

Any risks or help needed?

Need feedback on error handling logic — tagged folks in PR

Boom. Clear, no guessing, no detective work needed.

Bonus: these updates make you look on top of things, because you are.

If your team opens a file, sees your name, and thinks “Nice, I know this will be well explained” — you’re winning. You’re building trust without even being in the room.

And when decisions come up? People naturally loop you in because they trust you to document, clarify, and not drop the ball.

Nice documentation and written communication takes some time, but the ROI (Return on Investment) in terms of trust, clarity, and long-term time saved is massive. People stop asking the same questions. Onboarding gets easier. Decisions have context. And when things break (as they always do), your past self becomes the team’s unexpected hero.

In my experience as an occasional writer, I learned a few important lessons I quickly want to share with you:

Use templates: If you find yourself writing similar updates or docs, create a simple template. A “What, Why, and Next Steps” structure works for most things.

Write for the right audience: If it’s for engineers, include technical details. If it’s for managers, focus on impact. Adjust your depth accordingly.

Keep it skimmable: Bullet points, bold key phrases, and short paragraphs help people absorb info faster. No one wants a wall of text.

Don’t overthink it: Start with a rough outline and refine as needed. Something written and slightly imperfect is still 10x better than nothing. Bonus point: You can use LLMs to review (as I’m doing now) the content to make it more readable and even spot things that can be clarified better

Use the right tool for the job: Long-term documentation? Wiki or Notion. Quick status updates? Slack. Tech decisions? A shared doc or repo. Choosing the right medium keeps things from getting lost.

Make it a habit: Add a 5-minute “write it down” slot to your daily routine. Consistency makes it second nature. Here is my favorite setup: a cup of tea, lofi music, disabled all the notifications an 10 minutes of pure focus to write everything down.

Show and Tell: Demos, Internal Talks, and Sharing Wins

Doing great work is important. But making sure people see it? That’s how you build influence.

This chapter is all about making your work visible through demos, internal talks, and sharing wins in ways that feel natural, without sounding like you're trying to impress anyone. Think of it like show-and-tell from school, but instead of a weird rock or your pet hamster, you're showing off thoughtful work that solves real problems.

You could be shipping bug-free features, saving the company money, or building elegant systems—but if no one sees it, it quietly fades into the background. I’ve seen many brilliant engineers quietly do amazing work, but they stay in the shadows. In this case, being like Batman is not a superpower, it’s a missed opportunity.

Sharing your work builds credibility. It helps others learn from your process. And it signals, "I'm someone who contributes, and I care.”

It also invites feedback, encourages collaboration, and helps newer or quieter teammates learn by example. A little transparency goes a long way.

You don’t need to wait for a big launch to talk about your work. Some ideas:

A small feature you just shipped

A performance improvement you implemented

An internal tool or script you created to save time

A tough bug you fixed (and what you learned from it)

A decision you made and the trade-offs you considered

These might seem small, but they help paint a picture of what you're contributing and how you think.

Just to give you a small example, on a project I managed to build an end-to-end type-safety by auto-generating a JSONSchema used for API validation, the Swagger Docs and a type-safe client by hacking together a few libraries. It wasn’t that complex, but it was useful for our project over multiple teams, so I just shown them what I did in a 10 minutes Zoom call. Nothing fancy, but this (like other micro show-and-tell) helped our team to proceed faster.

Demos are your best friend. You don’t need slides. You don’t need polish. You just need to show what you did, what problem it solved, and how it helps the team or users.

A good demo format looks like this:

Context: What was the problem?

Solution: What did you build or fix?

Impact: Why does this matter?

What’s next: Is this ready to ship? Need feedback? Anything left to improve?

Pro tip: keep it short and honest. It’s okay to say, "This part is still rough," or "This could be cleaner, but it works for now." That kind of realism makes your demo more relatable.

Internal talks are great for zooming out and sharing deeper learnings. These can be short (15–20 minutes) and work well in lunch-and-learn formats or engineering syncs.

You could talk about:

How you solved a tricky problem

Lessons from a recent project

A new tool or framework you explored

A decision you regret (yep, people love these)

Patterns you’ve spotted that others should know about

Don’t worry about being formal. Use plain language, a few visuals or code snippets, and speak like you're talking to a teammate—because you are.

