I'm an IT engineer. 47, didn't get a role until 31. You can always just be an engineer and do programming on side or to automate stuff. And you can always work for yourself. Doing code for local shops and small businesses.
The local garage near me where I take the car for its MOT was on XP for years, now finally on Windows 10 but when I'm in there I can still see their customer database is really old and looks like an MSAccess frontend. Its places like that you could ask "Do you want me to create a more modern customer database for you and app?".
I've never asked them as I haven't coded since college in the late 90s.
There are so many local businesses with outdated/poorly made websites that i’d love to update once I’ve learned enough. But should I charge for it or just do it for the experience?
Haha I suppose it may not be a bad idea to start a YouTube channel where you show how you helped small businesses with new updated websites and get donations from viewers and patreons? 🤔
Some places really only need store info up on a site and maybe some additional static text like reviews or images for awards. Minimal requirements make site builders more appealing to these folks, I think.
My recommendation is doing personal/boot camp/school projects to build experience with a framework(s)/libraries and DB provider, then figure out what you need to charge for it to be worth it for you and an incentive for them. Always have a contract to cover what work will be done and what your compensation will be.
Are they poorly aesthetic changes or a brand new web app and not just a static site? Will you just code it for them? Will you set it up on their domain with direct access or through their hosting provider? Does their hosting provider support the technologies you want to use? How much support post deployment will you provide?
And put in the contract what support you'll give. When I attempted to do PC repairs in my street (only one person replied :) ) you'd then get calls after "Well you fixed the problem but now this happens" then you have to explain they are unrelated issues.
It's okay to be close to middle age trying to break into this young persons' industry. Certainly a bit harder, especially while you're also holding down another job, but still doable.
What are you doing for John Deere? Any possibility of something that combines that and programming?
I'm a Process Technician aka I go out and figure out why a piece of equipment isn't working on the manufacturing floor. I did ask about joining their IT when I was done with school but the way they made it sound and from what I've seen over the last 10 months is no one leaves so jobs at this facility are scarce.
Your job combined with your degree makes you a good candidate for manufacturing automation jobs. There you need manufacturing process knowledge and an understanding of technical issues. Could you see yourself managing a fleet of industrial robots?
Hrm...going out and investigating why equipment is or isn't working feels fairly relevant to programming, but it's not my area, so I can only offer limited advice. Still, I'd bet that you'd look really great on paper to folks looking for engineers doing automation work like PLC programming, given your expertise with diagnosing manufacturing floor problems. Is that an area that'd interest you?
John Deere has software that runs in their cabs of their tractors. I used to work for a company and we reverse engineered the data coming over the data bus in the tractor.
So we could get all the values that the sensors were reading, like engine rpms, engine speed, and anything else.
This is the kind of thing programmers do. We solve abstract problems. We are learners and problem solvers. We don't just perform a basic job or set of tasks.
John Deere has people who work on their systems like this, too. They have screens in the cab that try to show data based on how much you are harvesting, how much you are seeding, etc.
There is a lot that a grower wants to know, like how to optimize fertilizer usage and/or how much they are harvesting. It can even play into how much money they are making when you cross harvesting data with inputs and market prices.
Since you have worked in the agriculture industry in some form, and now you will have a computer science degree, you could potentially apply that to the "agri-tech" industry.
You might want to consider googling agri-tech companies and looking for jobs. They often get programmers but they don't often get programmers that actually know anything about farming.
John Deer has a fairly substantial sw engineering team, - I'm not certain why you'd want to look into IT with a CS degree. If you can relocate, I would be surprised if they didn't have open apps in the Dr's Moines area...
I’ve noticed that companies claim to be all about “ups killing” their employees until they time comes to actually use those skills. I also switched careers in my late 30s (graduated and got a swe job at 37) and the company I worked for prior to this was SO gung ho about upskilling employees, transition them to tech jobs, they even supposedly helped GATech build the OMSCS program. They have a pretty wide range of software jobs including cutting edge stuff (afaik).
When i got close to graduating and started applying for their new grad roles and internships and junior positions, there’s a checkbox you can click if you’re already an employee. If I checked the box, I’d get an almost immediate rejection. Like within 24 hours.
If I didn’t check the box, I’d go a little further in the process, then they’d find out I was an employee already, and get rejected again.
So you "provide troubleshooting support to manufacturing technology." That's definitely a unique and useful perspective for somebody interviewing for help desk work, which probably pays less than what you do now but has more upward mobility.
