is it too late trying to into software development at 37?

[Amazin]

I'm aware the fact that the tech industry can discriminate based on age and gender alot. Will it be tough for me to get a job once I finish my studies? I have 0 experience working in IT/tech

 

[hss001]

In my experience if you have skills that are in demand, then you will get a job no problem. For example, there is a major shortage of Azure and Devops people. If you can get a role as a junior and are a quick learner you could be in a senior role in a 2-3 years. (BTW I'm a software/database developer, aged 52)

 

[fisicx]

Depends on what sort of job you want. I didn’t start until I was 40ish and still going at 64.

 

[codefather]

Hello
No, it is never too late to pivot into IT career.
However, for technical roles, you have to have a technical mindset, and the attitude of self served problem solving.
Not to spend years in an university degree, you might go for intensive 6 months course or coding school.
Some coding schools also deal with first job placement.
Then you will decide if you want to go for some university level education or other certifications.
Despite all courses, study, accredited certificates and degrees, you will have to deal with real world problems and be able to solve yourself.
Developers usually work in groups, but you are expected to do your part, not rely on others, or very likely you would be made redundant.
IT is not biased on age or gender, but very merit oriented.
If you can do something, no matter what education or past experience, then you will be welcome.
On the contrary, if you are not able to achieve goals, then you will face hard times.
As final consideration, after graduating from any school or course, you will still be junior level and you will compete with other juniors who have different and easier life commitments (family, kids, mortgages...)
Anyway, I can only say that IT career is very rewarding, challenging and fun at same time.
Cheers
Gianluca

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

37 ........37............37 ???

I'm in my 50s and I am up at 3am running 4 to 6 miles most morning. (This is true as I post the evidence on the twitter machine)

You can do anything and you can wipe the floor with those kids cause they aint seen what you seen and they don't have the stamina that you have

 

[Bob Morgan]

I am a little older than Jeremy. I learned some Fortran and BASIC Programming at school in the late 1970s, at a time when we didn't have Computers! ICL had donated a few reams of Script Sheets and these were marked manually, by Sir!

Jeremy is quite right regarding Stamina and Drive! I do between 10 and 12 Hours each day, and have NO PLANS WHATSOEVER for retirement - They will have to carry me out in a box!

One of my mentors used to say "The day you wake-up with a feeling of Dread about work, is the day you need to find another job!" - Life is too short!

 

[Karimbo]

make sure you enjoy it, its' normal to work long hours, I suspect if you're going into it as a new career you'll have to wing it a bit and then spend your evenings and weekends researching stuff to solve problems.

I've always wanted to learn php & mysql because all my websites are on wordpress, but go onto any coding forum and tell them you want to learn php, they'll all tell you it's a terible language and has no economic value because all the offshore coders know it and they will outbid you on everyhthing. But I want to work in a language to tinker with my websites.

 

[johndon68]

I've always wanted to learn php & mysql because all my websites are on wordpress, but go onto any coding forum and tell them you want to learn php, they'll all tell you it's a terible language and has no economic value because all the offshore coders know it and they will outbid you on everyhthing. But I want to work in a language to tinker with my websites.

I've been a Windows desktop developer for over 20 years and about 12 months or so ago decided to have a go at PHP and MySql as I'd never done either before and, as everything is moving to the cloud it seemed about time I did so.

It has certainly been a learning experience and very different to the desktop development experience but I've thoroughly enjoyed it and I'm just about to get my first customers for an application I've written that integrates with Xero.

 

[fisicx]

Php is dead easy to learn. I’ve never done a course but managed to build some very successful plugins. If I can do it anyone can.

 

[DontAsk]

I am a little older than Jeremy. I learned some Fortran and BASIC Programming at school in the late 1970s, at a time when we didn't have Computers! ICL had donated a few reams of Script Sheets and these were marked manually, by Sir!

CESIL and then BASIC for O level Computer Studies in the mid 70s, coding sheets sent to the local poly where the programs were typed out on paper tape. Later we were allowed to use the punch card machines in the computer centre. We soon figured out which students were the hackers and they got us passwords to log on at at a terminal and run stuff in real time. Self taught Algol in 6th level as CS wasn't an option. Pascal and Fortran at Uni (C wasn't taught to us hardware types). THen Z80, 6502, PIC assembler, C, C++, Java, Python.

If you have the mindset, most languages are easy to pick up.

 

[Amazin]

Not to spend years in an university degree, you might go for intensive 6 months course or coding school.
Some coding schools also deal with first job placement.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I do have a business management degree already. I need to be careful with IT training companies, I feel like lot of them are just marketing machines. I wonder if there's any government founded programs that can help me so I will look into that as well

Depends on what sort of job you want. I didn’t start until I was 40ish and still going at 64.

Oh wow, Once you've learned how to program, did it bring you better business opportunities? This is the real reason why I want to get into it.

One of my mentors used to say "The day you wake-up with a feeling of Dread about work, is the day you need to find another job!" - Life is too short!

This is why I want to change, I have been working as a window cleaner for the past 6 years and 0 experience in IT whatsoever. I believe it will allow me to access better business opportunities. I'm an entrepreneur at heart.

make sure you enjoy it, its' normal to work long hours, I suspect if you're going into it as a new career you'll have to wing it a bit and then spend your evenings and weekends researching stuff to solve problems.

That's absolutely fine with me, I love working anyways. It makes me feel alive and useful. How many hours are we talking about per week usually?

I've been a Windows desktop developer for over 20 years and about 12 months or so ago decided to have a go at PHP and MySql as I'd never done either before and, as everything is moving to the cloud it seemed about time I did so.

what would you say is the best thing to get into right now in terms of skills shortage? I'm planning on starting with Python. oh god, I'm so excited!

 

[fisicx]

Oh wow, Once you've learned how to program, did it bring you better business opportunities? This is the real reason why I want to get into it.

I didn’t have any training. I just googled everything. I build Wordpress plugins, found a niche and now make a decent living. Lots of custom work mainly for overseas clients.

 

[johndon68]

what would you say is the best thing to get into right now in terms of skills shortage? I'm planning on starting with Python. oh god, I'm so excited!

I’m learning Python as well although as it shares a lot with other languages that I’m already familiar with it has been easy so far.

I’m probably not the best person to ask as regards what is best to learn, like fisicx, I work in a particular niche (completely different to fisicx) so I stick to tools/languages that are appropriate for that which may not be the same as what is in demand.

John

 

[macScot]

I recommend doing a computer science course before jumping into a particular language as such.

I am 47 and trying to learn C++ so have purchased a couple of recommended books however have been enjoying watching youtube tutorials.
You can also use Edx.org to find a lot of suitable courses (free or paid & certified). And if your aim will be to look for jobs rather than develop your own work, then it may help to pay for the course to get certificates for your CV.

I have been going through CS50 and am finding it very interesting and informative.

edX Courses | View all online courses on edX.org

Find online courses from top universities. Search all edX MOOCs from Harvard, MIT and more and enroll in a free course today.

www.edx.org

or

https://www.youtube.com/@cs50

I do however get distracted easily by Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Youtube, so have not done as well as I should be.

 

[Frans VH]

May I suggest you have a look at RubyOnRails which is a great open-source framework with a great support network. The introduction courses on gorails.com with Chris Oliver are free. This is a guy who really loves what he's doing and he has a good pace to explain stuff.

In case you are unsure you want to spend the effort of getting into hardcore development, you may consider learning no code tools like Bubble.io. Follow some course to see if that's your cup of tea. I recommend the courses by Gregory John. He also has a dedicated site on https://buildcamp.io/

Good luck!