How to become a developer in your 30s with Anjana Vakil [Podcast #162]

On this week's episode of the podcast, I interview Anjana Vakil. She left academia to learn to code and got her first developer job in her 30s.

Anjana was an English teacher who studied computational linguistics, and found building software to be more fun than actual research.

She's worked at ton of tech companies and has freelance clients. She shares some excellent tips on learning new skills and avoiding burnout.

We talk about:

• How Anjana taught herself to code in her 30s

• Being an American dev working in Europe

• Stress, burnout, and how she gets by

• How skills from your previous non-developer career can help differentiate you as a developer

You can watch the interview on YouTube:

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Links we talk about during our conversation:

• "How to be the ideal newb" article: https://jvns.ca/blog/good-questions/

• "Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle" book that Anjana mentions: https://www.amazon.com/Burnout-Secret-Unlocking-Stress-Cycle/dp/198481706X

• Anjana's website: https://anjana.dev/