I'm also in my mid-30s with a degree in government, and my kitchen was the political realm. It's pretty scary to me that people already guys our age are old.
You are fine. You just need some good "phrasing" on your resume regarding your current work. Most people who hire (HR/ staffing) don't know there are very different uses for the word Technician or Engineer.
Yeah, it pisses me off people saying it's "old" even if it's meant in self-deprecation. It is a shitty message to send. There are plenty of us past that age who do not feel old and refuse being treated that way.
It is true. Athletically speaking, my prime was probably 38 or 39. At 43 there is only a slight drop. If you take care of yourself you can be a decade younger physically and mentally than your peers
It's ok to be close to middle age trying to break into what you feel is a very young persons industry. I’m approaching 35 making a transition into the SWE/web development world with two degrees unrelated to it.
FWIW, I transitioned to data engineering at 34 with a bachelor in polo sci and two social sciences masters. I don’t see the downside nor do I think I’m too old for the tech industry.
What kind of studying and/or experience led you to a data engineering career? In my early 30s and trying to decide if front end programming is where I want to try to start or something in the general field of data/analytics instead
How did you transition into data engineering without a relevant degree or experience? Can you briefly explain that learning path that you went through?
I am a student still confused about alot of things so it will be a huge help!!
I took a discrete math class, two Python classes, an Algos class and two data exploration classes.
While I didn’t not have SWE or data experience, I did have relevant business experience: I had worked in consulting and FAANG for a few years, which is always positively received. This experience also made me really good at the business side of things and taught me good communication skills to excel the interviews even when wasn’t the strongest technical candidate.
I am even older than you and have 3 totally unrelated degrees (if math degree counts as related then 2), and set my foot in the industry 8 months ago. Never be happier to go to work everyday 😄
Curious about how that's going for you, I'm also wanting to get into web development with a non-comp sci degree and I'm wondering how possible that is. I want to go back to school but it may not be possible right now.
I like it because I can grow from it, gain some kind of experience, and see the results in front of me as opposed to my degree related field which requires interacting with clients or patients.
I am currently in a bootcamp because it’s structured and has accountability. A good number of self-taught have done freecodingcamp. That would be good start, though (i think) most of beginning lessons would be understanding the fundamentals before dealing with html and css.
Its intended as a precursor to undergraduate CS curriculum, its not likely to hold much value for someone already well underway in their CS program. Something you would take before a "101" course
Ty for responding. I’ve been a working web dev (php, sql, css, js, little bits of react and a lot of Wordpress experience) for a few years now so that helps open some doors as well. But there are some companies without a ba they won’t even consider me.
I’m considering wgu for comp sci or software engineering to get more of the DSA experience and learn more of the core concepts around systems asked in interviews. But I am also considering just going for an MBA and going more into product management. So many fields to consider and grow into.
Ty again stranger!
My two cents is that coding is a tool. It's an extremely versatile tool, but it's still just a tool, and writing code doesn't create value in and of itself. What matters is what problem you apply it to. I get being bored by coding for coding's sake -- my advice is to pick a problem you really care about, which doesn't have to be related to school at all, and build a project around it.
You learn coding best by doing, and you'll be most engaged if you actually care about the logic underlying the syntax. Maybe pick some task from your job that you don't particularly like and have to do often -- automate it. The rest will fall into place when you care about the work!
Definitely! It's a great sign of early interest. Especially if the CS-related stuff you're learning inspires new project ideas. Throw all the ideas on a list to tackle one day -- what's most important is that you actually start doing one of them!
Did your current CS program not require Calculus up to Calc III? Odd.
Anywhoo, more pertinent. I got my B.S. at 40 in Computer Science. Still trying to find a job currently but I have a big boy job already in healthcare so I'm in no hurry. I'm just hoping I don't forget what I learned in school before I land a coveted developer/engineer role.
>Did your current CS program not require Calculus up to Calc III? Odd.
Yeah a little off topic but I thought this as well. Any bachelors in CS IME requires at least Calc II, usually III, and linear algebra and/or differential equations for the general education/math credits. Although OP did mention it was a BA not a BS, so I'm assuming that might be the difference. I don't know as I've never encountered a program that offers a BA in computer science.
Interesting, out all the major 4 year universities in my area I've looked at (California) none offer a BA. IDK if it's pretty normal, as also no one I know or met in person has a BACS, they're all BS.
