41 yrs old, is it too late in life?

thebigkv · January 2022

I have always been in sales actually started my sales career at Gateway Computers. I'm at a point in life now that I want to dive into the IT field but think it just maybe too late. I have no technical experience and just started researching what's out there. Question: If you could start over again in 2022 with the technology and programs that are out today, what would you decide to do? What would you recommend, a college degree or getting just certifications? Would you change your role? (Developer/Cyber Security/Admin/Programmer etc.) Would your choices look different today?

Is it worth changing career fields at this point in life?

Appreciate all the responses and recommendations!

GavinT · January 2022

It's never to late to change career paths. I've met retired individuals that have came out of retirement and started something new because they weren't content with staying at home all day.

Luckily the IT field is booming and jobs are not only becoming more available, but training really doesn't require a degree. For example, coding bootcamps. I look at these almost as a CS degree without 4 years and too much debt. A lot of FAANG companies will directly hire from people who graduate from bootcamps. And while yes, compared to a CS degree applicant, you might be at a slight disadvantage, you'll still have a lot of similar experience as them. Also if you're motivated enough, try to self teach programming too. After you get the basics of, lets say Python, down - try to learn your data structures and time complexity algorithms. From there try using leetcode to get an idea of what you might be asked in coding interviews. Also try creating project that shows off what you've learned. Now I will admit - the discipline for sticking with self teaching needs to be high, but it's achievable if you are using the right practices.

As mentioned earlier, Python is a great lang to learn for beginners. It's on an uprise, it's object oriented, and it reads like English. A major downside however is that it's very memory inefficient. "cries in big O notation".

Want something more front end for web development? Try learning JS, CSS, and HTML.

I'll conclude with saying that no matter which path you go in IT, you're bound to find something you like, and you'll be a no disadvantage starting late. Have fun, and remember: To be curious is human, to discover is divine.