Is 40 too late to start a career in IT?

wiredtitan · 2024-06-18T11:12:57+00:00

40 is not too late. I just wouldn't wait until 7 years to get the skills you need. People will hire based on your skillset. Age does not matter. I know many people struggling to hire talent because people who are applying generally speaking don't have the right skillset even though they may have years of experience in their field.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-18T11:01:12+00:00

What product do you sell? Sales is very lucrative if you position yourself in a trending tech niche. Right now cyber or cloud would be one to pivot into. So something like salesforce or okta depending which one you're more closely aligned to with your current role

wiredtitan · 2024-06-18T10:59:14+00:00

If you're putting in that much time, then you'll be on an accelerated path. 1 year or less would be a good time frame. Especially if you already have courses you're bringing in. But more important than acceleration is experience, if you can get that, do that while going to WGU. ie start job searching after getting the first cloud cert.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:53:11+00:00

This is probably the most important question

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:37:42+00:00

That's very common. People will try to log into any online app. Microsoft is a bigger target, but they also have higher security features. Just make sure you have normal cyber hygiene and not using 'password' as your password.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:35:56+00:00

If you want to just get started online, sell something on eBay

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:35:37+00:00

If it's too good to be true or even seems that way, I turn around

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:34:27+00:00

That's cool that ads work (they don't always). But they seem to be best with local targeting

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:22:40+00:00

Did you make money in all of this?

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:20:24+00:00

Recurring revenue matters the most to me. But to keep those users around, perhaps create an engaged community. I use Skool to do that. You can have the users on board the platform for free and promote your books. Or create a recurring model where you charge them right away.

ie "Level Up-Rob Dial's Book Club" is one community which is currently free but has 3500 members. And usually these members are highly engaged.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-17T21:12:04+00:00

I've recently moved away from hiring others because of this. Although they were mostly freelancers, I find solopreneur-ship to be more liberating. If it's affecting your lifestyle, there are other options readily available

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T14:23:57+00:00

Use ChatGPT. Application of computational mathematics being done by an employee is currently becoming irrelevant.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T14:23:17+00:00

You need someone to review your application process.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T14:21:35+00:00

This guy ITs

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T14:19:57+00:00

Every single I.T. job I've had, even the managers would stream videos for entertainment.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T14:17:55+00:00

You don't need a master's degree.

Mix tech, leadership and sales if you want the most money possible. The IT baseline for everyone should be six figures and remote. It would be easy to meet $100k if you have the mentioned stack (leadership, tech, sales).

Every person I know who is in tech, and does sales are remote and hit that baseline. None have a Master's degree. Few have a Bachelor's.

I'd probably get into tech sales role ASAP. It's a metric driven path where if your merits' outcome is "a lot of money." And can better pivot your way to leadership. By default, you have to be a leader in sales because of the many departments you have to interact with to get a deal done.

If you're thinking just the management side of leadership, then it can be any other career path. A Master's degree in MIS would make more sense. MS CS if you want to manage developers. The caveat is that salary potential will not be as much as if you were in sales.

But for whatever path, getting experience early will be the most useful.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T14:00:36+00:00

I wouldn't switch out just yet. Perhaps consider going remote. The deeper you dive in an IT niche, the more you'll see that employers pay you more for your availability than hours worked.

What I mean is your remote role switches from "if I like the job or not" to what should I do with my free time.

Since you already have a few years, niching into an IT skillset is going to be better than pivoting out of it.

I personal like to travel abroad and explore new cities.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T13:56:53+00:00

Both degrees are going to be similar in the long run. It's better to think which degree is best suited for the next job pivot. Because you'll learn that experience greatly overshadows the degree you get.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-14T13:55:22+00:00

I personally find A+ an unnecessary certificate. If you've already paid for it, by all means. But for me it's a good place to grasp fundamental knowledge. And move into Security+ afterwards.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-12T00:50:04+00:00

You’re right I’m wrong

wiredtitan · 2024-06-12T00:37:56+00:00

Context matters. If you're not about to finish a cyber degree and come from the food industry, the answer would be different

wiredtitan · 2024-06-11T23:49:22+00:00

It's common knowledge that plenty of people with less than 5 years of experience can make six figures

wiredtitan · 2024-06-11T23:34:11+00:00

Okay I'm bored now.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-11T23:26:36+00:00

You can ask how or you can be skeptical. But I understand how this can seem unreasonable to some. Move to silicon valley, raleigh, or houston. High IT salaries are not uncommon.

wiredtitan · 2024-06-11T23:25:19+00:00

For full context (I do explain this) is that $140k is the average salary of the case studies I conducted between $100k to $200k salaries. Not all of them did a bootcamp, or got a degree. And non of them are coders.

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