From English teacher to dev in 9 month: A self-taught developer journey

From English teacher to dev in 9 month: A self-taught developer journey

Author: Michaela Greiler March 8, 2023 Duration: 44:43
Nadia Zhuk shares how to build a career as a self-taught programmer successfully. She learned to program all by herself and changed her career from being an English teacher to a full-stack developer. We also talk about: - teaching yourself programming - starting your developer career as a self-taught developer - getting your foot into tech - changing your career by teaching yourself how to program - moving countries and taking chances for a better life - how feature flags are used at Intercom - how mentoring, pair programming, code reviews, and also the concept of a buddy can help you ramp up your coding career.

Ever wondered what really happens inside the engineering teams at the world's most interesting tech companies? Software Engineering Unlocked pulls back the curtain on the craft, culture, and careers that define modern software development. Host Michaela Greiler sits down with a diverse range of engineering leaders, from seasoned architects at household names to innovative founders shaping new tools, for conversations that go far beyond code. They dig into the nuanced realities of building systems at scale-the collaborative decisions, the trade-offs, and the occasional missteps that every team faces. You’ll hear specific stories about technical challenges, but also about fostering effective teams, navigating career growth, and the human side of creating products that users genuinely connect with. This isn't about abstract theory; it's a grounded look at the strategies and mindsets that lead to better engineering outcomes. If you're a developer, manager, or simply curious about how great software gets made, this podcast offers a rare, candid glimpse into the practices that matter. Each episode feels like a direct, personal conversation, providing actionable insights you can apply to your own work and professional journey. Tune in for thoughtful discussions that are as much about the art of engineering as they are about the science.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 78

Software Engineering Unlocked
Podcast Episodes
Deeply caring for developer experience [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:55
Ashley Hunsberger deeply cares for developers, their happiness, and their productivity. After seeing how vital developer experience is, Ashley set-out to work in a relatively new role with new responsibilities: developer…
Making security easier for developers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:51
In this episode, I talk to Harshit Chitalia about how we can make security easier for developers. Harshit is the co-founder and CTO of Tromzo, a start-up dedicated to reducing the friction between developers and security…
Being an engineering manager wasn't for me [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:25
In this episode, I talk to Nicolas Dular, a senior full-stack engineer at GitLab, about his experience of becoming an engineering manager. We talk about: - how he became an engineering manager - what he liked about this…
Mentoring as an engineering manager [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:55
From workplace dynamics to code reviews, misunderstandings can arise for a variety of reasons. People have different interpretations of things or of what is said, different assumptions of others' motives, and simply miss…
What hinders your career as a developer? – Mindset. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:54
For engineers feeling stuck and unfulfilled, my guest Dagna Bieda has valuable advice. Dagna is a software engineer turned career coach who has mentored 50+ clients, some of whom worked at big brand names (such as Linked…
Running a profitable training business for Ruby developers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:45
In the software world, there are a lot of opportunities. You just have to have the right mindset, preparations, and systems. In this episode, my guest Avdi Grimm shares how he found his independence by running a training…
What the heck is data-oriented programming? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:47
There is a simpler way to reduce complexity in our systems, and it starts with rethinking data. This is the core of Data-Oriented Programming and, in this episode, my guest Yehonathan Sharvit answers our questions about…
How I got a job at Spotify - Baby Break [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:30
In this episode, I talk to Emma Bostian, who recently started as a software engineer at Spotify. And Emma is the kind of person, that not only applies and interviews for jobs, but at the same time writes a complete book…
Improving Code Reviews with Github’s Copilot [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:52
In this episode, my guest, Paige Bailey, shares her experience as a director of machine learning and machine learning operations. We discuss how we can ease the processes of reviewing data science codes through GitHub's…