Exponential Growth - How to Break Into Tech James Hudnall

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 Soft Skills

(14:00) Transitioning From IC to Management, and Back

(27:36) Becoming VP of Engineering

(35:32) Working with AI

(38:50) Special Guest Appearance - Eddie!

(40:15) Advice for Being "Made Redundant"

(48:11) Content Creation & CodingChallenges.fyi



John's Links:


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johncrickett/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johncrickett
Substack: https://codingchallenges.substack.com/
Website: https://codingchallenges.fyi/

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 empowering women in tech, and shares the importance of overcoming self-doubt, encouraging persistence and confidently express oneself.



Chapters:

(00:45) Intro

(04:56) College Studies

(11:05) First Interviews & Landing Her First Job

(20:57) Working through problems

(25:40) Getting recruited by Microsoft

(36:34) Biggest Struggles Being Remote

(41:51) Empowering Women in Tech

(45:13) A Day in the Life at Microsoft

(55:07) Experience with Azure Cloud

(59:17) Using AI Tools

(01:02:48) Content Creation

(01:11:45) Hot Seat



Jade's Links:


Social links: https://jade-codes.dev
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jade-codes/

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) Lessons Learned / Advice

(43:08) LinkedIn, and Networking

(48:37) Hotseat



Mckenzie's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mckenzie-noel/

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 as many nuggets of wisdom she's collected over the past decade.

Fun fact: Kirsten was was selected for Amazon's top tier leadership program (500 out of ~1,500,000 employees worldwide selected each year).

Chapters:

(00:36) Intro

(02:32) Kirsten's Early Story

(08:30) Getting Out of the Freezer

(11:42) Shots on Goal: Landing a Role at a Startup

(17:03) Being Humble and Teachable

(27:09) The Resume: 2-Part Framework

(34:41) Expedia to Amazon (2nd Crisis)

(42:48) "Licorice Jelly Beans"

(46:02) Amazon to Storytellers (3rd Crisis)

(58:10) Hiring - What She Looks For

(01:02:44) Hot Seat Questions



Kirsten's Links:


https://www.storytellers.ai/
Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/machsci

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 development, business and more.



Chapters:

(00:41) Intro

(03:19) Learning to Code - The Vigilante Period

(10:11) Failing Traditional School & Early Dev Jobs

(23:34) Making Millions and Losing it All

(30:26) Climbing to CTO

(36:39) The Fractional CTO is Born

(48:23) Hot Seat Questions



Oshri's Links & Mentioned Resources:

- Oshri's Personal Site: https://www.oshricohen.me/

- Oshri's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oshricohen/

- Mage AI: https://www.mage.ai/

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 warm job leads.

Chapters:

(00:46) Intro

(01:58) Early Education & Experience

(06:15) Year in Ireland

(08:46) Archeology to Marine Corps

(13:12) Physical and Mental Struggles

(17:31) Marine Corps to Programming

(22:09) Becoming Intentional

(26:46) Vets Who Code, and Finding Mentorship

(32:19) Hack Reactor, Networking and Interviews

(44:56) Landing the Job & Doubling his Salary

(49:52) Using Generative AI

(52:05) Hot Seat Questions



James' Links:

- Personal Site: https://jpreagan.com/

- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jpreagan_

- Front End Masters: https://frontendmasters.com/

- Vets Who Code: https://vetswhocode.io/

- Hack Reactor Bootcamp: https://www.galvanize.com/