In today’s episode, we welcome Lawrence Lockhart, a former hospitality manager turned full stack software developer. Apart from his tech job, he’s also a developer advocate, a teaching assistant at a coding bootcamp and a tech meetup leader, so you know he spends a lot of his time helping others build and transfer their existing skills into tech, being a powerful voice in the tech space for upcoming developers.

Today we talk briefly about how he managed to switch from hospitality to tech, and how that wasn’t as easy as a lot of people online make it out to be, the importance of local and in-person jobs as opposed to starting off remote, how learning with purpose is essential if you want to make progress and advice for people starting out!

Learn back-end development - https://boot.dev

Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm

Code Connector: https://codeconnector.io

Lawrence's X/Twitter: https://x.com/LawrenceDCodes

Lawrence's TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawrencedlockhart

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

00:44 When did Lawrence start to be more involved in the online tech communities?

02:23 How did Lawrence meet James Q Quick

04:42 Transition from a Blue Collar job into Tech

10:59 6 months is not the standard anymore to get in the industry

13:44 The Timeline Discussion

15:56 Kelsey Hightower

18:09 Has Lawrence worked as a dev in non-tech companies and where he works now

23:33 It's IMPORTANT to go for local market and in-person jobs first

24:27 How networking actually works

28:46 Learning with a purpose

36:43 You shouldn't be trying to minmax your career path

39:43 Advice to people that are unsure in their skills

43:51 How to approach interviews

49:31 You have to practice interviewing

54:48 Learn the thing or get out

58:33 Disagree and commit

01:01:45 Where to find Lawrence