Again, a personal example works better than 1000 words. I was working on setting up a new auth layer for my project. My team did an amazing job and we introduced a couple of cool custom feature. The feature were far from perfection (they still are), but were good enough to work in our context. Then we did a demo of the project to an internal community. No slides, no fancy presentations, just geeks talking to geeks.

Sometimes the best move is simply sharing a win. Maybe you closed a long-standing ticket. Maybe a client complimented your work. Maybe a test you added caught a nasty edge case. Share it!

Drop a message in Slack or your team’s async update channel:

"Shipped the new error handler today. Should reduce false alarms in our alerts by ~30%. Thanks to @Jo for pairing on the edge cases."

Or during a meeting:

"Quick shoutout to the team—the new deployment process shaved 8 minutes off every build. That adds up fast."

It’s not about stealing the spotlight. It’s about keeping the spotlight moving so people see what’s working.

There are some best practices that might help quite a bit while sharing wins:

Be specific. "Improved performance" is vague. "Reduced API response times from 800ms to 250ms" is clear.

Be honest. You don’t need perfection. Sharing the messy middle builds trust.

Give credit. If someone helped, mention them. Visibility is better when it’s shared. Just say “thanks” publicly. Giving credit is part of working in a context where you’re psychologically safe.

Keep it short. Nobody wants a TED Talk in the middle of standup.

Make it a habit. Add "Share one win" to your weekly checklist. It’ll get easier every time.

The more you show and tell, the more people associate you with impact. You become the person who solves things, shares learnings, and raises the bar.

It helps your career, sure. But it also builds a culture of openness, learning, and mutual respect.

And hey, if you do happen to bring your pet hamster to a Zoom demo… no one will forget it. (I sometimes bring a Yorkshire which is SO CUTE)

Being a Multiplier: Helping Others Helps You

If you want to be seen as a leader (even without the fancy title or extra calendar invites), start by making the people around you better. That’s what multipliers do. They don’t just focus on their own output—they create more output through others.

Being a multiplier doesn’t require a promotion, a manager badge, or some sacred Slack emoji. It just means being the kind of person who makes their team stronger, clearer, calmer, and occasionally funnier.

“Why bother helping? Isn’t that extra work?”

Sure, helping others takes effort. But it pays off in all the right ways: you build trust, you eran a reputation for being solid and reliable and, most importantly, people want to work with you.

It’s like compound interest for your career. A few helpful moments here and there? Suddenly you’re that person everyone turns to when something big needs to get done—or when something small turns into chaos.

Also, let’s be real: nobody remembers who wrote the most code. They remember who made their lives easier.

You don’t need to be someone’s manager to make a difference. You just need to show up in small, consistent ways that help the team move faster or feel more supported:

Answer a question in Slack that everyone else ignored (and yes, even the obvious ones)

Share a script or alias that saved you 10 minutes of pain

Pair with someone stuck in dependency hell

Review code kindly, and maybe even leave a compliment (!)

Say "great work" when someone quietly ships something important

These aren’t grand gestures. They’re the little acts that slowly shape how a team feels and functions.

Being a multiplier isn’t about correcting everyone or jumping in uninvited. It’s about spotting moments where your experience or energy can make things easier, faster, or clearer. When you try to be a multiplier, you might end up micromanaging people - and trust me, that is horrible. I know, sometimes its a subtle line, but you don’t want to cross that line.

Sometimes that means unblocking someone. Sometimes it means just listening. And yes, sometimes it means holding back so others can figure things out on their own. That’s leadership too.

Keep an eye out for these signals:

New teammate looking lost? Send them a short message like, "Hey, let me know if you want a quick walkthrough of how we do things. No pressure."

Messy part of the codebase? Write a comment, drop a note, or just say, "Heads up: this file bites. Happy to pair if needed."

Someone stuck in meetings all day? Offer to pick up something small for them.

See a quiet win? Shout it out in Slack or in the retro. Amplify others.

You don’t need permission to be useful. You just need empathy and a bit of initiative.

