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The Scrimba Podcast

Talent Alone Is Not Enough: How Theo Changed Careers at 49 and Landed a Paid Web Dev Apprenticeship

🎙 About the episode


Meet Theo Ntogiakos 🇬🇧! Theo has just switched careers at the age of 49! Recently, he landed a paid apprenticeship and is currently attending a coding bootcamp. But before that, he learned on Scrimba - he joined a coding challenge in February and became an active member of our community. Although he always did something with computers, he used to think he could never become a front-end developer. Well, he was wrong! And that's why he's here.

In this episode, Theo shares details about a path that led him here, as well as his approach to learning. You'll find out what's it like to attend a bootcamp and how it compares to Scrimba's learning platform, as well as what kinds of opportunities to keep an eye out for if you're a new developer and live in the UK. Theo also talks about motivation, self-doubt, and whether he could've shifted gears earlier. He and Alex also discuss the importance of wanting to become a developer for the right reasons.

🔗 Connect with Theo

⏰ Timestamps

  • Theo's journey into web development (it's a long and winding path!) (01:33)
  • Theo's coding background (it includes Pascal!) (02:48)
  • Why Theo wanted to change careers (05:29)
  • On self-doubt (06:13)
  • Was it challenging to change careers later in life? Plus, the perks of a coding apprenticeship (06:41)
  • How Theo landed a paid apprenticeship after only six months of learning to code... and discovered Scrimba along the way (08:42)
  • Scrimba's coding challenges (11:02)
  • UK developer bootcamps (11:56)
  • How to get an apprenticeship as a web developer in the United Kingdom (14:27)
  • Is salary enough of a reason for a career change? (19:23)
  • What do employers want to see in a candidate? (21:33)
  • Slow and steady wins the race (25:17)
  • How does Scrimba compare to a boot camp? (27:49)
  • If you're a self-taught developer, do this! (29:10)
  • Theo's deep dive into Scrimba (30:51)
  • Let's talk pricing: how much does Scrimba cost compared to a coding bootcamp? And what are the differences between the two? (32:18)

🧰 Resources Mentioned

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