Exponential Growth - How to Break Into Tech

John Crickett is a software engineer, content creator and coach to thousands of junior developers. In this conversation he shares his personal journey into tech, as well as the origin story for his free resource: https://codingchallenges.fyi. Chapters: (00:31) Introduction (04:23) First Tech Job - Dawn of the Internet (07:40) Then & Now - Rapid Advancement in Tech (10:44) The Importance of Sof...

Jade Wilson is a Software Developer at Microsoft, based in the United Kingdom. Although she studied Computer Science in college, Jade's initial onramp into tech was anything but a walk in the park. In addition to dealing with discrimination early on, Jade discusses the hardships of balancing job searches, becoming and growing as a developer, and parenting. She also shares her views on empoweri...

Mckenzie Noel is a software developer at Winsupply. Not that long ago, she was teaching horseback riding lessons to children. In this conversation we learn about how she pivoted into a tech adjacent role, and then becoming a developer. Chapters: (00:46) Intro (04:19) Horses (07:14) An Opportunity Presents Itself: Winsupply (14:35) Discovering a Passion for Programming (21:14) Tech Elevator (25:34)...

A 9 year analytics veteran of Amazon and Expedia, Kirsten Lum led dozens of leaders across core applied science, economics, as well as experience instrumentation and data architecture at global scale. Today, Kirsten oversees all aspects of data science, product, and engineering at Storytellers AI, a company she cofounded. In this conversation, Kirsten shares her personal journey into tech, as well...

Oshri Cohen is a Canadian businessman, self-taught developer, former founder and executive at multiple startups. Today he serves the role of Fractional-CTO to multiple businesses, a model he has popularized in North America. In this conversation Oshri shares his journey into tech, making (and losing) millions early in his career, and gives his unique perspective on traditional education, software...

James Reagan learned to code in his late thirties, doubling his salary and landing a role as a Software Engineer at Accenture. He previously served in the Marine Corps, and also contracted as an archaeologist for almost half a decade. James shares his journey into tech, battling physical and mental setbacks, finding mentorship and community, and creating content that eventually translated into war...

Erik Andersen is a Senior Engineer at Yum Brands. He's also a volunteer and advocate for junior developers everywhere, as well as a co-organizer for the Dallas Software Developers meetup group. In this conversation Erik shares his journey into tech, along with the tips, tricks and lessons learned along the way. Chapters: (01:00) Intro (01:44) Erik's Journey into Tech (07:32) Story time: Er...

In this episode I summarize the Microsoft Leap Software Engineering Program, which is open at the time of this video. I also discuss the status of the next cohort of LinkedIn REACH engineers, and share several internships that are open now or in the near future, including: - Hubspot - SpaceX - Intel You can view the full Microsoft Informational Webinar here: https://youtu.be/7SVxh7lTthg Chapters:...

Ramiro Berrelleza is the founder of Okteto, a company that prides itself on allowing teams deploy cloud environments with a single click. Before founding Okteto, Ramiro worked at Microsoft, alongside Satya Nadella before he became CEO. He would go on to work at ElasticBox and Atlassian. In our conversation Ramiro shares what makes non-traditional candidates unique, what he looks for when hiring th...

Coleman Escue landed a full time role as a software developer in one of the toughest job markets in recent memory. His path was anything but conventional: Minister. Chiropractic assistant. Electrician. Rather than view his path as a set of unrelated experiences, Coleman realized he was accumulating skills. In time, he would leverage those skills to pierce a veil of early rejection and setbacks, la...

Dan Lines is the Co-Founder and COO at LinearB. From his early days as a junior dev, to becoming the youngest junior exec and now a startup co-founder, two pillars of Dan's success have been humility and empathy. In this conversation we discuss: How to land a role as a junior dev without a CS degree Co-founding a company Improving the developer experience Starting and growing a Podcast Dan&#39...

