At DC Tech Stories’ live show, 3 technologists shared how they learned to code

Between college degrees, bootcamps and online classes, there are a bevy of programs for learning to code. Each pathway comes with its own set of pros and cons, and there are plenty of personal factors in the decision.

To explore the options, DC Tech Stories host Jessica Bell decided to hand the mic to three technologists who experienced each kind of program. The latest Season 2 episode of the podcast featuring conversations with technical workers was recorded at a live taping, held this summer at the offices of CHIEF.

https://twitter.com/agencyCHIEF/status/1017183036620894211

Per DC Tech Stories, guests included:

• Chris Nguyen, who has a degree in Computer Science and Linguistics from the University of Maryland and a Master’s in Computer Science. He now works as a senior developer for The Washington Post.
• Mary Griffus, who graduated from General Assembly’s Web Development Immersive program in 2016. She is a Software Engineer at HumanGeo.
• Anita Hall, who is 100% self-taught, learning from tutorials, taking an apprenticeship and continues to gain skills on the job and from the people around her. She now works as a developer for The Washington Post.

Here are Bell’s thoughts on the episode:

Lord! Doing a live show is VERY different than doing a podcast interview. I was surprised how nervous I was!  I really wanted to do an episode on the different ways folks learned tech. So many bootcamps exist now, as well as CS programs and I get asked all the time: What is the experience like? Do you need a degree? How hard is it to get a job with a bootcamp? Chris, Anita, and Mary are all wonderful developers with impressive DC tech careers so I thought it was a perfect chance to let all those folks who are interested in learning tech OR those who hire tech folks from lots of background to hear directly from peoples’ experience.

Listen to the episode below:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/108546/776390-dc-tech-stories-live-show.js?player=small