Also, if you see a teammate struggling, even a simple private message like “Hey, can I support you somehow with XYZ? If there is something I can do let me know, happy to chat” might unstuck a colleague and create an opportunity for you to help.

Helping doesn’t mean becoming the team therapist or the human rubber duck. If you say yes to everything, your own work, and your energy, will suffer.

Pick your moments. If you’re tight on time, help by pointing people to a resource, tagging someone else, or just letting them know you’ll follow up later. That still counts.

Remember: sustainable help is better than heroic help.

Something weird happens when you help people: they start helping back. Not just you—others too. One generous teammate can change the vibe of a whole group.

That doesn’t mean creating a "good vibes only" team of high-fives and motivational posters. It just means making things a little more human. A little more supportive. A little more "we got this."

Also, it makes work… kind of nicer? Imagine that.

How to earn your manager’s trust (and keep it)

Let’s clear the air: this isn’t about sucking up. No one likes the person who agrees with everything, laughs too hard at every joke, and magically loves every idea their manager has.

Building trust with your manager is about creating a healthy working relationship. One where they know you’ve got things under control, they can rely on you, and you’re not just waiting for them to assign every little task.

It’s not about politics. It’s about clarity, consistency, and communication.

Your manager is juggling a lot. They’re responsible for team delivery, people’s growth, cross-team alignment, surprise fires, meetings about meetings... you get the idea.

If you’re someone they don’t have to worry about? That’s huge.

When your manager trusts you, a few things happen:

You get more autonomy

You’re more likely to be considered for growth opportunities

You get clearer feedback

Your work gets more visibility

Basically, it makes your job easier and more impactful.

Trust isn’t magic. It comes from repeatable, visible behaviors. Here are some that work:

Do what you say you’ll do (and let them know when you can’t and why)

Communicate early and clearly, especially when things go off-track

Give context in updates, not just "done/not done"

Take ownership of tasks and follow through

Ask for feedback and act on it

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to show that you care, that you’re aware, and that you’re actively trying to get better.

One of the best things you can do is help your manager do their job.

That means:

Keeping them informed without making them dig

Sharing risks before they become surprises

Being proactive in solving problems

Supporting your teammates

If they spend less time checking on you and more time focusing on the big stuff, that’s a win. You become someone who brings clarity, not confusion.

"Managing up" isn’t manipulation. It just means you understand how your manager works, and you tailor your communication accordingly.

Do they like short bullet points? Give them bullet points. Do they care about impact? Lead with business value. Do they love slides? Okay, that one’s harder, but hey—one slide never killed anyone.

The book The Manager’s Path has a great section on this called "How to be managed". Highly recommended. It’ll help you understand what your manager needs from you—and also what you should expect from them. Think of it like getting a cheat sheet for a better working relationship.

Your manager shouldn’t have to wonder what you’re working on, whether you’re blocked, or if everything’s on fire and you’re just too quiet to say it.

Be open. Be proactive. Share progress, concerns, and wins.

If you make their life easier and help them look good to their boss? Trust me, they’ll remember that.

Share also when you do a mistake. I know, this is hard. It makes you vulnerable. It makes you look bad. On the long run, also sharing your mistakes will help to build a sense of trust with your manager. They will never think that you’re hiding informations. You always need to be transparent. Again, it’s hard, but it’s worth it.

Trust isn’t built overnight, but it compounds quickly.

If your manager knows you’re reliable, communicative, and thoughtful—you’ll stand out. Not because you’re loud, but because you’re solid.

And no, you don’t have to laugh at their jokes. But if they are funny? Well, a little laugh doesn’t hurt.

Making Visibility Part of Your Long-Term Career Plan

I know, visibility sounds like one of those things you should do, like stretching after a workout or cleaning your desk before it becomes a second kitchen (mom, if you’re reading this, it’s just an example. I cleaned my desk, I promise!). But here’s the thing: if you treat visibility as something optional or “nice to have,” it’ll always stay at the bottom of your to-do list.

If you treat it like part of your actual career plan — something that builds long-term growth — then it starts to pay off in bigger, more predictable ways.

Because here’s the truth: visibility isn’t just about the next promotion or the next job. It’s about creating a career that’s full of options.

