E152 | How a Gas Station Cashier Making $10/hr Transitioned into Tech–Rishab Kumar

In high school he wanted to be a pilot and had a love for all things Math and Physics. When Rishab Kumar immigrated to Canada, he made $10/hr as a gas station cashier. He wanted a career in tech but the cost of going to college prevented him from going.

Get insight into the opportunities that come with transitioning into tech, the challenges that come with transitioning between different tech roles, and learn about the resources available to help you hone your skills in the tech field.

In high school he wanted to be a pilot and had a love for all things Math and Physics. When Rishab Kumar immigrated to Canada, he made $10/hr as a gas station cashier. He wanted a career in tech but the cost of going to college prevented him from going.

Get insight into the opportunities that come with transitioning into tech, the challenges that come with transitioning between different tech roles, and learn about the resources available to help you hone your skills in the tech field.

 

Timestamps:

(0:45) What does a Developer Evangelist do? And the salary

(1:37) You need these skills to succeed as a Developer Evangelist

(1:21) He wanted to be a pilot

(4:16) How he got into tech from working as a gas station cashier

(7:12) Working as tech support and then getting into AWS cloud

(9:58) Get certifications but don’t be a junkie

(11:00) Students: Here’s a more cost-effective way to get certifications

(13:26) Here’s why he couldn’t go to college

(15:17) Job titles don’t matter, here’s why

(17:28) What is DevOps

(19:18) How his previous experience helped him on the DevOps team

(21:41) Working at Google and why he quit

(27:33) The problem with romanticizing Big Tech

(30:15) What helped him to become a developer evangelist

(34:17) Hardest time of his life

(36:17) How not having a degree held him back

Support/Contact Rishab:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rishabk7?t=YI8LOLYTH8CGbl4RLdSROw&s=09
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rishabkumar7/

Books and resources mentioned in this podcast:

• Resume course: https://bit.ly/podcastpca

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Need career or resume advice? Follow and/or connect with Jonaed Iqbal on LinkedIn.

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/i