#064 - You’re doing networking wrong feat. Lawrence Lockhart

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

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The only podcast dedicated to backend development, technologies, and careers. Lane Wagner, the founder of Boot.dev, interviews successful backend engineers to get their takes on various trends, technologies, and career tips for new backend developers. Golang, Python, JavaScript, and Rust are the programming languages most commonly discussed, but speakers dabble in all sorts.