Do the Projects You Find Fun and Take Time To Process Rejection: Actor-Turned-Developer Ollie Church

<p><strong>🎙 About the episode</strong></p><p><br><strong>Meet Ollie Church 🇬🇧!</strong> Ollie started out as an actor. He took up coding as a hobby during a lockdown and made a puzzle game partially inspired by an escape room where he worked at the time. Now he works in fintech!</p><p>This episode is about lockdowns, hobbies, motivation, and having fun. Ollie talks about his career change and approach to goal-setting. He also shares advice on choosing portfolio projects, as well as dealing with rejection - something that actors are maybe even more familiar with than new developers.</p><p>You'll find out how <a href="https://mysteries-demo.co.uk">an online game he made for fun</a> brought Ollie some income even before he landed his firs junior developer role, and what it's like to accidentally be interviewed for a senior role when you're applying for a junior position. Spoiler: Ollie did get the job in the end!</p><p>You'll also get an inside scoop on working as an actor, and how the pandemic has impacted the world of performing arts and in-person experiences.</p><p><strong>🔗 Connect with Ollie</strong></p><ul> <li><a href="https://linkedin.com/in/olliechurch">👨🏻‍💼 LinkedIn</a></li> <li><a href="http://olliechurch.co.uk/">🌐 Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/ollieChurch">👩‍🚀 GitHub</a></li> <li>🐦 <a href="https://twitter.com/OllieOnTwit">Twitter</a> </li> <li>🎥 <a href="https://youtu.be/T9Z3OEbg3C0">Acting reel</a> </li> </ul><p><b><strong>⏰ Timestamps</strong></b></p><ul> <li>What is's like being an actor (01:59)</li> <li>Theater, in-person experiences, and performing arts during the COVID-19 pandemic (03:18)</li> <li>How Ollie took up coding (07:55)</li> <li>Front-end development as a hobby (09:34)</li> <li>How Ollie and his partner created their first online puzzle game (11:43)</li> <li>How to make learning to code playful, and how to choose portfolio projects (14:17)</li> <li>Ollie's puzzle game became a work project! Here's how that happened. (17:13)</li> <li>Should you apply before yo