S26:E3 - Learning to Code with a Full-Time Job (Beau Carnes)

November 15, 2023·41 min·3 clips

Beau Carnes explains how teaching JavaScript on YouTube is what actually made him learn JavaScript.

Beau comes in as an educator. The cold open gives his FreeCodeCamp title, Director of Technology Education, but the useful part is simpler: teaching made him learn. He built short JavaScript tutorials, hit gaps, studied them, then turned each concept into a small lesson someone else could follow. That kept the learning grounded. Saran keeps bringing it back to the listener trying to code around a full-time job. The question is plain enough: can someone with limited money, limited time, and family demands still make a believable move into tech? Beau gives a careful answer. A computer science degree can help, because hiring managers need signals that a person can do the work. But school is not the only route, and for many people it is not realistic. Self-paced learning can work if it leads to visible proof. That point feels lived in. Beau says his own degree fit a particular season of his life, when his schedule and family situation made it possible. With more kids and more daily responsibility, that same path would be slower now. The advice stays practical. FreeCodeCamp, a boot camp, or another route can all help, but learners still need specific work they can point to. Saran keeps the tone warm without sanding off the difficulty. Near the end, Beau names CodeNewbie as one of his own inspirations, and the conversation turns back toward the people listening. Now he gets to encourage them too.

As heard by us

A grounded CodeNewbie episode about learning to code around work, family, money, and hiring signals.

CodeNewbie treats learning to code with a full-time job as a constraints problem: time, money, family, and the evidence a hiring manager can judge.

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Why you'd press play

When learning JavaScript has to fit between work, family, and everything else, this helps.

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