Hear from inspiring developers about how they found meaningful and fulfilling work that that also pays them well. On the #StoriesByScrimba Podcast, you'll hear motivational advice and job-hunting strategies from developers who've been exactly where you are now. We talk to developers about their challenges, learnings, and switching industries in the hopes of inspiring YOU. This is the podcast that provides the inspiration, tools, and roadmaps to move from where you are to work that matters to you and uniquely fits your strengths and talents.
Florida Man Learns Coding on Work Breaks and Changes Careers at 51
🎙 About the episode
Meet Michael Robards 🇺🇸! Michael is a career changer whose path to becoming a developer was a long and winding one: he was a business analyst and a personal trainer; he worked front of house and managed restaurants; he studied biology and worked in customer service. Eventually, he got a developer job at Coca-Cola!
In this episode, Michael shares his story and his approach to learning and getting a job. He did a lot of things right, and he's also a proof that it's never too late for a carreer change. Michael and Alex also talk about imposter syndrome, difficulties of learning to code while having a full-time job, differences between big and small companies, and why having to keep on learning is a great thing about working in tech.
🔗 Connect with Michael
⏰ Timestamps
- Michael's long and winding path to becoming a developer (01:44)
- Why Michael thought becoming a software developer wasn't right for him (08:17)
- How Michael commited to learning to code - and did that on company time, at least at first (09:04)
- On learning to code while having a full-time job (11:56)
- How Coca-Cola helped Michael on his coding journey (12:45)
- Ad break: We had a lot of career changers on the podcast. Here's one of them! Plus how to support us, and who's on next week (it's Caitlyn Greffly)!
- Is there anything Michael would've done differently? (17:43)
- Why did it take four and a half years for Michael to get a software job at Coke? (20:31)
- What does it look like to be hired internally? (22:57)
- How to fight imposter syndrome? (25:12)
- What kind of a coworker does a junior developer need? (27:32)
- Why you should do things at your own pace and choose your employers wisely (28:35)
- Michael's career goals (31:01)
- Keep on learning! (31:47)
🧰 Resources Mentioned
- Some of the career changers we interviewed: Chris, Silvia, Theo, Wemerson
- Scrimba's Discord Community
- Grow with Google
- The Frontend Developer Career Path
- Codecademy
- Freecodecamp
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You can also Tweet Alex from Scrimba at @bookercodes and tell them what lessons you learned from the episode so they can thank you personally for tuning in 🙏