Moving into the tech/IT industry in your late 30s...realistic or not?

[tx2005]

Lots of people here work in the tech/IT industry, so I figured I'd post this here. I'm just shy of mid 30s and have been working as a nurse for a number of years. I make a good salary, but I'm scared about the long term effects physically if I continue to work as a nurse (many nurses suffer from chronic back and joint problems). I don't have much interest in most of the typical options in nursing for those who no longer want to do direct patient care, so I've been looking at possibly making a career change in the next few years.

I have always been interested in technology but have no formal IT or comp. sci education (I have two degrees...economics and nursing). I'm not super keen on spending tens of thousands on a third degree since I'm still paying off loans from my previous degrees. I know there are tons of of online resources available (ex. the Open Source Society University Computer Science curriculum on Github using MOOCs), but I'm not sure how well completing these resources would translate into actual career opportunities in the field. Were I to attempt a curriculum like the OSSU, my plan would be to complete it over the next several years with a goal of getting my first job in the field in my late 30s.

All of that said, I guess my question is how realistic (if realistic at all) is the idea of somebody in a completely unrelated field with non tech related degrees being able to break into the industry? Is going back for a third bachelors or masters an absolute necessity? I've read about a lot of ageism existing in tech. Does that hurt your changes if you are in your later 30s when you are trying to get your first job?

Any and all advice or recommendations are much appreciated. Anybody who has actually gone into tech a little later in life, please let me know your thoughts as well. Maybe I'm crazy for thinking about doing this, but I figured I'd ask here as this is a mature community and I value the input of the users here. Thanks everybody.

 

[CreepingFear]

I started at 32. The key is that you need to have a passion and you need to continue to learn new things. I know plenty of people with unrelated degrees that are in IT. A lot of employers only care that you got a degree. It shows that you can commit to something. That's probably one step ahead of me as a high school dropout. You also need to understand that you will probably be taking a pay cut from your nurse job and start at the bottom or help desk level. As long as you are fine with that and work hard, you can move up in a few years. Try to take advantage if the the employer that hires you reimburses IT certifications and try to work hard to get out of the help desk.

 

[Heckler456]

Would love to see some answers to that question too. I'm in a similar situation, but I'm going back for a CS degree next year. I'll be 31 by the time I get my bachelor's, 33 if I decide to go for a masters, and I too am kinda scared that it will basically mean nothing due to my age.

At any rate, in case you're interested: Casey Muratori, the guy from Handmade Hero (worked on The Witness too, and I think like Bink or something), did a few videos on the topic:

 

[Ahhthe90s]

Ever fucked with a Linux distribution just because you thought it was cool to try something new other than Windows?

Ever got into the windows registry and played with settings to see what the impact will be?

Ever got knee deep into throwing yourself at Visual Studio, Android Studio or Xcode? Develop an app following 50 YouTube clips, 100 tutorials and God knows how many sleepless nights? Than port that app into a different platform?

Ever faced a problem and had to enable verbose debugging so as to solve an issue? Parsing hundreds, thousands of logs? For days? Maybe months?

Do you browse GitHub as much as Era? Or actively look for interesting projects?

Do you lurk /r/sysadmin?

Created a website?

...all this to say is that you need to be passionate about tech, tech breaking and then fixing it. Either a server going down or optimization of some software/app, or whatever branch you elected to persuade, you need to like this. If not, this shit can suck the soul out of you. You need to be able to jump into it and embrace it, if you can then it's never too late.

 

[Heckler456]

Ever fucked with a Linux distribution just because you thought it was cool to try something new other than Windows?

Ever got into the windows registry and played with settings to see what the impact will be?

Ever got knee deep into throwing yourself at Visual Studio, Android Studio or Xcode? Develop an app following 50 YouTube clips, 100 tutorials and God knows how many sleepless nights? Than port that app into a different platform?

Ever faced a problem and had to enable verbose debugging so as to solve an issue? Parsing hundreds, thousands of logs? For days? Maybe months?

Do you browse GitHub as much as Era? Or actively look for interesting projects?

Do you lurk /r/sysadmin?

Created a website?

...all this to say is that you need to be passionate about tech, tech breaking and then fixing it. Either a server going down or optimization of some software/app, or whatever branch you elected to persuade, you need to like this. If not, this shit can suck the soul out of you. You need to be able to jump into it and embrace it, if you can then it's never too late.

Click to shrink...

I don't know about the OP, but me personally, I'm not THAT passionate... yet. Maybe I'll get to the point you're talking about sometime, and maybe I won't. Point being, what if "family" is more important to me, and I just want a good paying, stable career? Is this stuff entirely out of the question?

 

[AndyD]

You can also start in some of the more non technical areas like compliance. With a healthcare background you'd be able to bring that skill to the table and learn the legal, audit, compliance basics stuff with a couple of conferences or courses. Then get the rest on the job.