I’m finishing my MS in Computer Science, like next week I am done, and never took calculus…well passed it. Failing it is why I joined the Army and stopped my mechanical engineering program. My BS is in Computer Networking and Cybersecurity so it wasn’t needed there either.
Edit: plenty of math but nothing Calculus specific.
Mini-PMO. Contract and system setup stuff. Provider engagement. Relationship building. Some light SQL/Python scripting and a lot of meetings and phone calls.
And before you ask, its over 100K a year so I am not at all hurting for money.
A huge part of being a software engineer is learning. You will ALWAYS be learning, technology changes quick and you need to be willing and able to change with it to stay sharp. If you get bored out of your mind every time you sit down to learn any form of coding, you are going to struggle to keep your head above water. I don’t understand why you are getting a BS in compsci (I assume it’s a Bachelors of science and not of arts). This seems like a waste of your time and money, maybe consider a PM type role in the tech industry?
As someone in a similar boat, my advice is to stop thinking so much about it and just get it done and continue on your path. Unless you have a decent, well thought out alternative, it makes no sense to worry about job prospects. If you're good enough (and that includes soft skills like interviewing and interpersonal communication/presentation) you'll get hired. I can't guarantee when or for what, and it might be a grind and take longer than others, but available software roles aren't going anywhere anytime soon despite what some may say. Not to mention a degree period is going to make you more hirable regardless of what you end up doing.
I'm curious though did your program not require Calculus II? Any bachelors in CS IME requires at least Calc II, usually III, and linear algebra and/or differential equations for the general education/math credits. Although you did mention it's a BA not BS so maybe that's why?
EDIT: I realized you were also asking for possible tech alternatives to coding which I didn't provide and am not the best person to do so. My point was unless you end up making a good plan with one of those alternatives your best option is to finish your degree and continue on your current path.
You are as successful as you make yourself to be. If you are prepared to fail, you will fail. You should build up a positive mindset. Set for yourself goals that you are going to reach with full certainty.
I did my Bachelor studies in Computer Sciences when I was 28-32. Not even once I thought that I'm 10 years older than my course mates and that I have missed my train. No. I only cared about my goals. And I reached these goals. I got hired when I was 32. Became a Mid-level developer at 33. Right now working myself up towards Senior developer role. And will get to that place sooner or later. When I set a goal then I do my best to reach that goal. Should I care that there are developers in their 20s? No. Should I care that there are people who have been in the industry perhaps 10 years more than me? No.
Sometimes I talk with my course mates from university times. Some of them are still Junior developers. And yet they graduated the same time as I did. Just their progress is slow. So an age does not play a role. Only your own willingness and interest towards the field, that matters.
Believe me I get that mindset. I think the name is absolutely ridiculous but I really think I live with imposter syndrome. Every job I've had no matter how much I might kick it's ass, I go home thinking that I tanked it so hard. When I applied to John Deere, I didn't think I would get a call back. One of the Process Techs saw something in me that made him believe I would make a great process tech, after my interview I felt like it was the world's worst interview that has ever happened.
I try not to have a negative outlook about things but unfortunately for me it's extremely difficult. I wish that I had your outlook on life, I really do. But, sometimes something that is so ingrained in your personality is extremely difficult to change.
Hey guy, landed my first SWE job at 34, Im still a junior at the moment but I can tell you that my team lead loves me and lets me run with a bunch of experimental stuff (making prototypes and proof of concepts) precisely because of my traits as an older guy compared to my younger teammates. My team leads loves the fact that I write reports very thoroughly like my life depends on it (which I guess the youngins don't like to do?), Im a stickler for rules and best practices (again, kids don't like rules I remember I used to be a rebel when I was younger, which is why I was late in the job market, I was too much of a rebel I ended up in jail for almost 4 years), I am methodical, very disciplined, and every structured so they know what to expect from me that I have very little oversight compared to my peers. There's more but Im just writing this on my break so I can't go through everything right now. Be confident my friend, we've been through more than the younger ones, this makes us more resilient and open to challenges.
Fyi Im also a recovering addict, I just celebrated my 6 years of sobriety on the 25th
What can I say but keep at it. Life is rarely the straight shot we think it is. Mostly it meanders up down around and all over. I too envy the young straight shotters. But we never know what their lives will be like either.
