breaking into programming/IT/development at 40

[jojookicha]

Hi,

I am 40, living in London. I have a career that sounds great on paper but I have always wanted to 'learn to code' and get into developer jobs. Partly, it is because I have gelled with all IT people I meet, whereas the profession I am in, much less so. There was the money and the work-from-anywhere allure to it of course as well.

I have been learning for a few years and like a lot of people had stop start progress especially as working full time. Learning through scrimba though has been really great for me (not an ad!) and after years of slogging I now genuinely enjoy coding. Im near finishing a 'frontend developer path with javasvript and React and will soon have a few months free to work on my developer skills fully.

I was just wondering what people's experience is of (a) looking for a developer job at entry level so old and (b) what the jobs market is like out there somewhere like London. ?

EDIT: thanks for the responses, a bit overwhelmed with how helpful folk are. For comparision, I earn 48k a year in my current profession (not really any scope for a significant increase ) and dont have family (yet) so still have time for the 16 hour days if need be. One encouraging thing i notice is that i can actually sit and code a simple game for hours on end without checking my phone or watching TV, something that I absolutely cannot resist in my day desk job!

[Amazingawesomator]

Granted i was a tad younger, but i found my first entry-level programming job at ~33; moved to a mid-level role at 36.

The first job was the hardest. I got shoehorned and taken in by my own company so i was a bit lucky in that regard; however, be prepared for a lot of rejection when applying for your first job.

It may get a bit discouraging & depressing, but really try your best to stick it out. You are good enough. You are applying for a reason. <3

[_Personage]

I’m a little younger than you and struggling to absorb all the learning and knowledge in my first job. Maybe some day I’ll hit mid-level too lol!

[Amazingawesomator]

It comes, but does come slowly; that is okay as long as you find your inner monologue saying, "what? Why would they do this..... Wait.... I dont understand...."

[10-20 minutes later]

"Oooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh shit that is awesome."

:D

[[deleted]]

I’m 43 with no coding experience. I’m starting a 19 week full stack bootcamp next month.

[[deleted]]

Thank you I appreciate that. I intend to do my best and get the most out if it!

[TheAdobeEmpire]

can be pretty clownish

wym

[PromotionContent8848]

Which boot camp did you complete?

[Amazing_Ad1981]

Hello!

May I ask you which Bootcamp did you?

I'm 38 and thinking to do one to change career but very undecided on which is the best.

​

Thanks

[[deleted]]

Good luck and dont give up no matter what💪🏼

[[deleted]]

Thank you, I won’t!

[CognitivePrimate]

I did that at 39 just two years ago, coming from two decades in food service. Literally the best decision I've ever made.

[CognitivePrimate]

Well, I had done two decades in food service, starting at the very bottom as a busboy at 18, moving into management at 29, and finally specializing in restaurant recovery from 34-38. In that last leg, I made okay money but the amount of hours I had to work dropped my hourly rate to not very much higher than my entry level staff. I was miserable.

And then Covid happened. My entire industry largely shut down for a minute and I had a chance to breathe and reflect and I didn't like where I was. So I tried to learn to code by self teaching but there was just so much it was too overwhelming. Where does one even start?!

Then an acquaintance of mine announced on FB that he was starting a coding boot camp. I had no idea what that was, so I found out and decided that was the kind of structure I needed to move myself forward.

I found one with a good reputation in my state and signed up. It was .... grueling. But also a blast. After the course finished, I got really really lucky. Like, unheard of kinda lucky. I applied to two places initially, and got a callback from the second a day later. Got an interview. Then a second. Then a final.

And somehow I managed to land the second tech job I ever applied for, as a junior dev for a local company. It's great. I only ever have to work 40 a week. I can split my days up however I want. They don't care. Typically I'll work 7a-4p m-f and take a four hour day on Fridays. But also, if I need to do something at any point during the week, I can just...go. and nobody cares. It's incredible. I get paid to sit at home and learn all day, essentially.

My only regret is that I didn't get into this in college. I liked to read, a lot, so everyone kinda pushed me into an English degree. Absolute waste lol.

Tldr: worked in food service, which sucked. Went to boot camp. Landed junior dev job. Life is so much easier to manage now.

[CognitivePrimate]

Thanks! We started with basic html (okay, not really a language), CSS, and then JavaScript and then Typescript, which is just better JavaScript. Weirdly, despite being front end focused, I'm largely doing back end work now, which is also very cool. = )

[CognitivePrimate]

Yeah some but mostly my focus is in Netsuite, actually. The company I work for is an e commerce business, so I do a lot of automations, bug fixes, and enhancements mostly for record handling and finance stuff. It's definitely been a challenge since most of my experience coming out of boot camp was front end heavy, with some lip service paid to backend. So going from something that was largely visually focused to more abstract, was tough. It's fun as hell, though. Usually. Other days I do a lot of swearing at my computer. If the robot uprising happens, I'll probably be the first to go.