I'd hire someone with strong healthcare background and a passion for the compliance, privacy, security stuff, which can honestly be picked up with hard work on the job. Age comes into play only if it means you don't understand and have no appetite for learning technology. I have people in their 60s who are tech experts, and some in their 30s who can't grasp the field welll, they just don't think analytically or logically, but are more creatively inclined.

 

[Kuro]

Ever fucked with a Linux distribution just because you thought it was cool to try something new other than Windows?

Ever got into the windows registry and played with settings to see what the impact will be?

Ever got knee deep into throwing yourself at Visual Studio, Android Studio or Xcode? Develop an app following 50 YouTube clips, 100 tutorials and God knows how many sleepless nights? Than port that app into a different platform?

Ever faced a problem and had to enable verbose debugging so as to solve an issue? Parsing hundreds, thousands of logs? For days? Maybe months?

Do you browse GitHub as much as Era? Or actively look for interesting projects?

Do you lurk /r/sysadmin?

Created a website?

...all this to say is that you need to be passionate about tech, tech breaking and then fixing it. Either a server going down or optimization of some software/app, or whatever branch you elected to persuade, you need to like this. If not, this shit can suck the soul out of you. You need to be able to jump into it and embrace it, if you can then it's never too late.

Click to shrink...

Most people don't have the luxury to pick a job in a field they love. Sometimes people pick a field because they know they can do it and they need the money.

 

[Deleted member 5745]

This is also relevant to me, being 28 and having gone back to community college for IT (got an Associate's degree in Liberal Arts the last time...I want to slap my past self).

Wondering if it'd be better to just get certs rather than going off to a 4-year university.

 

[xinek]

LOL. I've been in the field (software engineer/data scientist) since before the dot com bust, and I've never sacrificed sleep for anything technical related, paid or unpaid.

My advice would be to first figure out if you have an aptitude for programming, if that's what you're into doing. Take some coursera courses or something. After doing this for many years, it's really been clear that you either have it or you don't when it comes to self directed learning, debugging, problem solving, and just the kind of creativity that's needed to build good working solutions. I think that too many people get into programming because they see it as the straightest path to a high paying desk job.

I don't think you need a degree, although I can also say that it's always been pretty easy for me to distinguish the self taught people from the formally educated people. However, I can't say that the formally educated people made more contributions to the code, team, or company than the self taught ones did. I'd think about figuring out something you're interested in, say web programming, and start building a github portfolio. Maybe volunteer to rebuild some local nonprofit's web site. Stuff like that. Or, with your med background, I can envision lots of interesting opportunities for parlaying that into an IT job in the health care industry. Anyway, even if you end up knowing enough to be able to wow interviewers, you'll likely need to show real work you've done to get past a phone screening. I would never consider anyone with no formal CS education and no work experience unless they had some really solid work they could show. Being scrappy counts for a lot.

I'm not quite old enough to feel any age discrimination stuff yet, I don't think, although I've always kept up with new languages and technologies if they interested me. I've worked with many "older" IT people (like bluehairs, not 30s-40s), and my impression has been that most of them are pretty bad, all due to not continuing to expand themselves as technology changes. The ones who've kept up are awesome and often quite valued within organizations.

 

[Wulfric]

Ever fucked with a Linux distribution just because you thought it was cool to try something new other than Windows?

Ever got into the windows registry and played with settings to see what the impact will be?

Ever got knee deep into throwing yourself at Visual Studio, Android Studio or Xcode? Develop an app following 50 YouTube clips, 100 tutorials and God knows how many sleepless nights? Than port that app into a different platform?

Ever faced a problem and had to enable verbose debugging so as to solve an issue? Parsing hundreds, thousands of logs? For days? Maybe months?

Do you browse GitHub as much as Era? Or actively look for interesting projects?

Do you lurk /r/sysadmin?

Created a website?

...all this to say is that you need to be passionate about tech, tech breaking and then fixing it. Either a server going down or optimization of some software/app, or whatever branch you elected to persuade, you need to like this. If not, this shit can suck the soul out of you. You need to be able to jump into it and embrace it, if you can then it's never too late.

Click to shrink...

Is all this really necessary? I thought this is one of the fields where you could leave your job at the door at the end of the day.

 

[medinaria]

Would love to see some answers to that question too. I'm in a similar situation, but I'm going back for a CS degree next year. I'll be 31 by the time I get my bachelor's, 33 if I decide to go for a masters, and I too am kinda scared that it will basically mean nothing due to my age.

Click to shrink...

