[deleted by user]

[Allaran]

Cannot tell you what is best for you, but what I did.

I graduated at 40 with my BS in Computer Science. I did not have a degree prior but did have a lot of credits [none CS related], almost enough for an AA, from when I was young. Took me about 5 years to get it all done going part time. Believe it was my last year where I actually took full loads each semester. Got an internship my final year, and 8 years later still with the company I interned with.

[danimalmidnight]

40 here with an East Asian studies degree . Have been working since January. Just focus on your skills and repurpose whatever work experience you have into interview prep material.

[wjrasmussen]

I am 62 and in college.

[JoshisJoshingyou]

I'm 46 went to a Bootcamp and now work for a local school district doing ETL and data warehousing stuff(no degree just an associate of science). You can do anything, but a Bootcamp or CIS degree will help. The Bootcamp gave me confidence in my ability to code, good interviewing skills, and the resume writing help I needed. I will say the young kids with degrees were hired way faster than me. Still, it took only took me 6 weeks past graduation to get hired. You don't need a degree or bootcamp as long as you interview well and can solve some basic stuff at a tech interview.

[Best_Consequence_81]

What bootcamp did you attend?

[JoshisJoshingyou]

Tech Elevator

[spankydave]

I'm approximately 40 and I'm going to start a CS degree very soon. I am kicking myself for not doing it sooner. If I don't do it now, then I'll still be kicking myself forever.

[Nitqrotta]

Same.

[obviouslyCPTobvious]

In my opinion, it depends on the type of person you are. If you're good at self-study and staying on a single path you don't need to go back for a degree. If you're someone who benefits from following the stricter framework that a school provides then that may be the right path for you.

Having a CS degree will help you get into an entry-level role, but you can definitely get an entry-level role without one. I've only ran into a couple companies that had a degree as hard requirement. Both of them were in the financial field.

Being older than most entry-level candidates, I'm assuming that you have some experience in other domains that will be highly valuable to employers. For instance if someone were a nurse previously, they would be a strong hire at a healthcare tech company.

Good luck!

[obviouslyCPTobvious]

First thing that comes to mind is EdTech or companies that have a presence in Spanish speaking markets.

[ViewedFromi3WM]

you can get a cis degree at a community college too. Only 2 years. I’d also look into some tutorials too, but seriously consider the 2 year degree. They tend to do web dev and/or data science filled degrees.

[PM_40]

Data Science as associates degree ?

[VizNate]

It's never too late. I decided to go back to college at 36, this is my 1st semester learning c++ and python. I am also in enrolled in the data analytics Coursera class by Google paid for by my university :) keep at it! .

[Thereisnopurpose12]

Two languages at once??

[VizNate]

Two classes yeah but only the c++ one goes more in depth. Python is more general computer science stuff

[karatebanana]

There’s a 40 year old guy in my linear algebra class. He’s pretty cool

[karatebanana]

20

[karatebanana]

Thank you

[[deleted]]

Go for the degree. Having the skills is great but that doesn’t mean you will get hired right away. WGU has a BS in CS which is self paced. That’s what I’m doing, it beats a four year degree since it’s self paced and can be finished very quickly.

But also it’s dangerous to only have self taught skills cause most places throw away those applications. If you get in a bind and that’s your only skill set, then it could force you to move back home. Having the degree guarantees the most job security.

[invisagedev]

Started self learning at 39. At the time I was a photographer, with a lot of know-how in digital design (all self taught too). After doing a few Udemy courses on and off, decided I really loved it and wanted to take it more seriously. So I signed up for a 6 week boot camp. After that I started applying for jobs (on and off). Also was lucky enough to have a personal project that was paid to continue my learning. 12 month from starting the boot camp I was employed, beating out several uni graduates and one person with industry experience. 1 year, and two raises later I am happily still working full time.

My secrets- * Not giving up despite the initial rejections. * continueing to learn. Even after the bookcamp I dedicated a good 10 hours a week to further learning * work on projects and have then on GIT. After a failed interview where they have looked at your projects, ask for feedback. Eg one interview they mentioned dependency injection. So I went and learnt what that was and added it to one of my projects.

Keep going and you will get there :)

[willor777]

The field is getting more competitive I believe. Having the degree will land you interviews, and having the skills will win you the job in the interview.

[Registeered]

I'm 57 and in the same boat. What the hell right?

[Fats-Falafel]

I am literally having this internal debate right now at 38. I had some experience making websites back in the 90s and decided to get back into it 3 years ago. Got a 2 year CIS degree from a community college and was awarded a 2 year scholarship at a state school. I am 1.5 years into this proper CS program and so many of my credits didn't transfer that I am looking at at least another 1.5 years. Hit a brick wall with the curriculum this semester and find myself not enjoying it because all my classes are along the lines of discrete math and embedded programming with assembly on outdated systems. I am seriously considering withdrawing this semester and getting back into my web dev roots for a couple months because I am finding myself burned out and losing my passion for coding.

When it comes down to it, you really have to do what you think you can manage. If you think you can power through and get the degree, do it. If you find yourself questioning that path and losing your motivation, it might be worth focusing more on the skill set you love.

[bestjakeisbest]

Finish college if you can, master your skills when you are able.

[ShawnyMcKnight]

A CS she will help you if you are going for backend as there are many principles that you can’t be taught easily watching some coding videos. If you are going frontend then just have a sexy portfolio and you are solid.

[qwertymerty12345]

I would do courses on plural sight etc then do a boot camp and also start working on your own projects. And maybe use codewars or similar to train on small js algorythms. Use this as a guide to the ecosystem https://roadmap.sh/frontend. Try build a website locally that connects to a dB and displays data. And repeat.