When people know your strengths, see your work, and associate your name with trust, clarity, or craft — you unlock doors that aren’t even visible on job boards. You start attracting opportunities instead of always chasing them.

So how do you make visibility part of the plan, not just something you squeeze in when you remember?

Start by thinking of it as compound interest for your reputation. You don’t need to do something huge every week. You just need consistency.

That means:

Sharing small wins or insights regularly (or even bugs that made you cry in the weekend)

Writing short updates, docs, or posts that capture your thinking

Taking 10 minutes at the end of each week to reflect and write something down (again, brag document, super important)

Volunteering for small demos or talks, even inside your team

Giving credit to others (which builds your visibility and theirs)

Build habits, not events. Visibility works best when it feels natural — not performative. You don’t need to be loud. You need to be clear, helpful, and consistent.

It also helps to set a lightweight visibility goal every quarter — something tiny but focused. Like:

“I’ll write one blog post or internal doc this quarter.”

“I’ll share a project update on Slack every two weeks.”

“I’ll help a new teammate and document what I taught them.”

“I’ll give a lightning talk at a local meetup.”

These small, regular acts build your career capital. They show you’re not just a good engineer — you’re someone who others want to work with, learn from, and bring into bigger conversations.

Over time, visibility turns into momentum.

That momentum turns into growth.

And that growth? That’s how you shape a career that feels intentional — not accidental.

So yes, visibility takes effort. But when you make it part of your long-term strategy — just like learning, mentorship, or technical skill-building — it becomes one of the most valuable assets you’ve got.

Quiet consistency beats loud bursts. Show up, share often, and let people see the value you already bring.

That’s not self-promotion. That’s part of a good career architecture.

External Visibility: Get Seen Beyond the Firewall

Why bother? The magic of a tiny bit of online presence

Let’s be honest: most of us didn’t get into tech because we love attention. We got into it because we enjoy building things, solving puzzles, or creating tools people wants to use.

If you’re doing good work and nobody sees it, it’s like planting a tree in the middle of a desert. Technically impressive, but... no one’s gonna sit under its shade.

You don’t need to go full “tech influencer” with YouTube videos and inspirational posts. (Unless you want to, in which case, more power to you!)

But even a little online presence can change your career. It could be as simple as:

Posting once a month about something you learned

Writing a short blog post about a bug you fixed

Sharing a cool trick from your last project

That tiny footprint? It makes you easier to find. Easier to trust. And, when someone’s thinking, “Hey, we need a solid developer who understands this stuff,” you’re already top of mind.

Some people worry it feels like showing off. It doesn’t have to be.

Think of it more like writing notes to your future self and letting others read over your shoulder. You're not shouting, “Look at me!” You’re saying, “Hey, I bumped into this thing and here’s what I figured out.”

And honestly? That’s helpful. That’s human. That’s enough.

Prod tip: you can also share when you fail at something, we all know that in our industry one day we feel we’re gods, and the next day (or even a couple of hours after) we feel we’re idiots.

Here’s what often happens when you start putting yourself out there just a little bit:

People reach out with interesting opportunities.

You get invited to events, podcasts, or panels.

You connect with others who geek out about the same stuff.

You start to feel a bit more proud of the work you do — because it’s out there, doing something.

So no, you don’t need a massive audience. Just a little lighthouse on your corner of the internet.

LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Mastodon, Oh My! Choosing Your Channels

So you’ve decided to show up online. Nice. Now comes the fun (and slightly overwhelming) part: where the heck do you post?

Let’s break it down like a dev breaking down legacy code — calmly, step by step, with snacks nearby.

LinkedIn is like the office version of social media. People wear digital suits and try not to post anything too weird.

That said, it’s probably the easiest and safest place to start. You already have some connections there. Your manager, your past colleagues, maybe even that one recruiter who messages every six months like clockwork.

On LinkedIn, you can share:

Stuff you’ve learned on the job

Articles you liked (with a quick comment)

Wins like a talk you gave, a blog post you wrote, or a cool PR you merged

Questions “How do you folks approach X?” usually sparks decent chats

It doesn’t need to be fancy. Just be real, keep it short, and remember: even boring things are interesting if they helped someone.

Bonus: LinkedIn posts can hang around a while, people still discover them days later. Which is wild for social media.