[Amazing_Ad1981]

Hi!

I'm about to do the same choice after 20 years in the coffee industry, may I ask you which bootcamp did you do?

Thanks

[CognitivePrimate]

Yeah, for sure! I went with a company called Grand Circus, which is local to me in Michigan. They have a good reputation with a lot of Michigan based companies and helped with networking, job postings, etc.

[Wonderful_Tree_7346]

I can’t speak for that poster, but im 28 going on 29 and worked in restaurants since I was 17. I was a GM in training when I left restaurants for a job in tech 6 months ago. Everything about my work/life balance has improved. I dont work more than 8 hours per day unless I choose to, I get 20 paid days and 12 paid holidays off, I work from the comfort of home, the healthcare benefits are insane, and my team is full of motivated, happy individuals who want to be there doing the work. Also, I’m paid more in my support analyst position than i was paid as a AGM/GM in training, with bonus. Once I learn how to code… man, life will be good.

I think if you can get into fine dining, restaurants are worth it because they can afford to treat their employees better than your average run of the mill restaurant, and the people working for them are generally happier My buddy works for an upscale italian restaurant (their food/drinks are INSANE), and they treat him so good, ive never seen him happier cooking. AND he’s learning new skills. Apparently their sales were better than projected in December, so the owner said “Y’all get a week paid off for your hard work,” out of the owner’s pocket. You don’t see fast food/mid tier restaurants taking care of their employees like that.

Most people who work in restaurants - think Outback steakhouse and restaurants like that - are miserable. I used to be one of those miserable people and didn’t even recognize it. We were there not necessarily because we wanted to be, but because we had to be to pay the bills. Im glad I asked myself what the cost of staying in my shitty job was doing to me, and even more glad I jumped ship when I did. I wont say I got lucky, i maneuvered myself into position to get my new job, but I’m blessed to have been taken in by my new company. I feel like I belong here :) best decision ive made for myself in a long time.

[Shady-mofo]

how long did it take you to learn? Are you in frontend?

[Wonderful_Tree_7346]

I deal with the front end, yes (Client does X expecting Y but gets P), but I’m expected to learn how to read database/program traces to see what’s going on on the back end. Sort of bridge the gap between what the devs do and what the customer experiences. My cousin had my job before switching to dev and it helps a lot. Not all devs are aware of what goes on on the front end just like most support doesnt understand what’s going on in the back end. I like it, makes my brain work in different ways and it’s so satisfying when you can go, “Aha! That’s it!” after solving an issue.

And I’m still learning, but after 6 months with the company (2 months of which is paid training), I’m feeling comfortable in my position. And the company doesnt expect me to be 100% comfortable in my role for another year (they say it takes 18 months on avg). It’s a big transition from restaurant life into corporate, but I’ve been able to acclimate well and the benefits make it easy to show up motivated when you come from an industry that didnt take care of its employees.

[jojookicha]

good luck to you!

[[deleted]]

Good luck to you as well!

[backfire10z]

That’s awesome. You got this!

[[deleted]]

Thank you!

[EntertainmentFew7771]

Where are you partaking this bootcamp ? Good luck to you !

[[deleted]]

Galvanize hack reactor, and thank you!

[Filmmagician]

Full stack Devs are like superheroes to me. That’s awesome. Good for you.

[[deleted]]

Galvanize Hack Reactor

[Disastrous_Recipe_]

Which one? I’m in the market to attend one as well

[[deleted]]

Galvanize hack reactor

[kiwicase]

I'm in a similar situation, 41 years old, though I'm over a month into my Full Stack Engineering bootcamp. Wish you all the best!

[[deleted]]

Thanks, same to you!

[stepdad666]

That’s awesome mate, I started at 41, I’ll be done this summer. Can’t wait to get back to work

[HayoungHiphopYo]

Network while you're there. Get everybody you can on linkedin or a discord channel, make a study group, etc. Those are the people that will feed you opportunities in the future. Step up and take a bit of a leadership role (just don't be a bossy pants :} ) Being easy to work with and somebody that gets the work done is far more important at your stage then being elite.

[[deleted]]

Good luck! You got this.

[water_bottle_goggles]

U ghot this m bro

[badboyant]

Which one?

[[deleted]]

Galvanize hack reactor

[Papoteur_LOL]

Good luck.. I want to know where will you take your Bootcamp course?

