Making content as a software engineer - What to look out for?

That's a great idea.

For example, LinkedIn is an absolute goldmine for building relationships and getting better jobs.

Every software engineer should at least try to build a personal brand.

Consistency is key. It takes a lot of discipline and hard work, but it's something you'll enjoy.

It's also a good idea to start small. Find a niche on LinkedIn/Twitter and post there.

Once you've got a few weeks/months/years under your belt, you can start a newsletter or even a blog to share more in depth stuff.

Your manager or colleagues won't have any consequences, in my opinion. In my opinion, they'll appreciate you even more.

These are my 2 cents.

Good luck!

From the perspective of what you are legally able to do, you have every right to make a blog, YouTube channel, or Twitter -- companies can't control that. The only part to be careful of is to not represent the company or to present confidential information.

In terms of what you should do, however, it's important to understand the optics of maintaining a blog/channel while working a job. If you plan to seriously commit to content, there is a potential negative consequence if your manager or coworkers believe that you're not as committed to your day job. This depends on the company, but I did feel some of this while at Meta, and you may feel it if you're at a very intense startup:

why are you spending all this time for your personal gain when we have so much work here??

When I was at Meta, I handled this by simply not talking about my YouTube channel with coworkers. I did post about stuff on LinkedIn, so people found out about it, but I didn't advertise it. If you're just starting out, I wouldn't volunteer the info with your manager unless it somehow impacts your day job.

For tactics, I like Florin's comment: with content creation, consistency is key. You should just focus on producing a bunch of blog posts without trying too hard on marketing in the early days. Once you have de-risked that (1) you enjoy it and (2) you continue to get better, I'd then start to share on distribution platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter (and Taro!! reach out if it's software eng related).

If you already have some following on those platforms, I'd start posting earlier, since the reactions can indicate where people resonate with your content.

I'd also review your commitments to the business and any implied commitments as well because how the business interprets the contract is just as important as the wording of the contract itself. In other words, don't upset the 600lb gorilla in the room.