Twitter (or X) is like the crowded pub after a tech conference. Loud, chaotic, sometimes inspiring, sometimes exhausting.

But if you follow the right people, it becomes a steady stream of smart devs sharing code, jokes, struggles, and ideas. It’s fast-moving, so:

Keep posts short (obviously)

Threads work great for mini-lessons

Engage by replying, not just posting — it’s how people notice you

Twitter can feel a bit random, but it’s still one of the best places to stumble into conversations with folks way smarter than you.

Caution: It’s easy to waste an hour scrolling memes and hot takes. I personally don’t use it that much, but people built huge audiences with X, just choose how to play your cards wisely.

Okay, so maybe you’re not the "post a thread on Twitter" type.

Maybe you like deeper dives. Or you’ve got ideas that don’t fit into 280 characters and a meme.

Maybe you enjoy talking more than typing.

If that’s you, YouTube and blogs might be the perfect fit.

YouTube is great for showing your work. Literally.

You can record tutorials, demos, code walkthroughs, or even “dev vlogs” if you’re feeling bold. People love seeing how things are built — and hearing a real human explain it, stumbles and all.

You don’t need fancy gear. Most devs start with:

A screen recorder

A cheap mic (the €30 kind is fine)

Decent lighting (aka, sit near a window)

What works well on YouTube:

Short “How I fixed this weird bug” videos

Explainers for beginner concepts

Reviews of tools or frameworks you actually use

Deep dives into stuff you care about

YouTube’s search and recommendation engine gives your videos a long life. Something you publish today might still get views months or years from now, which is wild compared to the “post it, then it disappears” vibe of social media.

Pro tip: You can start unlisted if you’re shy. Share with friends first. Build confidence.

Regarding blogs: yes, people still read.

And no, you don’t need to be a “writer” to write a blog.

A blog is just a place to think out loud. It’s where you can go deep on a topic without worrying about likes, retweets, or catchy intros.

You can use:

Medium – easy to start, looks clean, but your stuff lives on their platform

Dev.to – developer-focused, welcoming community, low pressure

Your own site – takes more effort, but you own it forever

Hashnode – connects to your domain, nice mix of community + ownership

What to blog about?

Simple: things you’ve struggled with and solved. If it took you two hours to Google your way to a fix, that’s blog material.

Write it up and save someone else those two hours. Instant karma.

Bonus: Writing improves your thinking. You’ll be shocked how often an “aha!” moment happens while trying to explain something to others.

If you don’t want to use a blog and you want to have a more direct contact with your audience, a newsletter might be what you’re looking for! Newsletters are kind of like blogs… but with superpowers.

Instead of waiting for people to come to your site or randomly scroll past your post, a newsletter shows up right in their inbox. No algorithms. No ads. Just a direct line between your brain and theirs (sounds scarier than it is).

You can write short updates, deep dives, weekly learnings, or even just links to stuff you found interesting. If you write it with your own voice — no marketing fluff — people will read it.

It’s perfect if:

You want to share more consistently, but in a low-key way

You’re not interested in SEO, page views, or tech drama

You want to build a slow but solid connection with other devs, coworkers, or curious minds

I personally used Substack and I think it might be a valid alternative to start.

Your personal Website: a digital home you own

Social media is like renting an apartment in a busy city.

You live there, you hang out there, but you don’t control the rules — and one day the landlord (aka the algorithm) might just evict you.

Your personal website? That’s your house. You decide what goes in, what it looks like, and nobody can take it away.

A website is a quiet but powerful signal.

It says: “Hey, I care about my work — and I’m willing to put it somewhere that lasts.”

It doesn’t have to be fancy. You don’t need animations, dark mode toggles, or a 3D spinning avatar. Just a clean page with:

Your name

What you do

A few links (GitHub, blog, talks, newsletter, etc.)

Optional: a little about you, your interests, maybe a good picture of your dog

That’s it. A place people can land when they Google you — and they will Google you, especially before interviews, talks, or collaborations.