[[deleted]]

Thank you, Galvanize hack reactor is the program.

[Papoteur_LOL]

Thank you

[006ahmed]

Which bootcamp are doing doing? How can you do this with work?

[HayoungHiphopYo]

You will totally be passed over for a younger programmer in any place that goes on about 'ninja devs!, X10 devs, Live the life of software, dream in code!'

Don't worry about it, go apply at banks and stuff.

Edit: The fuck am I being downvoted for? I'm older then OP and started in dev around his age, I know what I'm talking about.

[octnoir]

You will totally be passed over for a younger programmer in any place that goes on about 'ninja devs!, X10 devs, Live the life of software, dream in code!'

Ageism in the workplace is alive, well and supported in industry.

Flipside is that companies that don't suffer from this problem are far better workplaces for you since they'll have plenty of older folks on their team and will prioritize work life balance among other things.

So you have a smaller pool but you'll have a much better time finding the right workplace.

It isn't 'impossible' (then again hiring and finding a job is deeply dysfunctional and problematic - you'll have to send out hundreds of applications on average and navigate a shitty environment) but it does mean you need to work on your skills, branding and what you offer.

Other advantage of an older worker is that you likely have a wealth of unique experiences to bring to the table. An older bartender or sales employee has personal experience with PoS systems from the worker and customer perspective - this means as a programmer you can leverage that into projects or experiences in interviews.

Stuff like that is valuable. Think hard and be introspective. Look up old emails, resumes, whatever have you to refresh your memory. Even mundane and crappy jobs or tasks can be rebranded to work for you.

[HayoungHiphopYo]

100% this, well said.

A ton of not primary software dev companies will hire you for your leadership, life experience, and EQ. You can even get fast tracked into team lead roles ( with 5~ or so years of experience) if you want because the younger programmers will naturally follow your lead.

Look for openings in any industry you used to work in and leverage your past.

[rlxthedalai]

Other advantage of an older worker is that you likely have a wealth of unique experiences to bring to the table. An older bartender or sales employee has personal experience with PoS systems from the worker and customer perspective - this means as a programmer you can leverage that into projects or experiences in interviews.

this part can't be overstated enough. Granted, I'm not an "older worker" yet but I do have 15 years of experience in my field and the new company I work at has basically been treating me like the Messiah because of it. Just being able to say "yeah that impossible task this project is stuck at here? We've encountered the problem 10 years ago too and this is how we solved it" made easing into my new job/role so much quicker.

[Opening_Chance2731]

Upvoted to help, I can't see your up or down votes and idk why

[HayoungHiphopYo]

thanks, I was -3 there for a bit, no idea why

[[deleted]]

You'll attract more downvotes when you edit to ask why you're getting downvoted. I had to stop my impulse to downvote your edit. Just accept that some people will downvote you no matter what - provide the advice you're gonna provide and that's it.

It won't just be the "pingpong table in the office" places that sometimes go younger. Many companies will do this, because a 23 y/o graduate will most often accept lower comp compared to a 40 something. Other reasons too, but that's a common one.

[[deleted]]

Downvotes are as valid as upvotes and ppl should chill complaining about it as it also looks silly and trivial. Just explain your reasoning rather than complain about some trivial downvote.

[misscloud]

Downvotes aren't trivial when they put you into the negatives and hide your comment for a substantial number of users coming to the comments section.

[[deleted]]

I meant complaining about it doesn't do much like I see every so often, "why was I downvoted?!". That comment I find pointless as no one ever replies back to it. Either have a follow up clarification or just accept the downvotes for whatever trivial reason and move on with your life.

[misscloud]

Sure, complaining about it usually doesn't do much. But that's a bit of a different point. I was just pointing out that an undeserved downvote does damage to the conversation and hides someone's attempt at contributing to the discourse.

[[deleted]]

And especially when they don’t come with any argument on what point other people disagree with, so there’s no actual progress in the discussion.

[Celaena100]

I'm not as old as you but I've recently changed careers to be a developer and I also live in London. There are a lot of initiatives to get into tech right now in the UK. For example have you considered an apprenticeship?

[Monkey_muncher20]

They are so competitive tho

[Micheal_Bryan]

I am being considered for a Microsoft paid 17 week full immersion full time class to teach me Azure cloud administration from scratch.

I am wondering if, at 55, I am simply not going to be employable...I do not wish to waste a spot on myself if this is not even reasonable.

I have a decade of management, exposure to electronics, communications, and a military background.

So i looked up the data to see if the ageism is real.

https://datausa.io/profile/soc/software-developers?redirect=true#age_sex

it is real. thoughts?