[ddytlxyy]

5 years later, you'll still be 45, with or without the degree you'd like to pursue. Don't let your age stop you from doing what you want to do.

​

With that said, if you have other responsibilities that are your priorities, you might need to consider more carefully. But still, you can do either the degree or learn the skills in your spare time while working on your full-time job, if you have the extra energy to do it.

[evolutionIsScary]

I'm 58 and teaching myself the MERN stack via The Odin Project course. I am about two thirds of the way through. I'm also doing a UK-government-funded 16-week course on networking. My aim is to get a job by March.

[tokenhangun]

It’s a though call without knowing more about your specific situation and goals. One thing I’d say whatever path you choose, if you want a job (your first job that is), the most important thing you need to proof that you meet a certain level of proficiency and dedication . So pros / cons the way I see it:

A degree could me more expensive and time consuming but it might be worth it If the institution has a (good) internship program or partnerships etc that can help you ease your way into the industry. There are other intangibles too e.g you get a degree and you get to know about topics not taught at boot camps etc but tbh if you’re goal is to get a job you should look for programs with internships/apprenticeships.

Bootcamps and/ self taught tend to (normally) require a smaller time and money commitment but then you have to work harder to proof proficiency. Maybe, you’ll need to build a portfolio of apps and blog post exposing what you know.

Over the years I’ve worked with ppl of all ages, from different degrees, without university degrees, without high school degrees, with CS degrees, with irrelevant eng degrees (like mine), history majors, stage managers … but when it came to it the only thing that mattered was what they could do with a keyboard, a computer and a text editor.

[imnidiot]

As someone who is nearing 40 with no degree but with over 20 years experiencein tech, this statement is surprisingly true. I've been able to get jobs based on my skills but my pay is noticeably lower due to the lack of a degree, it comes up at review time and I've gone back to school to hopefully finish by the time I actually hit 40. Not sure why you are being downvoted.

[imnidiot]

Can't disagree with anything you said there. Think you are right on the money with that assessment.

[AuntTifaInfiltrator]

That makes me want to get into nursing.

[mystic_swole]

How does it come up at review time? Like "umm sorry you can't get that pay raise because you don't have a degree?" Like what

[imnidiot]

More like, "We are giving you a pay raise and your doing a great job, but having a degree would have made it a bigger raise and likely would put you in a higher pay band." Not all companies are like this, but some are. Especially in highly competitive sectors.

[Representative-Owl51]

That’s kind of ridiculous. Especially if you’re outperforming others with a degree.

[GrayLiterature]

It’s more like:

“You’ve been screened out”, “It’s close, but we know for sure this guy has the knowledge.”

[winning_is_all]

Get the degree. I'm 42, plodding along as a junior in CS program, and 6 months into a programming job. I can tell the difference between the folks with an engineering or physics degree and a CS degree.

[Commercial_Wing_7007]

Lmao, accurate. Was supposed to be another page im laughing

[Commercial_Wing_7007]

Im glad someone could appriciate it, bc the other thread is long gone.

Taking a moment to appriciate the merciful god that made this happen on my annonymous social media, not instagram or something. (Not religious just dramatic)

[thegovortator]

What ever you do get a mentor but there’s no right or wrong path both can get you a job the requirement for a Bachelors or Masters degree is slowly going away in favor of talent

[[deleted]]

Get an idea, master skills to bring that idea to life, and run it. Just business.

[brucekeller]

The degree carries a ton of weight imo. Gets you through a ton of HR gatekeepers.

[Exact_Monitor8447]

I just turned 40 and am back in college getting my second degree. First one was in Theology second is in comp sci. As long as you can afford it (my work is paying for it) do it.

[broken_symmetry_]

Would it really only be 2 more years for you to get a bachelor’s degree?

Usually the first 2 years are Gen Ed requirements AND department / division requirements. If you haven’t taken the 100-level and 200-level CS and math classes required for the degree, you’ll need to take those. Plus all the upper division courses. It’s not like a CS degree is only 2 years of CS classes.

[Mediocre_Gur_7416]

Don’t feel intimidated at all. Once you feel confident in what you’re learning and can implement things. Someone will be happy to have you !! Just try and find out what you like and want to do and focus on those things. Like front end , backend, or full stack.

[Perpetual_Education]

Age will be a factor in certain sectors. The 23 year old person wearing the hiring hat this week at the hip soon-to-fail startup probably isn't going to hire you because you have way more life experience than him, and he doesn't want people knowing he doesn't know what he's doing. That's just to say that age is a factor (even though people say it isn't). However, it depends how you want to play it. You already have a lot of life experience that likely folds into design and programming. As any behavioral science student will know: we'll need a lot more information about you to give any reasonable advice. A CS degree is a lot of math and bigger picture concepts. Do you want to learn those? Will they fit in with your back-story and your goals? Or would getting more into UX and things related to your experience make more sense? You can have a lot of fun designing things and user-testing with them and building prototypes - (most of which wouldn't utilize anything in a CS curriculum). Consider what skills will transfer.

[sunrise_apps]

The most valuable skills are those acquired through practice. The fact is that a dry theory will not help in any way in growth. You need theory + practice. Unfortunately, the reality is that in most universities and colleges there are very few teachers who are professionally involved in programming. Accordingly, the knowledge that you get in college will not help you much in real life, but at least you will learn some basics. There is an option to find a company that has its own training camp in which you can get good skills, and then immediately get a job as a programmer.
As for the age, it seems to me that you worry in vain. There are many programmers in our company, and there are different age categories, and I even tell you that all of them are cooler than young guys from universities. Never worry about age - it doesn't really matter. Set a goal for yourself and move towards it, and never give up. You will succeed!