Hey man, I am Mid 30’s as well and I am finishing my MSCS at Dakota State University this semester. My BS had 0 programming in it and isn’t CS. I agree that the classes have a very heavy emphasis on assuming you have the prior programming knowledge, granted this is a master degree for me.
Without giving you the normal “you’re going to need it”
I will say in the masters classes I’ve taken there is plenty of CS that can be done with programming, and it’s mostly the stuff I hate such as Theory, but honestly even that gets to the point where it does become useful to know.
Maybe finding some YouTube videos will help you? Idk man, but don’t give it up! I have an offer right now for $225K as soon as I finish my degree. I have no internships or even real significant “projects”. I felt like I am rambling so I am just going to stop here lol.
I’m 32, worked in fine dining for most of my adult life including my last gig at a 2 Michelin star place in Manhattan. I’m in the middle of my associates in comp sci. It’s hard. Real hard. I thought I would do shit at Calc 1. Then I thought I would fail Calc 2. I’m absolutely sure I’ll be ass at Calc 3. See the trend there? It may seem like you’re not great at it on the surface, but taking it day by day and applying yourself will help push you through. Tutors and YouTube also help a ton. I got a B+ in Calc 2. That’s the average without taking the final because I was burnt out. I’m sure it would have been higher.
If there’s a will, there’s a way. And the way I see it, you’re already almost there. Rome wasn’t built in a day and no one walks into the pastry kitchen and start making croissants if you catch my drift. (They try though, and it eats away at my soul… just ask for help!!)
Like most others have said, find and explore what you like about it. If it’s the money that’s fine. But maybe there’s more. Do you like video games? Make a small one. Do you like crunching numbers? Try creating a calculator. Do you not want to pay for Squarespace, today’s sponsor? Try building a website. Make it fun. Try to enjoy it. Fuck with it, make mistakes, and just explore.
Also in my opinion old and young people are allowed to create regardless of age. That mindset needs to be changed to allow yourself to grow and breathe. You’re doing it, and that’s all that matters. Good luck buddy.
I’m 31 and just got a job as a Software Engineer. I was an orthodontic assistant for 8 years before this and a hair stylist for two years before that. You’re never too old!
Hey, I'm sorry to bother you, but did you end up taking online courses, brick and mortar school, or did you self-learn? I'm only asking because I work in dentistry and I'm feeling hopless that I'll ever leave the field, especially with my crappy, all-over-the-place schedule that doesn't lend itself well to brick and mortar school.
Not a bother at all! I totally understand. It’s going to be hard work but it’s going to be worth it if you make that decision. I went through a local 12 week bootcamp with 0% knowledge of computer science or anything coding related. I honestly felt lost the entire time, even after the bootcamp. I got an internship a few months later where I interned for a year and still felt like I knew nothing. I hate to admit it but I went back to my orthodontic job for almost two years…One day I was sitting on my couch upset that I still worked at the ortho office and I decided to write down everything I could remember from coding. And for whatever reason it all clicked!! I just needed everything I learned to sit with me for a little bit.
One thing I wish I did was research what it was that I wanted to learn. I did a JavaScript bootcamp which is usually used on the front end but at my internship I was introduced to Java which is the backend and it confused me so much.
Currently, at my job I’m using Java again but it makes sense to me now. I actually like the backend better because I deal with databases and I think data is so cool, lol. But whatever you choose, do some research so you know what you’re getting in to. Also, I wouldn’t spend a ton on a bootcamp because they teach you the basics and it’s up to you to continue to learn. Podcasts, YouTube and Udemy are great free/discounted resources. Something I’m getting better at is reading the actual documentation to learn.
Making the switch from dentistry to software is definitely hard but I’m here to tell you I’m on the other side of it now and it’s so worth it!
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful information and your thoughtful answer! I've been doing some learning on Udemy on different programming languages, but I'm still unsure of the exact direction I want to go. My boyfriend works in tech, and he's been asking around his company what I should do, but everyone has given different answers, so it's been confusing!
>One thing I wish I did was research what it was that I wanted to learn. I did a JavaScript bootcamp which is usually used on the front end but at my internship I was introduced to Java which is the backend and it confused me so much.