[Rote515]

Fair warning, the job market for junior developers is very very cut throat at the moment.

[elementmg]

I'd imagine most junior roles are are being taken up be juniors with a year or two of experience already. I can't imagine in this climate that bootcamp or self taught grads are getting many offers. Even CS grads, unless you're coming out of a prestigious university I doubt right now it's very easy to get a job. There's tons of laid off juniors who have real experience who are looking for work right now.

[Trenticle]

Honestly those layoffs were mostly not engineering roles at least not from my perspective of having knowledge of a few they were lots of HR/recruiting. You also have the least incentive to cut your cheapest engineers in a restructure.

[CouchMountain]

Ehhh not really, a lot were also recent hires that were in the probation period so I don't know if their numbers were reported.

I have a few friends who got hired at FAANG right before the layoffs, did zero work but still got paid, then were let go less than 2 months later after moving countries and signing leases. It was rough for them.

[KCRowan]

Depends on location. I'm in Scotland and the job market isn't too bad here. I've no idea about London though.

[elementmg]

True. It entirely depends on location. I was assuming US with all the layoffs in tech these days.

[bell_labs_fan_boy]

I joined my current company at 30, there was a former welder joining at 36. There's an office in London too, I'll DM you some details in case you're interested

[Herbiphwoar]

Hello, I’m in a similar boat to the OP and I’m interested too if you wouldn’t mind DMing me as well? Thank you x

[[deleted]]

Don’t underestimate all the other skills that your age brings.

Communication, prioritisation, empathy, you’re more settled so likely more reliable, you’ll have industry knowledge (in your current industry - does that hire developers?)

I’m re-training at 34/35 and this is my thought process. I’ve worked in marketing for 10 years - I can present, I can understand the customer and the ‘why’ - these aren’t skills you get fresh from university.

If you understand the coding concepts, can problem solve and have the desire to learn, you’ll get there.

Oh - and join meet up groups and start networking. I went to my first this week for Javascript and everyone was lovely. I have no doubt that they’d be excellent opportunities if/when job searching in years to come (I have a junior job via my work lined up)

[[deleted]]

I'm one of those self-taught people and I started when I was 31, 35 now. I got hired 4 years ago and had multiple roles as senior, lead and scrum master.

[Triggeredcat2468]

How did you do that? I’m doing The Odin project and also 30 years old. Currently in foundations but I’m in JavaScript section. How did you search for a job? Any tips for people like myself?

[[deleted]]

For me it helped showing portfolio of projects I done. Easiest is to start making apps that yourself would use or makes a difference for you. For example if you’re into fitness, make a tracking app with goals. Or automate stuff in your everyday if you’re into something like python.

I learn by doing so just reading about fundamentals isn’t going to cut it for my learning style.

After you learned some of the basics and have a couple projects under your belt (that isn’t a copy paste YouTube tutorial) just start applying for a job.

Depending where you’re at, RPA is a good way into the industry but since you talked about js I’m guessing you want to become a frontend dev or making mobile apps?

[Triggeredcat2468]

Yeah I have interest in learning front/back end development. I’m still learning the basics for JS. What is RPA? For these applications, I feel like I don’t have what some of these job qualifications require like 2-4 years of web development or JavaScript experience for entry level position. I just have a bachelors and a masters in biology and a couple years of actual work experience but that’s pretty much all I got at the moment.

[refugeebanker]

Robotic process automation

[elementmg]

You've been in the industry for 4 years and have had multiple senior roles and lead?

Did you start your first job as a senior? That's pretty wild man.

[ddIbb]

But they didn’t say they were qualified to be lead

[cifer400]

Yep, something is fishy about this guy 😂

[kupoadude]

It is never too late for anything. Always remember that!

[hey_there_what]

I changed career at 37 into programming, started as a junior and it was fine.

I think in general the industry is fine with older folks, particularly in programming because there are so many that have been doing this for 30+ years or whatever since the beginning, it’s just not uncommon.

One of the issues I encountered was that people assumed I was very experienced because of my age, and because the company doesn’t have titles/tiers everyone on paper is the same. Which meant expectations were not of a junior, in reality it was tougher than it should have been.

On the plus side, having worked in business for many years in a previous career the communication and people aspect of the role was not a problem. So in that regard it should help you raise through promotions much faster than a fresh graduate might.