If you want to build one without losing your weekend you’ve got a lot of options. You can:

Use GitHub Pages or Netlify to host static sites for free

Use Next.js, Astro, or even plain ol’ HTML/CSS if you’re feeling minimal

Try a simple template — there are tons for dev portfolios

Use Notion or Carrd if you want zero code and fast results

Or just fork someone else’s personal site and make it yours (with credit, of course)

The key? Don’t overthink it.

Launch the MVP. You can always polish later — like every side project ever.

Also, having your own domain like namesurname.me, namesurname.dev or whatever you like will be also helpful. You can create a personal email and add a Google account on that email. It will look very professional instead of thebesthacker89@gmail.com, or whatever email you did 15 years ago.

Visibility = Opportunities: Promotions, Offers, Speaking Gigs

Let’s cut straight to the point: visibility creates opportunities. Not always right away. Not every time. But consistently? It moves the needle.

When people see your work — not just the end result, but how you think, solve problems, collaborate, and contribute — they start connecting the dots between you and potential opportunities.

Promotions. Job offers. Speaking invitations. Mentorship roles. Even dream collaborations that don’t start with a job post, but with someone saying, “Hey, I thought of you.”

None of this happens by magic. And it doesn’t happen just because you do great work in the shadows.

In fact, some of the most overlooked people in tech are the ones quietly holding the system together behind the scenes. If that’s you — first of all, thank you. But second: it’s time to stop being the best-kept secret on your team.

Managers can’t promote what they can’t see.

Most companies don’t promote based on output alone — they promote based on impact. And impact is a story. If no one knows what you did, or why it mattered, or how it helped the team — it’s like it never happened.

This doesn’t mean you need to campaign for your next level like it’s a political race. But it does mean that small habits — like summarizing what you achieved in retros, or documenting your wins (see brag document), or sharing context in your pull requests — can shape how others perceive your growth.

A quick example:

“Improved query performance” is nice, but vague.

“Refactored the customer search endpoint, reducing query time from 2.3s to 400ms — support team noticed the change immediately.”

That’s promotion material.

It’s not about fluff. It’s about framing your work in a way that connects it to outcomes.

Because when your manager goes to the next promotion calibration meeting, you want them to have ammunition.

You want them to say, “This person’s already operating at the next level — here’s the proof.”

Let’s talk about jobs. You know how people say “networking gets you jobs”?

Well, visibility is networking. But with less awkward coffee chats and more “I read your blog post and it helped me.”

Visibility means someone sees your conference talk and messages you about a role.

A recruiter lands on your GitHub profile and says, “Wow, they wrote that tool I’ve used before.”

You comment on a technical post on LinkedIn, and suddenly a hiring manager is in your DMs.

The job market — especially in tech — doesn’t always run on applications.

It runs on reputation. And visibility is how you grow that reputation outside your immediate team.

When you put your ideas out there, people remember.

And when they’re hiring, they’ll come looking for you.

You don’t need a fancy brand or a thousand followers. Just show up consistently. Share what you’re learning. Write things your past self would’ve loved to find on Google.

The internet rewards usefulness and consistency.

You never know who’s quietly reading your work and bookmarking your name.

Now, about speaking gigs (which is something I love)…

Here’s a secret: most talks go to people who’ve already spoken. Which is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem, unless you find other ways to get visible.

That could mean writing a helpful blog post, giving a short internal talk, or sharing technical lessons on LinkedIn.

You don’t need slides. You don’t need to be flashy. Just show that you can explain things clearly.

Organizers, podcast hosts, and conference curators are always looking for people who can communicate ideas in a relatable way.

If you’ve done that even once, they’ll be more likely to reach out.

And again, you don’t need to be a thought leader. You just need to talk about your work like a human.

What problem did you face?

What did you try?

What worked?

What did you learn?

That’s it. That’s the talk.

If you’re visible for being clear, helpful, and curious — people will want to hear more from you.

You can’t control timing. You can’t force a promotion, or an offer, or an invite to your dream event (regarding things you cannot control, have you read my article “The Stoic Engineer”?).

But you can stack the odds in your favor by making your work visible. By being known as someone who contributes, shares, and lifts others up.

It might take time. But visibility builds a foundation that quietly pays off — sometimes in ways you didn’t expect.

It’s not about showing off.

It’s about being seen for what you already do — and creating space for others to say, “Hey, we could use more of that.”