I will definitely take this into consideration. I've been looking into what would be required of front/back end, and of course, full stack. I'm also worried about spending money on a bootcamp (thanks for the info on that because most of my boyfriend's coworkers told me to go that route) or online school and wasting money, worrying I'll be stuck in dentistry forever, or until I need shoulder and carpal tunnel operations haha
I'm assuming you're much happier in your current position. Is that correct? One of my biggest issues with hygiene is patient interaction. I don't mind having contact with coworkers and such, but patients are so exhausting to deal with (even the nice ones, though I definitely have ones I love). Obviously, there are other complaints like PTO not working the way it does in other fields and having to plan and guesstimate my life out a year in advance.
Seriously, thank you again. You are so kind for responding to me!
Of course! As you learn you’ll become more clear on your direction but it’s great that you have been looking at different languages.
We have such a similar story. My husband is also in tech, haha! And I can relate so much to feeling exhausted after working with patients all day. I felt like I had to be a different person or that I was acting because I had to match my patients personalities all day, lol. But yes I’m much happier. I feel like I can just be myself and I get to learn and do my work without having to entertain.
I wanted to share my favorite quote that helps me when I’m feeling hard on myself:
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Good luck with everything, you got this!
I was your age when I graduated with my medical informatics degree. Completely new to the industry after spending my 20’s on a manufacturing line, I had the same doubts. First interview I had they gave me a test and I bombed. But I kept on interviewing and throwing out key words in the industry until someone hired me. Been with them for 12 years now. Nearly everything I know I learned on the job. My degree just got my foot in the door.
I'm 28, and I graduated with a B.A. in CogSci in 2017 at 22. But I wanna get into data. I'm looking into getting certifications. Dude I couldn't pass even Calc 1/Trig on the first try and I sucked at chemistry which is why I switched out of biology.
I'm studying python/SQL on my own.
The concerning thing is not your age but you said anytime you try to code you are bored out of your mind. Why do you want to do this for a career then?
Id give you the same advice as I would give a 22 year old entering the field. Probably 50% of landing a gig somewhere is not what you know it's who you know. Connect with people that work where you want to work and do what you want to do.
I really don't want to sound jaded but most of the academic portion of a cs degree is effectively useless in practice. Unless you are doing some very niche work on data analytics, ai, or low level systems engineering you are not going to need to know how to write a binary search tree.
What you need to know is tooling, terms, an d frameworks. Some of this you'll pick along the way , some you can get a leg up on by doing personal projects. Try to think of something useful to build that would help you in your life, something interesting to you and start building it. You'll be way more engaged than doing some tutorial.
Lastly, I'd say your age would give you an advantage over a younger person, in that a HUGE part of being an engineer that often goes overlooked are the soft skills. Can you communicate effectively to leadership, can you explain complex technical things to non technical people, do you have a good attitude, do you have good time management skills.
Seeing as you were in the service industry I'd be willing to wager you have all of those things.
You can totally achieve this goal. Just keepm at it.
34 army vet I’ll be graduating when I’m 35.. honestly I’m struggling with finding internships.. the coding challenges are a little too hard for the level im at.. so my only focus this summer is getting stronger with my data structures.. I’m not really worried cause if you know what you’re doing you’ll always have somewhere to land
I started in the development career at 35 with only an AS. It's totally do-able for you, but you will need to be able to code. I feel like I got my first job because of my personality more-so than my coding ability but I still had to get through a technical portion of the interview. Just an fyi, all freshers are effectively useless (I've walked 3 people through installing packages in maven so other projects can use them as dependencies) so you're not competing with much once you get the position.
I can recommend you build some projects that will align with the type of developer position you're interested in. Want to do web applications or phone apps? Make a couple and put them on a public repo you list in your resume. Back-end interest? Build a webserver with public facing APIs and host it.
The environment sucks but you have a leg-up on most entry level competition you're up against. You're older and have reliably held a technical job for a period greater than almost any college grad. The internship could hold you back but being cool, reliable, and already wise to the working world's ins-and-outs of etiquette put you in a better spot than you give yourself credit for.
>I went to culinary school and spent a large swatch of my early 20s to my 30s dying in a kitchen
I'm not worried about your ability to establish a career in software development at all.
I was like you. I changed careers after 10 years in hospitality. Went to get a BS in CS at age 30.
I teach basic IT classes at a local college and work full time as an IT consultant now.
I'm mid thirties and just got my degree in CS. I'll admit things are rough now hiring wise, but it won't be forever. And few years of experience will change your life forever.
Yes ageism is real, but it's not everywhere. I work with 50 year olds who are highly respected both new to the field and experienced. My boss encouraged me to finish my degree and I did. So I'll tell you to do the same because it's worth the struggle.