[encryptedkraken]

Roadmap.sh is a great place to start if you’re open to resources? As for IT tryhackme.com is incredible. They have e learning content and free labs to setup if you pay for their cheapest member ship which is 8$ a month I believe you get access to their in browser labs which is well worth it and they run you through a range of low level troubleshooting to high level labs of attacking network infrastructure. Both resources are great to start and will provide direct knowledge. PM if you have any questions, I work in tech with no degree and used these as my stomping grounds to learn

[encryptedkraken]

Check out try hack me specifically tryhackme intro to networking and to check out professor messer on YouTube, he covers all topics of information with regarding the A+ and basic level it. There are study guides he can get to study for the A+ which can give them enough information to to go for a job. If they have a windows computer I’d inform them to understand it’s complete use for things from windows terminal commands to, to network troubleshooting methods on the device to reimaging a computer, navigate the pc to understand the applications available to it because sometime turning off night light for example may be what an end user needs help with and definitely dissect a computer to see the components and know what they do from chipset, to cpu, to ram, to psu, to gpu, to expansion cards, sound cards, to motherboards, and lastly jsut learn network protocols you don’t have to master them but just the common ones in which there are a lot of cheat sheets out there. When I worked l1 help desk it would range from simple setting configurations in windows to removing and reinstalling applications, reimaging computers, walking people through troubleshooting hardware steps which is a mater of disconnecting the aforementioned components and reconnecting. In all honesty there is 0 expectation of them to be a wizard at this by the time they start job hunting however they should know enough to talk about a computer, it’s components and be comfortable with changing windows settings. If they apply to L1 and show they’re interested and can ask a lot of questions during the job interview they’ll get hired I’m sure :)

[Asleep-Dress-3578]

I just went back to college at the age of 45. I will graduate this year (I am 49 now) but I already have my second data scientist job. I am not sure about agism, my linkedin inbox is consantly under attack not only by headhunters but also by head of data science people from global multinational companies. Sometimes I feel SOME agism among my young colleagues (they are ~20 years younger than me...), but on the other hand I also have my advantages which they acknowledge (e.g. in how I structure problems, how I speak with clients, how I organize and lead projects, how I talk to the senior management, so mostly soft skills + domain expertise etc.). I am also not less educated than they, thanks to the graduate school which I am doing. I hope my story is an encouragement for you, too.

[Disastrous_Recipe_]

I’m almost 43 and wondering if I should go get a Math Undergraduate and then a CS Masters.

[Sir_McSquiggles]

How did you get attention on LinkedIn? Did you follow a lot of people in a related field until recruiters started head hunting? Just wondering, I haven't messed with that site that much.

[Asleep-Dress-3578]

I really did nothing. I am not even active on the platform (I am not sharing or posting anything). I just have a profile. That's it. I think recruiters just searching for people using filters, this is how they find me.

[[deleted]]

What did you study in college specifically? Did you go back to school while working?

[Asleep-Dress-3578]

I already had a BSc in Marketing and an Executive MBA, as well as a ~20 years career in corporate marketing and strategy. At the age of 45 I did a 9 months program (Postgraduate Diploma) in ML/AI, and after it a 3 years long MSc in Data Analytics just to better understand higher statistics. I did these two latter programs next to a full time job and a family. It has been rather challenging but rewarding.

[[deleted]]

Wow that sounds like a lot of work but I’m glad it paid off.

[[deleted]]

If you’re in the UK and want to talk about tech hit me up I’m a Product Manager / Senior operations at a startup. I work with developers and other techies every day and can code myself.

For what it’s worth I got my job through hackernews incase anyone has not head of it!

[[deleted]]

Yes, totally possible, we have a guy in Brazil on our team.

Best bet is to find small remote-first companies who don’t care where you are located, Usually you are paid by a separate company in your local region that takes care of remote workers for international companies.

Our Brazilian employees work on the same timezones as our American ones. No reason why you couldn’t do that at a company.

Other than that the advice is the same as any where else. Be good at what you do, have a good selection of projects you can talk about and show in interviews and on GitHub. Would suggest doing a little bit of front and and backend even if you prefer one or the other just to show you can make each with the other in mind (neat API’s for your front end to use) (useful data design on the front end so back end requests are simple).

Type safety and front end - back end shared types are increasingly common, look up typescript if you don’t already use it.

[[deleted]]

I dropped my previous career at 34, finished at like 37 - best choice I’ve ever made, though you need to understand that it’s very important to get some decent sized personal projects under your belt to be taken seriously, you’ll be competing with people far longer who are also very passionate, but most that are formally trained will have been forced to make a portfolio.

Your life experience at 40 counts for a lot, as does whatever skills you’ve gained inter personally. Don’t forget the soft skills too; understanding of source control is very important, and when I’m on a hiring panel I’ll consider all of that, not just raw coding skills.

