Cameron Blackwood changed career from recruitment to become a Software Engineer. He's a self-taught developer and he joined us for an interview to share all his best tips for learning to code. Cameron also has a side hustle in matching creators with companies for marketing work, which he discusses as well.
Hey, so can you introduce yourself?
I am Cameron Blackwood, I’m a software engineer, content creator and entrepreneur, and live in Edinburgh in the UK.
Why did you learn to code?
After spending three years studying business management, I fell into technical recruitment upon leaving university. Whilst to be honest I found the job pretty unfulfilling, I enjoyed chatting with candidates about what they were building. They were kind enough to recommend some resources and after doing a couple of online courses I realised that I could get paid to tap into the sense of accomplishment I felt every time I solved a problem.
Gradually, I also realised that my long term ambition of becoming an entrepreneur would be much more achievable if I knew how to code. As I already knew “how to sell”, I could build products solo and either bring on a commercial co-founder at a later date, or switch back over to the commercial side and bring on a technical leader.
I won’t lie - money was certainly a motivation in me learning to code, but not the sole one. I think if your sole motivation is money and you want to pick a career, a skilled trade like plumbing is the way to go in 2025.
