In this video, I’m basically answering: knowing what I know now, how would I learn to code if I had to start over as a beginner? I focus on the “before you become a software engineer” phase—getting qualified, building the right fundamentals, and prepping for interviews. And yeah, I call out the ironic part: what you do in interviews often doesn’t represent what you actually do on the job. Unfortunately, that’s the reality, so we still have to play the game and build the skill set that gets you the offer. I break down what “qualified” even means today. If you’re in school, a relevant degree (CS, cybersecurity, data science, etc.) helps a lot. If you’re not, it gets trickier—you’ll likely need self-learning or a bootcamp, but I’m also honest that bootcamps don’t guarantee anything, especially when the market isn’t hot. My biggest recommendation for beginners is to start with Python because it’s easier to pick up and saves you headaches in interviews (less friction with syntax and casting). For learning, I recommend Harvard CS50 and I point you to the chapters that matter most: search, arrays, algorithms, data structures, and Python—then SQL and basic web stuff if you have time. Finally, I talk strategy: apply to internships (even if you’re not in school), start coding through projects/open source, and then grind the interview side—LeetCode-style algorithms/data structures, especially the common patterns (BFS/DFS, trees, hash maps, arrays).