Raymond Lorenzana Jr. is the Program Manager for LinkedIn's REACH Apprenticeship program. Before that, he used to work at Sonic and Marriot Hotels before landing an internship at Google. Raymond shares how he overcame "not being the smartest kid" growing up, dealing with imposter syndrome and how he eventually went on to work for some of the biggest names in tech.

LinkedIn's REACH Apprenticeship program just opened. I do a deep dive on the application process, what you can expect and the many benefits that are included. Chapters: (00:00) Preview (01:09) What is the REACH Program? (03:20) Benefits (06:53) The Hiring Process (09:32) Application & Essays: Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning Apprentice (23:58) Application & Essays: Backend En...

Caleb Mellas is a Senior Software Engineer at Olo, the company that acquired Wisely. He talks about learning to code, progressing to the senior level and being part of a hundred million dollar acquisition. Links: - Caleb's Newsletter - Caleb's LinkedIn

Ori Keren is Co-founder & CEO at LinearB, a company focused on Software Delivery Management for Engineering Leaders. Prior to starting LinearB, Ori was VP of R&D at CloudLock, which was eventually acquired by Cisco . Before that, he managed an engineering group at Interwise that was eventually acquired by AT&T. With more than 15 years of management experience, Ori shares his journey in...

Luke Hovee is a Software Engineer at CollegeHouse. Before this, he served time in the Army and also worked construction. Luke's LinkedIn

Nik Froehlich is the Founder and CEO of Saritasa, a leading US-Based Software Consulting & Development Firm with 140+ employees. He shares his journey into tech, entrepreneurship and building an empire from the ground up. Nik's links: - https://www.saritasa.com/ - LinkedIn Profile

Nicu Parente is a Senior Product Manager at Salesforce, Army veteran and content creator. Nicu's Links: - Personal Website - Free Tech Resources - Connect with Nicu - LinkedIn Profile

Growing up in Arizona, Joshua Huston used to think the internet ran itself. Today he influences a small portion of it as a Software Engineer at Zillow. In this conversation, Josh takes us on a journey that starts in a small town in Arizona, time in the Army and National Guard, pivoting into tech as an analyst at Zillow and eventually into Software Engineering. - Joshua's LinkedIn Profile

This week we're celebrating community wins, and recapping some of the underlying themes of last month's episodes. We hear from Lane Hamilton and Taiyo Scanlon-Kimura, each of whom recently graduated from a software engineering bootcamp. We dive into their progress, lessons learned and also what they each have planned as next-steps. Show Links: - Lane's LinkedIn - Taiyo's LinkedIn W...

Growing up, Casey Dai was immersed in Entrepreneurship at an early age. This naturally led him to pursue a career in business. Soon, Casey found himself wanting for more data-driven decisions, leading him to pivot into the world of data. Today, he's the Head of Data Engineering at Capgemini. In our conversation, Casey shares the framework that helped him reinvent himself multiple times, includ...

He knew his resume was horrible. A lost decade. Impossible to convey his newfound programing skills. He was competing against people that checked all the right boxes and held the fancy degrees. But rather than admit defeat, Jordan Manley took a first-principles approach. He played to his strengths, and would soon land a developer role in New York, the city of his dreams. Jordan's story is a ta...

Growing up in Brazil, Mauricio Marques started from humble beginnings, but he didn't let that stand in the way of his goals. At 17 he went to work, and soon found himself managing a team. Over the next several years Mauricio explored many different paths before he landed on a role in software quality engineering. His is a story about preparation, determination and a fiery passion for continuou...

Andy returns to the show to continue where we left off last time. Rather than content creation and his initial learnings, this time Andy focuses more on what it took for him to pivot from his junior positions into roles with Amazon, Google and now Block.

Andy Wong considered himself the weakest graduate of his bootcamp cohort. Studying English and Psychology in school, it would've been easy to give up and pursue something else. But not Andy. He doubled down and started reading some of his brothers Computer Science textbooks. Eventually, he got his shot. Today, Andy has worked at some of the biggest names in tech - Amazon, Google and now Block....