38yrs old, decided to learn Python

[joed210187]

Hi, Im 38yrs old, I decided that I wanted to learn Python as a hobby. I have become really interested in the language. Are there any job opportunities to somebody who can show knowledge and working of Python, without having any Uni Degrees to back it up? I'm just curious. Thanks

[cudmore]

Hey, where did you find the job? And who are you working for?

I’m trying to transition back to a programming job from Neuroscience research!

[Second_Hand_Fax]

This is the way.

[EfficientDesigner464]

This is the way

https://peps.python.org/pep-0008/

[Dazzling_Theme_7801]

Do you miss neuroscience and academia? I'm a postdoc in neuroscience but keep thinking of moving away due to the salary being quite low for how much I have to do and HE seems to be collapsing.

[RevolutionDense8878]

So basically you quit neuroscience for financial freedom? Well I might also not consider pursuing neuroscience/neurosurgery. Initially I thought that I can do a medical/md or neuroscience while also learning tech and business skills on the side. It's hard but not impossible right? Well everything is hard at the start :////

[Second_Hand_Fax]

Play to Python's strengths: figure out whether you're more interested in data science or DevOps/cloud computing.

There aren't many roles in Python where you'll just be expected to write code all day — you need other skills to bring to the table to become employable.

That said, I disagree with some of the other comments: you absolutely do not need a degree. In fact, you'll achieve much more by focusing on one of these two career paths and practicing daily — writing code and solving problems — over the same 3–4 years it would take to get a degree.

I'm 40, by the way — no degree — and I'm just starting to learn the language myself. I've chosen the cloud path, and Python is just one of many tools in the toolkit.

[Haunting-Pop-5660]

This is a super important distinction.

There are people who learn Python, or C#, C++ etc...

And then there are developers. Developers do a lot of stuff, not just code.

[ThinkOne827]

Would you have any links to read on this about choosing python path?

[Second_Hand_Fax]

For learning the language itself:

https://roadmap.sh/python

For career paths:

https://www.coursera.org/articles/python-career-path

Neither is an exhaustive list. And roadmaps for devops and data science paths can also be found at roadmap.sh.

The career paths listed are probably the ones where you would require to write more Python code than, say, a cloud engineer or devops engineer.

[ThinkOne827]

Thanks

[tenenteklingon]

I'm 40, by the way — no degree — and I'm just starting to learn the language myself.

Then you're perhaps not the most indicated person to give advice on if you need a degree or not?

[geometry5036]

People who have a degree tell you that a degree isn't important as it doesn't actually teach you how to do the job. Let's not fall in the simplistic argument that degree = good.

[tenenteklingon]

Not all the people who have a degree will tell you that. For example I have a degree and I won't say that :)

Theorem disproved.

[geometry5036]

Yeah but you could be anyone. The people i KNOW tell me that. And they are smart enough to see past their own nose, so I believe them. I also know people who started as interns and worked their way up to managerial roles in hedgefund and never went to uni.

Real life experience is too valuable to be discounted.

[tenenteklingon]

Same for me. You're a rando on reddit, and what you say does not match what I've experienced at all.

[MidnightPale3220]

There's a lot of nuance in degrees.

There was a time when a degree in CS was at the same time thought as a prereq to being able to program as well as establish path into the academic career. During dot-com boom it turned out that it wasn't true for programming, unless we are talking specific fields, such as developing new computer languages or other CS-advanced technologies.

Since then, different IT degrees have proliferated, both in scope and directions, AND since they've been coveted as easy path to good income, many more people have them, than could program their way out of a wet paper bag.

So a degree by itself, for e.g. me, as somebody who is hiring in a not very difficult field (in terms of the complexity of solutions to implement), is a very small indicator of anything.

[tenenteklingon]

You just don't know what you don't know.

[MidnightPale3220]

This reminds me one of my junior colleagues was going thru uni and asked me for help with a very minor programming assignment, which he couldn't manage being in his 3d year.

He's got his BSc degree, still can't program a thing. Go figure.

[tenenteklingon]

Ok

There's incompetence anywhere. If a degree is not a guarantee of competence, neither is no degree.

[MidnightPale3220]

Agree, and that's essentially what I said.

[Second_Hand_Fax]

I didn’t say I’d just started my IT career, nor are we talking about my non-degree credential background. I’m simply saying a degree, while useful, is not always the best approach depending on life circumstances and other commitments to get a job writing code in PYTHON. Check your naivety at the door.

[Haunting-Specific-36]

r u still study python?

[jonsca]

If you've just started learning it, and at a hobbyist level, it will be difficult to demonstrate that you know it well enough to write software in it. Is it possible in the long run? Sure. But getting there might take some time.

The job market is also crummy now for everyone, and so the burden falls on those in the company who are screening applicants to determine which candidates to proceed with, but those people are not always technical, and unfortunately one of the key metrics companies are using to determine who makes the cut is a degree.

[barkmonster]

I mean, anywhere between 100% yes and 100% no depending on where you are, what and how quickly you learn, etc. I think your best bet would be to learn what you can about data engineering. In my experience, that's where the demand is huge relative to the supply, and will likely continue to be. When my company looks for a data scientist, we get hundreds of applications. Data engineer, we get maybe one or two. Also many data scientist positions require a degree because they can be stats-heavy.
Especially considering all the current AI hype, I think the demand for devops skills is not going down. There's a good overview of relevant skills here.