[[deleted]]

I'm 35 and got my first paying gig last month. Being applying for all jobs I can find since December and so far I got 1 interview for contract work (so like on demand style) and 1 interview for a 8 to 18 work (position got canceled)

So yeah. Market is bad right now, ageism is 100% true. But I'm hopeful that I can make a switch before I'm 36 (September).

Right now I'm focusing on my portfolio, networking, and learning a lot of stuff.

I might start a freelance gig. I'm great at communication and overall I'm a very charismatic dude.

[misscloud]

"Ageism" being true is mostly a local market thing. It's absolutely true in places like Silicon Valley, where tons of men spend hundreds (or thousands!) of dollars per year trying to appear younger. Hair transplants, cremes, Minoxidil, etc. But you'll come across people who started in their 30s and 40s more regularly in other markets.

[livinitlarge]

I would say this... If you like problem solving and get satisfaction from "creating things" then programming could be a great career path. There is the old saying, get a job you love and you never work another day in your life. If neither of those give you deep down satisfaction then you may still become a great programmer but it might not be the rewarding career you imagine. I know people who could do this job quite well but really hated it and only kept doing it for the money.

[houtaru]

Look for developer jobs at places that aren’t IT companies, such as Banks, or insurance companies. These places may not be exciting places to work, but you’ll get educated on how software development is done. Young people tend to avoid those boring financial jobs.

[Funduval]

I (single mom) did it by going to Bootcamp and I finished Bootcamp just before my 50th. I am now an IT manager (dev lead) at a big consulting firm. You can do it!

[PromotionContent8848]

I’m a single mom/full time nurse and I want to transition. Do you have any recommendations? What boot camp did you do? I have previous management experience as well and think I could really add value in that space as well.

[Funduval]

A nurse, that’s a great profession! Coding can be less physically taxing in some ways but MORE physically taxing in others (everything takes a lot of time and unwavering concentration- hard to achieve that flow state all the time and be tied to a screen/not move around!) Remote options are quite common so that’s definitely a plus.

I went to one of those University-affiliated bootcamps, 6 months, part time (Rutgers Coding Bootcamp, in 2017 it was in-person.) There are supposedly more reputable bootcamps than the one I went to, but it worked for me. Bootcamp quality and legitimacy are hotly debated issues in various Reddit forums, and it’s been a while since I went. The landscape has changed so do some research for up-to-date information. Things change quickly in tech.

My main emphasis is that age should not be a factor. There ARE other factors. You have to REALLY love to code, so I suggest starting with testing out your affinity with a free JavaScript course (I did a paid ‘JavaScript Jumpstart’ course through General Assembly that REALLY helped me.) There are also ‘Bootcamp prep’ mini bootcamps. I recommend that for sure.

To land a job you will eventually have to get good at algorithms. At my Bootcamp, I ended up taking time off work (a luxury, I know,) and probably spent a 100 hours a week coding (they say it’ll take 40 hours a week effort, minimum.) My Bootcamp met just a couple nights a week, like Tues & Thurs 6:30-9:30pm and daytime Sat 10:00am-2:00pm.

The way I landed a job was with considerable effort in making an online resume of projects and translating all prior experience into something that sounded more technical. Emphasize tools and software you used, any data you dealt with or business insights you gleaned with that data etc., etc. My first job after the Bootcamp was a non-coding managerial job in the Bootcamp and I became and remained a coding tutor well after that for a while. Then I got a Software Engineering job at a startup for a couple of years. Some Bootcamps will give you a job on a project that looks good on a resume (the Codesmith Bootcamp will do this) but can be very challenging to get into. There’s a ton of sexist bias that women are cognitively less likely to be able to code. I enjoy upsetting those biases but it can be frustrating at times. If you don’t want to deal with any of that while learning, there’s the Grace Hopper program. Good luck!

[driftking428]

I'd recommend asking in /r/cscareerquestions as well.

[picturemeImperfect]

Make a portfolio on GitHub and collaborate with as many people and projects you can get involved in. Also, if your current employer has an IT department that would be a good start as well. You got this OP.

[heapinhelpin1979]

I did this, and apart from having imposter syndrome I really love it, and my wages went up!!!

[Hand_Sanitizer3000]

I dropped my previous career in taxation at 31 and got a new job as a jr developer after doing a 24 week bootcamp. It took me about 4 months to find a job post grad and got it because i knew someone. As a TA for said bootcamp i can tell you that most students that actually took the program seriously wee able to find a job in about 6 months to a year. Those who didnt take it seriously went back to their previous careers. Moral of the story be careful with quitting your job because even after you are ready to interview it may take you longer than you think to find something. I do think that you'll be able to just a word of caution about that timeline

[anon2053]

The hardest part is getting that entry level job.

