Shedrack Akintayo went remote-first... and other things I learned recording his DevJourney

This week, I published Shedrack Akintayo's #DevJourney story on my eponym Podcast: Software developer's Journey. Among many other things, here are my main personal takeaways:

  • Shedrack likes going to the bottom of things. This holistic approach helps him better understand where to invest his time and energy.
  • He has a very structured day: time to work, time to learn, time to exercise and time to do nothing! Only thus can he really strive with his need for depth.
  • Shedrack encourages us to be active when learning, trying things out, not just reading or watch tutorials or courses, but hitting the "pause" and writing the code.
  • Once again, Shedrack highlights the importance of having a great mentor. His career started because someone took interest in him and showed him the way.
  • During his job interviews, Shedrack asks a lot of questions. Being genuinely interested is what moved the needle for the better during his interviews.
  • His remote work tips are communication and empathy. Without those, you will not be able to really connect with a remote team. And you have to be intentional in building a connection.
  • Shedrack is the first person I met that took a contract, realized he wasn't qualified enough, and suggested his client to take a break for him to learn and come back. This is very courageous!
  • The main driver for Shedrack's community involvement is "giving back"... and he intends to give back a lot! For instance through the OSC-Africa community.
  • In order to start in the OpenSource Software World, Shedrack advises us to find an issue listed on a OSS Project and fix it.

Thanks Shedrack for sharing your story with us!

You can find the full episode and the shownotes on devjourney.info

Did you listen to his story?

  • What did you learn?
  • What are your personal takeaways?
  • What did you find particularly interesting?