Making Friends in the wild: Conferences, Meetups & Communities

So, you’ve heard people say, “You should go to tech events — it’s great for your career!”

And maybe your first thought was:

“Cool, but do I have to talk to people?”

Fair.

If the idea of showing up at a conference, making small talk, or introducing yourself to a stranger makes you want to crawl back into your code editor — don’t worry. You're not alone.

But here's the truth: showing up in person can open doors you didn’t even know existed.

Let’s break it down, but first I want to tell you a personal story.

I was in a major cloud provider conference in Naples a few years ago. I was surrounded by smart people. I enjoyed a lot the talks, but then we had a moment of networking.

Everyone was talking with other people. I started sweating. I can clearly remember a voice in my head saying “I want to go home, why am I even here? I don’t know how to talk to these people…”.

At some point, I took courage, I went near some folks that were talking about Lambda, and I started to talk with them. After a few seconds of embarrassment, everything was fine and I had a very fun day.

This is what I’d like to tell you, but it went differently.

I didn’t say even one word to the people in the room. I didn’t do any networking. At some point I was so scared of talking to others that I called my girlfriend. I just wanted to talk with her to relax a bit. I was feeling a lot of social stress and I started to eat a lot of finger food (which by the way, was delicious).

At the end of that day, I felt defeated. The event has been super interesting, I learned a few cool things, but somehow I didn’t talk with new folks and the entire experience has been ruined by being psychologically blocked.

If you ever felt something like this, you’ll find a bunch of useful tips & tricks in the upcoming paragraphs. Let’s continue the reading ;)

We’re not here to sell you on networking just because “it’s good for your career.” Let’s talk about return on investment (ROI) — the real, practical benefits of going to meetups and conferences.

1. Career connections (yes, even better than LinkedIn)

You meet people who might recommend you for your next job.

You get to know folks who can introduce you to companies, opportunities, and communities.

People remember faces and conversations way more than random profile pics.

2. Learning that doesn’t feel like homework

Talks from real people solving real problems.

Q&A sessions where someone finally asks the question you were afraid to.

Workshops where you actually do things (and mess up in a safe space).

3. Fresh Inspiration and motivation

Hanging around other builders gives you ideas.

You get out of your own bubble and see what’s happening in the wider tech world.

You might even get excited about your work again — wild, right?

4. Fun, food, and free stuff

Let’s be honest: the stickers, snacks, and swag are part of the charm.

Plus, you often get to explore a new city, grab dinner with new friends, or find the best after-party with surprise karaoke.

Okay, now you're (maybe) convinced. But where do you even start?

My suggestion is to start small. Local meetups are way less intimidating than international conferences.

You can start by looking on Eventbrite, Meetup and even X (Twitter) and Linkedin. There are a lot of communities with multiple chapters. Some examples are the Google Developer Groups: https://gdg.community.dev/chapters/ or the AWS User Groups: https://aws.amazon.com/developer/community/usergroups/

There are also a lot of directories of tech events. One example is https://dev.events/.

If you want to join a meetup and you’re scared, you can just write on social media to one of the organizers a simple message like ”Hey! I saw this event, looks interesting! I’d like to join, can you give me more info?” or something like that.

Here’s the secret no one tells you: most people at these events are just as awkward as you.

So lower the pressure. You’re not pitching a startup on Shark Tank.

A few simple tips:

Start with questions ⇒ “Hey, what brought you here?” works every time.

Hang out at coffee spots or lunch tables — easiest places to chat.

Go to group activities or side events — shared experience = easier conversation.

Volunteer! It's like having a backstage pass and a reason to talk to everyone. (seriously, you just need to ask “How can I help?”, people always need help to organize tech conferences)

Also: you don’t have to be the life of the party. If you have one good conversation, that’s already a win.

Here’s the thing — when people meet you in person, something shifts. You're no longer just a Slack icon or a random GitHub username. You become a real human they’ve shared a laugh with, had a good chat over coffee, or stood next to during a confusing workshop exercise. That kind of in-person connection builds a level of trust and familiarity that’s hard to replicate online.