I can answer this one a bit (I'm currently ~halfway through a CS degree, I'm 28 at the moment) - the biggest concern that employers tend to have when you hear about age discrimination isn't just literally "you're old, your brain isn't as good, we don't want you". At least from what I've been told, the biggest problem tends to be that older programmers tend to have "their" language and "their" syntax and "their" way of doing things, and they don't like to adjust when they enter a new workplace. If you're just an older student, you can 100% present that in a way that makes it a benefit. Talk about how you have experience in the workforce, how you've worked in a team of people/had to take personal responsibility for a project/worked without explicit supervision. Point out that you're essentially similar to a younger college graduate, with similar ideas regarding pay/hours/etc, but with a lot more evidence to suggest you'll be an actual productive employee. You don't have "your" habits that they have to beat out of you - instead, you have documented proof that you don't need to be babysat and are a functioning adult who can balance their life. As long as you're not super out of touch with whatever the company culture is (and I'm sure you probably aren't), basically everyone I've talked to about this same issue is absolutely certain that any hiring manager will eat that shit up.

 

[Heckler456]

LOL. I've been in the field (software engineer/data scientist) since before the dot com bust, and I've never sacrificed sleep for anything technical related, paid or unpaid.

My advice would be to first figure out if you have an aptitude for programming, if that's what you're into doing. Take some coursera courses or something. After doing this for many years, it's really been clear that you either have it or you don't when it comes to self directed learning, debugging, problem solving, and just the kind of creativity that's needed to build good working solutions. I think that too many people get into programming because they see it as the straightest path to a high paying desk job.

I don't think you need a degree, although I can also say that it's always been pretty easy for me to distinguish the self taught people from the formally educated people. However, I can't say that the formally educated people made more contributions to the code, team, or company than the self taught ones did. I'd think about figuring out something you're interested in, say web programming, and start building a github portfolio. Maybe volunteer to rebuild some local nonprofit's web site. Stuff like that. Or, with your med background, I can envision lots of interesting opportunities for parlaying that into an IT job in the health care industry. Anyway, even if you end up knowing enough to be able to wow interviewers, you'll likely need to show real work you've done to get past a phone screening. I would never consider anyone with no formal CS education and no work experience unless they had some really solid work they could show. Being scrappy counts for a lot.

I'm not quite old enough to feel any age discrimination stuff yet, I don't think, although I've always kept up with new languages and technologies if they interested me. I've worked with many "older" IT people (like bluehairs, not 30s-40s), and my impression has been that most of them are pretty bad, all due to not continuing to expand themselves as technology changes. The ones who've kept up are awesome and often quite valued within organizations.

Click to shrink...

In regard to having it / not having it, how do you know? Like, to give you an example: I put a couple of weeks into this "learn programming through making games" thing, and one of those games was Tetris. Now, I obviously understand the code when reading it, and going through the material. But I couldn't possible get to the end result by myself, you know. Even through just trying to figure it out in general, without having to worry about the specific syntax and all that, I'm not really able to do it.

Is that "not having it"? Or do you only really know if you "don't have it" after putting in like a year of work?

I can answer this one a bit (I'm currently ~halfway through a CS degree, I'm 28 at the moment) - the biggest concern that employers tend to have when you hear about age discrimination isn't just literally "you're old, your brain isn't as good, we don't want you". At least from what I've been told, the biggest problem tends to be that older programmers tend to have "their" language and "their" syntax and "their" way of doing things, and they don't like to adjust when they enter a new workplace. If you're just an older student, you can 100% present that in a way that makes it a benefit. Talk about how you have experience in the workforce, how you've worked in a team of people/had to take personal responsibility for a project/worked without explicit supervision. Point out that you're essentially similar to a younger college graduate, with similar ideas regarding pay/hours/etc, but with a lot more evidence to suggest you'll be an actual productive employee. You don't have "your" habits that they have to beat out of you - instead, you have documented proof that you don't need to be babysat and are a functioning adult who can balance their life. As long as you're not super out of touch with whatever the company culture is (and I'm sure you probably aren't), basically everyone I've talked to about this same issue is absolutely certain that any hiring manager will eat that shit up.

Click to shrink...

Hmm... Alright, that sounds great!

It's really weird, doing this stuff at 28. It's like, I know that I technically speaking am still relatively young, but it still kind feels like I'm racing against the clock, and that I need to make the right decision. Good to know that the age thing doesn't need to be an issue.

 

[NZJubJub]

Not sure how similar it would be in a country with a larger IT sector, but here in New Zealand with 12 months of part time study you could get a basic technician's accreditation and take a hardware servicing course. Combine that with your skills from working in healthcare and you would quite easily land a job as a service technician pretty much anywhere you want. However, it wouldn't be a particularly well paid position until you make it to a team leader or managerial role.

 

[xinek]

In regard to having it / not having it, how do you know? Like, to give you an example: I put a couple of weeks into this "learn programming through making games" thing, and one of those games was Tetris. Now, I obviously understand the code when reading it, and going through the material. But I couldn't possible get to the end result by myself, you know. Even through just trying to figure it out in general, without having to worry about the specific syntax and all that, I'm not really able to do it.