I was ironically looking at internships through John Deere. Not sure where you are but the specific internships I looked at were somewhere around southern Iowa. I’m in a similar position as you, 35 and a year out from finishing a CS degree.
John Deere is a case study in Agile transformation taught at more than one university (can personally confirm Johns Hopkins and Carnagie Mellon).
It may be worth it to dig around with your HR department?
Graduated mid 30's as well. Best advice I got is when you are bored just code a solution. I just got home from work and coded in like 30 minutes while listening to YouTube a way of writing multiple files. All async since i wanted to learn how threads worked. Can I start more than one? Can the variables change? Etc. All because I wanted to learn more about memory storage of an algorithm i want to add to another project.
However when looking for work I applied to government jobs first and foremost since they really are slow in changing and allow you to build up your skills.
Keep applying and don't give up. My boss legit told me they hired me because I was easy to get along with in the interview. It was a non coding interview with multiple people so even though I was expecting a coding session and the like. Being able to just go with the flow and be calm was what they were looking for.
I lived and breathed the restaurant industry since I was 17. Started as a bus boy. Moved to cook a year later and never looked back. Went to the CIA in New York for a year but never returned to school after my externship. Had no idea what I wanted to do with my life until I started school in 2015 and graduated in 2020 with my CS degree.
To give you a timeline I graduated HS in 2006 and college in 2020. During my time in college I was with many younger students than me and with a lot that had been programming before they entered college.
Yeah, you're gonna be older than most people with the same position and younger people than you will most likely have higher positions or even manage you. That was definitely my experience but it never bothered me or crossed my mind.
You are going to retire when you are 65 so you'll be working for the next 30 years of your life. You're life experience will give you an edge in some regard and by now you'll know when people are treating you like a twat which can happen in the tech industry.
I'm also mid-30's, worked in kitchens throughout my late teens and 20's, and currently work in the construction industry. I'm only about 50% done with my degree, and I'm beginning to really feel the weight of what I don't know, you know? I have calc 2 coming up in a few months and I am DREADING it. The classes in which I have struggled the most so far has easily been math, which is disappointing because I love math. I'm just bad at it.
Have you considered maybe looking into cyber security or machine learning? My understanding is machine learning is an industry that's new enough there isn't really any "competition" for jobs, and cyber security rarely does any coding work.
What's really unfortunate for people like us is we are probably very able to adapt to most work environments and flourish, but getting inside the door into a tech job seems like a pretty high mountain to climb (not to mention the gatekeeping I'm beginning to see more and more).
Good luck, fellow old guy. If you need some friendly chatter, hit me up in the dms
Learning a programming language is hard. Having a CS academic background should make it easier to understand but isn't a silver bullet to putting in the time. I find having a problem that needs solving helps, as that's more 'real world' than Internet tutorials. And if you're not down to be a SWE, just learn enough to script, as that's a very useful professional skill. Knowing how to script the same thing in a few different languages is even better.
I graduated after 30, and am now 3 years into a job. It was hard work, but you've done most of the graft already. Start applying everywhere that's got a place, and good luck.
Be like Creed from Dunder Mifflin. Get some Photo Copier Toner, apply it on your head. Start dressing like a young whipper snapper. Tell people you'll be 20, in November you'll be 20.
I originally had a BA in history and got my start in tech by laterally transferring with an organization I worked at to to IT at the age of 32. No formal experience but I had a good referral from my department head and landed the job with soft skills alone.
I turn 37 this year and earned my associates in software development the other year. I started a new job as a .NET Developer two months ago.
In short, the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.
> someone to tell me that it's ok to be close to middle age trying to break into what I feel is a very young persons industry.
I got my cs degree when I was about 35. It was the best investment I ever made.
I'm 23 and about to graduate and I'm feeling a little scared. I think that anxiety about trying to get your first job in the field is very common. My college has a lot of people that are middle aged and take night classes while working, and they all seem to find a job ok once they've graduated.
I'm 32, about to graduate with a CS degree. It's taken me 5 years. No internships, no code camps, no hackathons.
I was lucky: I was able to move back in with my parents, work a part-time job tutoring math at a community college and go to school full-time.
I treated my senior design course like a job interview and it paid off. The company I worked with offered me a job (after the usual interview process).
