Develop Yourself
To change careers and land your first job as a Software Engineer, you need more than just great software development skills - you need to develop yourself.
Welcome to the podcast that helps you develop your skills, your habits, your network and more, all in hopes of becoming a thriving Software Engineer.
Episodes
270 episodes
#264 - Stack Overflow's 2025 Developer Survey: Surprising Takeaways on AI, Coding Languages and Work
Every year, Stack Overflow surveys nearly a 100,000 developers to learn what technologies, languages and tools are trending.The answers here might surprise you, especially when it comes to AI tools.You can check out the survey her...
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28:32
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#263 - They're Lying to You About AI Productivity: Hype vs Reality for Coders
Maybe I'm just coping.Maybe.I’ve been pretty vocal about the over-hype of AI coding tools and I always get the same responses from AI bros:“YoU gOtta PrOmpt bEtteR!”“This iz a skillz issue dawg”“I’m using [...
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12:47
#262 - 12 Months to Hired: A No-Fluff Roadmap to Becoming a Software Developer
If I lost everything today—no job, no network, no portfolio—and had to start over in 2025 as a software developer, I wouldn’t be looking for a 3-month miracle. I’d be planning for 12 months. That’s how long it really tak...
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34:37
#261 - I Used to Suck at Coding Interviews. Then I Started Doing These 4 Things
Five years ago, during an interview for a senior dev role, I had a panic attack. It was one of my worst interview experiences. It also taught me a lot about what I was doing wrong.In this episode, I'll break down the process that took me...
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17:33
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#260 - From Lead Engineer at MongoDB to Fashion Tech: On Hiring, Remote Teams, and Start-Up Life
Harish, former lead engineer at MongoDB and current co-founder of Flaire, takes us on a journey through his unusual career path—one that didn’t involve grinding LeetCode or chasing FAANG.Instead, he got deep into cybersecurity, bu...
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24:21
Office Hours: Answering Your Coding Questions EP 3
Are junior devs cooked?How can I scaffold a solid MERN stack app?What's the best way to stick with a tutorial?We got some great questions this episode and my answers might surprise you.Got a question you want answ...
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18:56
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#259 - The Minimum Effective Dose of JavaScript You Need to Learn
Learning JS is tough.And you're probably making some of the same mistakes I did in the past.In this episode you'll get a path and a small project to make to teach you the minimum effective dose of JavaScript necessary to move forw...
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19:59
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#258 - Should You Use AI While Learning to Code? A Senior Developer’s Take
A junior developer who got hired at a startup used AI non-stop to keep up.It worked for weeks until he crashed and burned.He'd built a house of cards that he couldn't keep up. The AI tools went in doom loops or just added m...
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17:28
#257 - Career Landmines: Three Developer Traps to Avoid
3 traps to avoid in your career, that I nearly fell for:1. The Framework Developer Trap2. The Developer in a Hoodie Trap (might be the most surprising revelation for many aspiring programmers)3. The Hype-Driven Dev...
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20:49
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#256 - The Rise of the Product Minded Engineer
Matt Watson, who scaled VIN Solutions to a $150 million exit, shares his journey from coding to building products that make a real impact in the business world.We talk about:Why most developers fail at launching products...
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36:34
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#255 - Your First Open Source Project: A Weekend with Kyle Simpson’s Code
This episode introduces a weekend project that will give you authentic experience working with existing code—a crucial skill that most tutorials and coding platforms simply don't teach. Using
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12:43
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#254 - What Do Data Scientists Actually Do? A Candid Conversation with Ryan Varley
Have you ever wondered what data scientists and engineers actually do all day? Forget what you've seen in movies – it's not all neural networks and fancy algorithms.Ryan Varley, Engineering Fellow at Magnite and experienced data leader,...
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37:27
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#253 - The Real-World Step-by-Step Guide to Tech Interviews (Not for Google or Meta)
Interviewing is arguably the highest paying skill you can have as a developer.I don't think this is fair but it is reality.I've taken part in well over 100 interviews both as an interviewee and interviewer. I've worked with dozens...
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33:00
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#252 - 3 Coding Principles That Will Save Your Codebase (that most bootcamp grads don’t know)
These principles don't just create pretty code—they reduce bugs, simplify updates, and prevent real-world problems like the $10,000 mistake I made early in my career.Yeah, that was not a fun one.Check out https://www.dofactory.com...
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14:53
Office Hours: Answering Your Coding Questions EP 2
In this Office Hours Q&A, I got some pretty interesting questions:Should you lie on your resume to trick the ATS and get more interviews?If you’re building websites with tools like Squarespace, does it count as r...
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15:01
#251 - 8 truths no one tells you about becoming a software developer in today's market
The software development market didn't die, it's just unrecognizable.Let's go over 8 harsh pieces of advice that will help you as a career changer to make a successful switch into a career as a software developer.PS. If you're a ...
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23:39
#250 - Delivery Driver to Developer: Jacob’s Journey into Tech as a New Dad
Whatever you do, don’t learn to code.The market is over-saturated.AI took your job.There is no hope.But then you meet someone like Jacob, a young dad who was delivering food a year ago and just landed his first de...
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41:10
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Office Hours: Answering Your Coding Questions EP 1
Got a question you want answered on the show?Drop it here: Ask Your QuestionOn today's show:"I’m currently a mid-level product manager thinking of switching to software...
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21:08
#249 - Data Structures and Algorithms for Beginners (Replay)
Learning data structures and algorithms (DSA) isn't JUST a smart interview skill, it will boost your confidence as a software engineer, give you a deeper understanding of computer science fundamentals and they can even be fun once you know h...
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26:10
#248 - The AI Productivity Myth: Reality vs. Hype
Check out this beginner project to use AI with HTML and JS 👇Grab the project hereI'm no AI hater but I am getting so tired of the dialogue online I read from people who claim that AI...
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23:31
#247 - I Was the Worst Developer on the Team... Again
Have you ever felt like the weakest link on your development team? You're not alone.The moment you land your first developer job, you're likely to face the crushing weight of comparison. Your teammates seem to know everything while your...
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11:27
#246 - Coding Bootcamps, Burnout, and the Hard Truth About Breaking Into Tech: An Engineering Manager's Perspective
What do engineering leaders really think about bootcamp grads?Why are so many developers so stressed?Is it even worth learning to code in 2025?Michael Greenspan pulls back the curtain on the realities of engineering leaders...
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27:18
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#245 - What Developers Get Wrong About Interviews
I spent a few years as an engineering manager, and my buddy Zubin, a former Google engineer, is currently hiring developers at his company. Between the two of us, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the totally avoidable when it comes to technica...
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35:57
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#244 - From Zero to Software Engineer After 30: My Journey and What You Need to Know
Ever feel like you missed your chance to break into tech? That 30 marks some invisible deadline for career reinvention? I've been there—and I'm here to tell you it's absolutely false.My journey from addiction to software engineering ...
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18:43
#243 - The 70% Problem: When AI Coding Falls Short
What happens when software engineers rely too heavily on AI-assisted coding tools? Brian and Zubin (an ex-Google engineer) dive deep into what they call "The 70% Problem" – the phenomenon where AI coding tools excel at initial scaffolding but f...
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34:24