Peter McKee - Developer Relations Manager, Programming Mentor #120
Peter McKee is the Head of Developer Relations and Advocacy at Docker and maintainer of the open source project Ronin.js. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA but currently residing in Austin, TX, Peter built his career developing full-stack applications for over 25 years. He has held multiple roles but enjoys teaching and mentoring the most. When he’s not slapping away at the keyboard, you can find him practicing Spanish and hanging out with his wife and seven children.
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A note from Grant
Peter Mckee is currently a developer relations manager for Docker, the de facto standard in software containers, but his career has taken a number of turns throughout the years. After working on a comp sci degree from Point Park College and then leaving early, Peter has held down a variety of roles in the tech industry including programmer, software architect, principal engineer, front end engineer, director of technology, and senior software engineering manager.
Over the years, Peter has worked for the likes of Dell, Perficient, MarketVine, SuperNaut and ClickVine. He’s even co-founded his own company, Checkmate Technologies and served as their Chief Marketing Officer.
Quotes
“I had to build my skills quickly to drop in and be effective right away. So that got me reading books about computer science and immersed me into the tribe. I could talk to the folks writing software and they would have the same problems that I was having. This would grow my knowledge”
“I was one of those unemployed java developers. I had an opportunity to take a contract at Dell, and it was on the e-commerce team. And at the time Dell was the number 1 or number 2 e-commerce site in the world. I went there and did really well and they offered me a position to stay permanently.”
“Folks coming out of boot camps or learning on your own, you’re writing a lot of things from scratch. In the real world, you don’t do that a whole lot. That’s rare, especially in larger companies. So I learned how to read code, how to understand code and how to hold a lot of information in my head.”
“What really drives me now is mentoring and teaching. I love research, I love to build things. I’m a great starter but not a great finisher. But I found that I could explain technical things to lay people and to more junior technologists and even to senior technologists.”
“I do about 5 or 6 people at a time and take them through about an 8 month program. I can tell you what to do, but having someone there alongside you and mentor you will 10X your development.”
—Peter McKee
Additional Resources
Learn more about Peter’s mentoring - https://codingadventures.io/
Books:
Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types - by David Keirsey & Marilyn Bates
What Color Is Your Parachute? 2019: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers - by Richard N. Bolles