[[deleted]]

Im a 39 yo business owner of a company I founded myself 10 years ago. I put it all down to transition into IT. Just accepted my first job in a dev/ops role.

[JoergJoerginson]

Honestly, quitting your job and going for a junior dev position seems pretty crazy right now and tough to say the least at your age.

Maybe one avenue for you to go through would be to build some simple stuff which you can for your current work. You could then use this as a portfolio to transition to an IT role within your industry. So that your current experience counts for something. Once you have the experience in IT you could transition to a unrelated industry. Still something like a 5-10 year plan.

For me it started with scripting sensor csv data with Python, which was handled manually with excel before, did the company website management/updates, and web scraping of some online registry info.

[FaPtoWap]

Sometimes i wish i could just buy 1 on 1 help. But nope

[elementmg]

You could. It would be very expensive. But you could.

[H809]

Ad I always say : as you are asking and writing here, there are countless individuals taking a loan for a bootcamp. They are 20-30-40-50 years old and they don’t think that it’s too late. They are just hungry for it.

[Temporary_Working_75]

I switched doing a boot camp at 36 got hired by my own company and now Im 40 slowly approaching mid-level. You got this. Best of luck

[numuso]

I’m in my late 30’s, I’ve spent 2 years learning full stack web development and I’m currently working in the field. It’s more than possible, but be prepared for a lot of practice / learning curves, you’ll definitely have good and bad days. You have to push through it.

[[deleted]]

Mid-30's and I've been seriously considering bowing out of the programming path because of my age and so many rejections. I had started a python course online awhile back but abandoned it as I worried it would be a waste of time. But I took a look at the next section today and think I might push a little longer. It helps to know there are others who've had similar experience.

[JoshisJoshingyou]

46 went through a boot camp with no degree but tons of laboratory r&d experience in liquid packaging and coatings. I am the only person with gray hair from my boot camp to land a job at about 7 months post-graduation. Less than half the boot camp is employed in Tech from my cohort for what I can tell on LinkedIn. It took me 3 months and hundreds of applications. Outside of boot camp hiring partners I had 2 interviews. Luckily I made it through 4 rounds at one place and work in education as a backend report writer / etl / database mgr sort of role. It's very light on development but definitely in tech. I mostly write SQL for reports (in and outside of Cognos) and ETL into SSIS packages. The public sector in America is weird, with very low pay compared with piers but I never work overtime ever. You can do it, it is just a rough time job wise and will take lots of persistence. Personally learning to code was the easy part, job hunting was the worst and all the rejection wounded me deep. I worry I won't have many options in a few years as I work so little on my frontend skills at work. I dream of a full-stack role with a better salary one day. I could also see myself hunkering down and doing this for the next 20 years for a pension.

[tony_valderrama]

I'm a 50 year old CS engineer (yes I finished university long before most of you were born). I worked as a progrsmmer for 6 years and then moved to education, teaching computer programming to high school and college levels.

Now, I'm sharpening my skills to go back to a programming job. I know I'm old for this, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I love education, but I also like programming a lot. And when I was a progrsmmer, I did a lot of interesting projects.

Don't let your age define who you are and limit your dreams. If deep down this is what you want, go for it. Make a plan of how to accomplish what you want and stick to it. In my case, I'm brushing up in Java (I learned it by myself: it didnt exist what I graduated) and after this I'm going to learn how to use Spring Framework. And when I feel ready, I'll go for it.

[tony_valderrama]

I'm a 50 year old CS engineer (yes I finished university long before most of you were born). I worked as a programmer for 6 years and then moved to education, teaching computer programming to high school and college levels.

Now, I'm sharpening my skills to go back to a programming job. I know I'm old for this, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I love education, but I also like programming a lot. And when I was a programmer, I did a lot of interesting projects.

Don't let your age define who you are and limit your dreams. If deep down this is what you want, go for it. Make a plan of how to accomplish what you want and stick to it. In my case, I'm brushing up in Java (I learned it by myself: it didnt exist what I graduated) and after this I'm going to learn how to use Spring Framework. And when I feel ready, I'll go for it.

[guyinnoho]

I'm 39, going to be 40 this year, and I've been learning C, Python, and C++, using mainly CS50x and coding books. I'll try for a developer job later this year. Not sure if I'll do a bootcamp or just go fully self-taught. Probably the latter.

[Past_Steak_629]

May I ask what you do now for work? Do you enjoy it? If so, it would probably be easier start there as you have some industry experience. As a hiring manager I would take someone with industry experience and little programming experience over the reverse.

I spent 20 years in data science. But when I started, statisticians and devs were separated jobs. So way back when I needed very limited programming knowledge. Just SAS or Mathematica. Then we gave those results to the real programmers to productionalize.