From my experience, every time I’ve had a real, meaningful conversation with someone at an event, we ended up staying in touch somehow. Sometimes we bumped into each other at another conference, sometimes we caught up over a coffee, and in a few cases... we even ended up as coworkers. These small moments add up — they’re the seeds of future opportunities.

When people know you, they think of you. That might mean reaching out for a project, recommending you for a role, or inviting you to speak or collaborate. It’s not about being the loudest person in the room — it’s about being remembered for who you are and the value you bring. Visibility plus trust? That’s a career superpower.

Conferences are great, but being part of a tech community gives you something even better: consistency.

Instead of one weekend of inspiration and caffeine overload, you get an ongoing space to connect, learn, and grow with others who share your interests (and your debugging pains).

Joining a community — whether it’s local or online — means surrounding yourself with people who are also curious, learning, and building cool stuff. And here's the fun part: everyone’s at different stages. You might learn from someone who’s been doing this for years, and in the same conversation, help someone who just started. That kind of mutual support is gold.

Communities can give you:

A safe place to ask “dumb” questions (which usually aren’t dumb at all)

Access to job opportunities that never make it to job boards

Mentors, collaborators, and maybe even new friends

A space to try ideas, share stories, and feel a little less alone in the code jungle

If you’ve learned something cool or built a small project you’re proud of, don’t keep it to yourself! One of the best ways to grow — and get visible — is to share what you know.

You don’t have to start with a big conference keynote. Many meetups and community events have slots for lightning talks — short, 5-to-10 minute talks where you can share an idea, demo something, or just tell a story.

It's low pressure. You get a small, friendly audience. And it’s a great way to practice public speaking in a safe space, get feedback on your idea and discover that people actually care about what you have to say. You can see that as your test/dev environment. You can be wrong, you can be vulnerable, and you can learn a lot.

Sometimes a lightning talk is just that — a fun one-time thing. But sometimes… it grows. You realize, hey, I could turn this into a real tech talk. And just like that, you're not only part of the community — you're helping lead it.

Alright, real talk: going to conferences isn’t always cheap. Local meetups? Usually free — and super chill. They’re often in the evenings or on weekends, so the time commitment is low. You can pop in after work, grab a slice of pizza, learn something new, and head home.

But full-on conferences? That’s a bigger investment.

Ticket prices can start around $30 for smaller events, but the big ones? Easily a few hundred — sometimes over a thousand. And that’s not counting travel, accommodation, or the fact that you might need to take a few days off from work.

Here’s the good news: many companies offer a training budget or learning days specifically for this kind of thing. Some even have clear policies for attending conferences — either to grow your skills, represent the company, or just stay in touch with the tech world.

If you're not sure, ask your People team (or HR, or whoever handles that kind of stuff). And if there’s no policy yet? Maybe it’s time to suggest one. It’s a win-win: you grow, you get inspired, and the company benefits from more connected, motivated engineers. Plus, it’s a nice perk that can help with retention and team happiness — and who doesn’t want that?

I should stop this chapter here, but I want to add a personal reflection based on my experience.

I’ve always worked fully remote, and I live in a small town — around 20,000 people. Never lived in a big city. For years, I was happy with my remote setup: good coffee, comfy hoodie, no commute. But after a while, something started to feel... off.

I couldn’t quite name it at first, but I realized I was feeling a bit disconnected — like I was missing a piece of the bigger picture. That’s when I started joining tech communities and going to events.

And wow — that changed everything.

At first, it was just curiosity. But after a few meetups and conferences, I noticed something unexpected: I started seeing the same people again and again. Suddenly, there were friendly faces in the crowd. Coffee breaks turned into real conversations. I wasn’t just attending — I was reconnecting with the human side of tech.

Being part of a community — in person — helped me regain my energy and passion for this work. It reminded me that behind every repo, there’s a real person building something. And that being part of that bigger story is incredibly motivating.

If you’re feeling a bit isolated or stuck, I get it. And I honestly recommend giving this a try.

You might just find your people out there.

And to the wonderful people I’ve met — and keep running into — at conferences: if you’re reading this, thank you.

You bring warmth, laughter, and genuinely good vibes every time. I won’t name names (you know who you are), but just know that you’ve made these experiences truly special.

The Visible Engineer: turning communication into a career superpower