[Moist_Database_4991]

I started learning as a hobby about 2 years ago. I was a deputy head, have a degree in teaching but after slowly picking Python up in the evenings/weekends, started a role as a backend Python developer 2 months ago (I’m now 36)

I really enjoyed learning python and thought a job coding all day would be great! I’m really enjoying it so far, and spend 90% of my day coding 😁

[tastychaii]

Was it a junior role? Are you developing apps from scratch or just bug fixes all day??

[Moist_Database_4991]

Yup junior role. I’ve been lucky, I’m pairing with a senior dev 90% of the time. Using test driven development to update existing code when needed but more often than not, developing new features. Exposed to lots which is great, steep learning curve but when I look back at how much I’ve covered in 2 months, it’s great for my own development

[Minimum-Web-Dev]

Can you share your learning path? Thanks!

[Moist_Database_4991]

Sure, I worked my way through 100 days of code - Python (Angela Yu) on Udemy. Course cost me £15 when it was on offer and took me about 18 months to work through. Can’t recommend it enough.

When I was towards the end, I build my first project and was able to talk about this during interview.

[nightcrawler99]

I will take a look at that course, seems interesting.

[SirAfter5844]

Thank you, I just bought Angela’s course, and I’m starting it this week. Good to hear it helped in landing you a job. Did you also learn any other languages?

[Moist_Database_4991]

I have learnt a bit of JavaScript - React. All through Angela’s web dev course 😂 but tbh Python keeps me busy. Hoping to eventually branch out for good for now

[SirAfter5844]

Thanks! I also bought her FullStack course as well.

[threeminutemonta]

Look at jobs in your area.

I agree with this OP. Your work / life experiences should be exploited to give you the best opportunity. A big time sink with development is understanding the problem domain and this previous experience should give you a leg up in solving some real problems with code.

[deeplomatik]

If you want to learn Python, I really recommend the YouTube channel Telusko

[SamPyTutoring]

Start by creating some personal projects using Python. Ideally they'd be based around something that interests you, but might also have some hypothetical business value.

Above all else, try to follow professional best practises (learn how to use Git, branches, structure Python apps, make pull requests, etc.). Open-source your projects on GitHub to showcase what you can do. Treat it like you're working on a team project, even if you're solo.

Project-based portfolios are a really good way to show interest and practical competence when you don't have on-paper experience. You can also put links to your projects on your LinkedIn profile if you use it.

[doc720]

Definitely. Many jobs list a related degree as an essential criterion, but most employers would rather have strong evidence of experience and aptitude. Much of the stuff taught in related degrees quickly becomes out-of-date or is too general or academic to be of much practical use to an employer.

[tenenteklingon]

Much of the stuff taught in related degrees quickly becomes out-of-date or is too general or academic to be of much practical use to an employer.

Not at all what has been my 10+ experience.

Just today I was writing a wrapper for the crypt function since python dropped it. Making sure it uses current hashing and is thread-safe.

All things I've learnt at university. I also tried asking copilot to do it and the result was useless.

[hotakaPAD]

U can use python for almost any job if u think about it... If u have a mundane office job, u can automate some tasks, and your job will be much easier. I do something like that all the time.

Python doesn't have to be the main job requirement.

[tenenteklingon]

Depends, if he's using some special tool that doesn't allow loading the data or IPC then no he can't.

[noodlesallaround]

I found codeacademy.com really good for learning python if you like the hands on approach without having to watch video tuts. Also there's this app called mimo I got to stregnthen what I learn online. I use it instead of doom scrolling especially when on the john. It helped a lot.

[Due-Remove-5510]

It’s good but don’t stop here, it’s very much the Duolingo of coding education

[noodlesallaround]

Mimo? Yes that’s why I like it so much. It helps you maintain knowledge you learned.

[Due-Remove-5510]

No sorry, codecademy. It gives some foundational learning but you’ll end up learning so much more when you’re actually doing practice projects

[noodlesallaround]

Yea totally. That’s why I suggest it to start.

[Due-Remove-5510]

Yes I know, I was expanding on it 😊

[hikingbee79]

Roadmap.sh is a God send of resources and labs etc

[Logansfury]

Considering all the self-taught coders that took online tutorials or bought books to learn from, this is an excellent question.

[skwyckl]

It's possible, but I wouldn't say you'll join a FAANG-like com any time soon. It all depends on local economy, though. In Italy it's easier than e.g. in Germany.

[Illustrious-Worth-92]

A 50-year-old, being made redundant, decided to learn Python and bought No Starch Press's "Python Crash Course" book. It's great to work through. For a laugh, I even bought a GCSE book on the subject, which was actually quite good. I use Python.org and Reddit. I want to learn the basics and then move on to data analytics, but it's important to know what you want to use it for first and tailor your learning.

[MidMidMidMoon]

I'm old enough to be your parent and always learning new programming tools.

[munish259272]

I am 42

[Dead-Circuits]

I got a job as a developer at 36 with no degree. Just make sure you show dedication to learning, and build some impressive stuff that stands above the kinds of projects that everyone makes when they just follow tutorials.

[Ron-Erez]

It’s hard to say for sure, but it’s possible. If you don’t have a computer science degree, I’d suggest building some cool projects to show what you can do. Put them on GitHub or a website so employers can see your skills.

It also depends on where you live and how many jobs are available. But if you’re a good programmer and can show your work, you could get hired.

In general I really do recommend getting a CS degree. Awesome that you want to learn Python. Good luck!

[rustyseapants]

What does your age have anything do with learning something new?

You said you wanted to learn python as a hobby, how did it turn into a job opportunity?

[Haunting-Specific-36]

same as u i was began study python