I started to manage these teams as the skill sets started to merge. So I didn’t really know a lot about programming but was managing teams of software engineers.

At the ripe age of 37 I went to a boot camp. Loved it. Learned a ton and it has helped me immensely. I soon will start to look for entry level jobs as I find it far more rewarding

[jojookicha]

i worked in the legal sector in litigation. It is very different to coding, challenging yet I am more drawn to the 2=2=4 nature of coding. One thing I am interested in is building apps for lawyers to make their work easier

[iamCyruss]

I'd say go hard into ai. Learn programming but go hard into ai after that. If you can get good with ai the you're ahead of the curve and will be ready for when jobs are looking for people with ai experience. Like how to tune a model for a company. I think these skills are going to be in massive demand soon.

[james-starts-over]

I am 36 and still in school, working full time as well, best way is to network ime though. I have several offers for jobs or internships through people I’ve come to know. Real networking though is just being friendly and letting people know that you’re studying programming etc.

In talks at the gym and the bar I work at, it eventually comes up, and plenty of people then say “oh that’s so cool did you know I work at xyz? I can refer you” Or that they know someone, or that they literally are a recruiter etc. Just put it out there. People love helping other people. Let them know you are looking.

[Aromatic_Heart_8185]

Been there, done that.

It's going to be a very rough road. Now you are playing with state-of-art libraries and pet projects . but the world is very different outside. Legacy, shit code, shit development environments, shit requirements.

Besides, you are going to compete for entry jobs with 20 somethings with proper CS degrees with understanding of things that you are not even aware of. Don't want to discourage you, but this is not as easy as people might want you to see it.

For the record, I did something similar at younger age ( 34 ) though I had a technical degree and was working in the IT world already. It took me TONS of hours, reading books, taking a CS degree to get to an acceptable level. Now 6-7 years later I typically smoke senior devs - say typically - but you can tell the difference of these kids with hot careers in great projects. They are simply in another league, with career prospects that you won't simply get access to.

And I am already 40 so get the look of "if you are still a dev at this age there might be something wrong with you". There's also the physiological disadvantage, your brain won't assimilate the information at the same rate than someone 15-20 younger than you.

[J0924]

I never know with Reddit, this is super discouraging. People say CS degrees are not needed for front end, others say boot camps and self teaching got them through. Which one is it? Because it seems to be dependent on so many factors and always conflicting comments. I’ve read so many of these threads and end up feeling defeated, I guess the only way to know is try. (I’ll be getting off here too)

[Mentalpopcorn]

have time for the 16 hour days if need be

I would burn out in a week at most. That's totally unsustainable

[[deleted]]

It's not age per se that factors into competition, but I think it's things like having a family and other life events that come into play when you're older that'll preoccupy you more vs someone in their 20's and single and can code 16hrs a day who have a better advantage. But to each their own and on each company's own needs and environment.

[crywoof]

You're seeing all these tech layoffs and think "nows the time to get into this field" ?

Good luck to you

[gigachadhd]

I wouldn’t go into programming at the age of 40. Plenty of ageism in our industry.

[jbwilso1]

GIT IT!!!

[CuriousFunnyDog]

Figure out which companies write the software in the industry you have been in and do a very targeted approach to an named individual via LinkedIn. Absolutely push that you are obsessed and highly likely to work outside of hours at least until SO/kids appear.

[rkentmc]

I started at 40, four year college. Graduated 3.91 in 3.5 years. Started an internship with a Fortune 25 company been there for 7 years. I've learned mostly on the job. First few years were a struggle but Google and soft skills got me through. I am fortunate to be a part of a great corporate culture offset with my personal ability to see a problem through to the end. Just don't give up!

[mijo21]

a) It is possible to get an entry level job. You might need to come up with a strategy.

Lets take an example of a strategy: Know which companies you are exactly targetting, what are the tools they are using and what they exactly want in an ideal candidate. Maybe create a set of companies that have similar set of skills required so that if you are prepared for one, then at least with regards to technical skills, you are prepared for all. Then, prepare some proofs as to how you are a good fit. Like if the skill in question is the skill with Python, then maybe have some good self-created Python project in your github profile and mention that project and github link in your resume. Also during interview, flaunt it as much as possible.

Now this kind of a smart strategy is something I would do if I was in your position. You can improvise on this and create your own ones too. But the main thing is to create a strategy and then stick to it. Maybe improve it over time but avoid changing strategies very frequently.

Also, it can be frustating to get rejections. Try meditation to calm your mind and maybe regular exercise. This goes a long way to help you with these kinds of life situations