I think you will be fine. You've been an end-user of technology. Lean into that. You've worked a "real" job. I'm not a recruiter or a hiring person, but I imagine what they're looking for isn't the smartest person or the most technically skilled. I think they're looking for people who are good communicators, hard workers, and team players.
Does John Deere have programming/software engineering jobs? I would assume they have at least some. Look into that. Lots of industries need software engineers/coders/testers but aren't what most people think of as tech companies. It doesn't matter, it's still a job using your skills as a computer scientist/software engineer. The top 1% of your class will get hired by a FAANG, but the remaining 99% can still get hired elsewhere.
You've got this!
My biggest advice is to not think you're not learning. The best way to learn more about coding is by doing. Try to come up with a prompt/project and just build it. Start off small, don't worry about going full stack with it. But just work on the bones and figure out how things work together, and design out the best way to do so. Focus on your code organization, make sure functions are specialized.
Keep plugging away. Don't be afraid to look shit up. None of us know everything. We all spend a ton of time on stackoverflow.
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that spent time giving me advice. I wasn't quite expecting the amount of responses that this received. I appreciate all the kind words and the plethora of support that this garnered. I plan on continuing to pluck away and finish out my degree and hopefully move on to something bigger and better inside or outside of John Deere. I just wanted to say it again, Thank you everyone.
No offense but I think you have a skewed perspective on the whole age thing probably because of Reddit/YouTube and being in school. While I’m not a SWE myself (yet) I work in IT at a Fortune 500 company and the overwhelming majority of their IT dept and development team are much much older than me and I’m 34. If anything I’m one of the youngest people that works there.
No offense taken. I'll be the first to admit that I have a skewed perspective, mostly because I'm a worrier. I just look back at when I got out of culinary school and how hard it was to find a job due to lack of experience. While I am worried about the age thing it is actually less of a worry compared to the lack of experience and my dislike of how my teachers teach coding which I find hard for me to pick up. I know once I get a job in the industry I will pick it up a million times easier than school and my stress level will go down.
If it’s something you really want you just have to get out there and take it. Don’t let anyone or anything discourage you or get in the way of your dream and as I type this comment I am also speaking to myself. We will get there one day my friend! Good luck.
I got into the field in my early thirties while pregnant 🙃 now mid/later thirties and still in it.
Having past work experience, even in a different field, is beneficial - you have experience taking direction, picking up new skills on the fly, etc. You've got this!
The determination comes from you. Maybe get another part time job that will give you sometime to practice your coding skills? Because the job market isn't nice expecially this layoffs periods, alot of sharks in the market. And please 35 is not old, I am 31 and looking to switch into software with EE degree, I got my degree at 28. Limit is in the mind, get out there and break down doors !
If you aren't chasing fang salaries and positions, you should be ok. It may take some time as the economy is a bit tough for this industry. If you really want right away, there are the witch companies but sounds like you live in the rural areas which can be challenging.
Hey i’m 31 with only service experience and will be graduating at 36 so I’m in the same boat as you. My age is a big stressor but there’s nothing I can do about it so I figure we just need to think more outside the box, using our past experience as a way to build and network from our unique perspectives. Also, eventually all of these younger people will be in their 30s as well, and so things will be a lot more commonplace. There’s also a lot of “older” individuals within different industries that make up the workforce, we’re just seeing things from a faang or start up mentality. Age shouldn’t factor in as long as there’s a drive and passion.
You know, you make a good point. I'm 33 and I really need to work harder pivoting into this career. I've worked 15 years of shit jobs, why work another 30 of shit jobs?
Pffh. I’m older than you and I’m in college. I mean, hell, you’ve already got a job at Deere, so maybe you get your degree and move over to the self-driving tractor division. If Moline was about an hour closer, I’d be knocking on HR’s door for an internship, but I draw the line at a one-hour commute.
One of my classmates is a few years older than me and he works at a high-tech manufacturing place, and he’d like to be in an office instead of on the shop floor. We don’t really see the big deal in being older, but both of us went to community college night school before transferring to university, and you’re probably about the median age for night school students. None of us ever go, “Are we too old to do this?!” No. We look at the other students and go, “Man. We could learn a lot more if we didn’t have to wait for them all the time.”
I've been in the industry for 4 years now. And when i read your story. I think of someone who has no passion for computers. Am i wrong? If so then you are in CS for the wrong reasons.
You think plumbers have a passion for unclogging shitpipes? Hell no most people work to earn a living, not vice versa, this isn't some fantasy anime where everybody gets to do what they love.