Is that "not having it"? Or do you only really know if you "don't have it" after putting in like a year of work?

Click to shrink...

Just because you can't complete one of the very first things you've tried on your own doesn't mean much, so don't be discouraged. Understanding code is a lot different from producing it -- speaking for myself, I'm against doing any kind of tutorial, because I learn nothing by aping exactly what others have done. Same with youtube videos. Everything makes perfect sense until I'm sitting there with a blank editor and thinking ... "duh?" I'm pretty seasoned, and every time I learn something new, it can be really frustrating at first because there just seems like so much I don't know. I bang my head against documentation, specs, and other peoples' code to get started, sometimes for an embarrassingly long time, but a light bulb will go on eventually, and I can just see it and DO IT myself. It's pretty magical. You have to love that journey and want to do it over and over again under your own power.

Without knowing what the game tutorial's content was, I'd say try narrowing in on some aspect of it that interested you in particular. Game programming includes stuff like I/O, maybe simple algorithms, user feedback/UI, possibly graphics. Each of those is a massive area to learn. Think of something interesting in those areas you'd like to learn more about, or even start something new, maybe just a simple text adventure. Go see how other people have done it to get an idea of what it will take and how to begin. Why did they design the code the way they did? Can you make it easier to read? Faster? How could you expand it to do more? Maybe even the tutorial had enough content to be able to revisit where you got stuck. The other person's suggestion of installing Linux and learning it is a good one, both because there's so much opportunity there to look at open source code and you'll definitely want to learn a unix like OS anyway. And you'll build some sysadmin skillz.

I hope I'm getting across what I meant by having the aptitude. Coding can be nitpicky, exacting work, and you have to like that or you'll be miserable. It exercises both your logical and creative brain. Nothing gets me in a state of total flow like programming. Except maybe video games.

 

[Spinluck]

I don't think it's ever too late to learn something or find a new passion. Unless it's actually too late for you, in your 30s I don't think you're anywhere near that.

Give it a shot, your best shot.

 

[LOLDSFAN]

Is going back for a third bachelors or masters an absolute necessity?

Click to shrink...

No. Maybe having a bachelors would help, but a masters is WAAAY overkill.

IT certifications are more important.

 

[Kommodore]

Do what you're passionate about. I was a teacher. Was motivated to move into the tech sphere. Found a job that mixed teaching and tech and I'm pretty damn happy about it.

 

[eclipze]

I received my A.A.D in Networking (CCNA) at 25. Decided I wanted to be a Developer after 6 years in the Infrastructure side of things. Put in a transfer as a Junior Dev at 31, became a Senior Dev at 34. Should be a Lead Dev in the next few years. No Bachelors or Masters required. Practice and train on Pluralsight, implement SOLID, follow Gang of Four, and read Fowler. That is all you need to be successful.

 

[Fuzzery]

Lots of people here work in the tech/IT industry, so I figured I'd post this here. I'm just shy of mid 30s and have been working as a nurse for a number of years. I make a good salary, but I'm scared about the long term effects physically if I continue to work as a nurse (many nurses suffer from chronic back and joint problems). I don't have much interest in most of the typical options in nursing for those who no longer want to do direct patient care, so I've been looking at possibly making a career change in the next few years.

I have always been interested in technology but have no formal IT or comp. sci education (I have two degrees...economics and nursing). I'm not super keen on spending tens of thousands on a third degree since I'm still paying off loans from my previous degrees. I know there are tons of of online resources available (ex. the Open Source Society University Computer Science curriculum on Github using MOOCs), but I'm not sure how well completing these resources would translate into actual career opportunities in the field. Were I to attempt a curriculum like the OSSU, my plan would be to complete it over the next several years with a goal of getting my first job in the field in my late 30s.

All of that said, I guess my question is how realistic (if realistic at all) is the idea of somebody in a completely unrelated field with non tech related degrees being able to break into the industry? Is going back for a third bachelors or masters an absolute necessity? I've read about a lot of ageism existing in tech. Does that hurt your changes if you are in your later 30s when you are trying to get your first job?

Any and all advice or recommendations are much appreciated. Anybody who has actually gone into tech a little later in life, please let me know your thoughts as well. Maybe I'm crazy for thinking about doing this, but I figured I'd ask here as this is a mature community and I value the input of the users here. Thanks everybody.

Click to shrink...

Depends how interested you are honestly, I became a software engineer in a year or so

 

[Fuzzery]

Is all this really necessary? I thought this is one of the fields where you could leave your job at the door at the end of the day.

Click to shrink...

You can, I rarely do any side projects unless it's something super interesting. They're good when you're just starting out to appeal to employers though

Also, certs are mostly not relevant for software engineering, and can often be a negative if you put it on your resume