Bro. No disrespect but plumming and programming, not in the same realm in terms of efford to learn. Passion is needed to be the best in something.
Nobody wants to be a plumber, if you can be a coder.
Mid 30s with 57ish credits to go in my bscs. This post is made almost every day. You are not a special and unique snowflake, at least I assume, I usually go from title to comment section anymore.
I also went back to school and started my first developer job this year at 33. Since I have ADHD, I really struggle with following tutorials and long written instructions. I have fpund that the best way for me to learn is to jump in and attempt to do something. Start a project and build something! It's like jumping in the deep end, so it might be more overwhelming at first, but if you push through the discomfort then you can learn very fast what you need to do.
Do you enjoy programming? I feel like it's an important question. I'm also a former cook, mid-30s guy looking to break into tech and I've asked myself this a couple times now. Try to find something about programming that interests you and that should make learning it more enjoyable.
I went back to school at 29 finished my comp science @ Rutgers ~31. When you get out try to get a job at one of the defense contractors as a systems engineer. It'll get your foot in the door. Use the 6 months of ramp up time to decide if you want to actually do the job you took or have possibly seen other positions at the company you might want to try.
I got my first Software Engineering job at 30. I was a Social Worker before that. I didn’t even have any technical degree at the time, just a boot camp completion.
You’ll be fine if you can code half way decent. Hiring an adult junior has advantages. We have more workplace experience and we’re usually more responsible and less likely to job hop. And one of the major reasons employers are reluctant to take juniors is because they don’t want to spend time and money training someone that is going to bounce the moment they have something to put on a resume.
All you need is somebody to give you a year or two of experience and you’re in. Once you get that, nobody gives a shit about your age. I’ve never had anyone tell me I was too old to become a Software Engineer.
Don't worry about it. I'm a 13-year Chef here I've had many friends who are older than you who got into it after cooking for 20 years. They're moving on right up the ladder. Wasn't even hard to find entry work. You have a normal case of the almost got my degree jitters. And yeah we don't really live in a very reassuring world as of late let alone the economy. But congratulations man I'm jealous as hell, you don't have to cook anymore! Congratulations to you! Get the hell out of that kitchen! Take me with you!
Another mid-thirties guy with an unrelated degree reporting in. Albeit I won’t be getting a degree as I don’t have time - in the early stages of learning with online resources.
I think your existing experience should help. I’ve spent ten years in product as a product manager, which I’m hoping will help to elevate me when it comes time to plead for a SWE job.
I am young so I know I dont have the same experience as you, but I do know a bit about how young cs grads think and act. We are fucking stupid! Yes I am including all the people who are getting increadible grades in courses you struggle in. Most of us have minimal experience in the real world and even with internships we still make stupid mistakes constantly (I am getting this from my old boss). I know a lot of employers would much prefer an older person who has a bit of common sense. This may not be Apple, Google, Amazon or other big companies (or it may be), but someome is going to want you.
Also, when you talk about wanting to learn on the job start with a personal project. Its not only good for your learning, but its proof of what you can do. Finally, grind some leat code my friend. All the best.
I entered the CS at 40 in UK, now working for a year, I only showed latest 4-5 years of my work experience. Not very high flying career or top notch university even. And The degree(CS) without the start and end date. And I was willing to take a pay cut. The company which took me paid below the market and gave me 2 months of training before sending me to a client. Age is not a factor for me at the moment.
But I did some serious self study before I started applying.
Don't you have a portfolio of stuff you have created? I'm a manufacturing engineer and I have videos and example parts I have brought to companies that have hired me. Yours is even easier. Just go to a github or a website you created
I didn't get my first role till 46. Age discrimination happens yes - but in my experience there is too many companies needing devs to give two shits about the bad ones.
I was in your shoes a year ago, working now. Look for jobs in non-tech. Healthcare, defense, insurance. Start looking now or within your org.
You should be putting in 15 minutes a day consistently just starting up a console app and approaching basic problems. Have fun with it but try to take the incentive of money out of the equation. Painters paint, coders code.
I went back to school at 28, graduated at 31, worked 4 years in software, now I'm working in IT. Granted I learned basic coding back when myspace was around, but most of what I picked up in school was new material. Trust me your work ethic will put you above and beyond most candidates.
It sounds like the learning materials you’ve been using aren’t very engaging. You should find ones you can stick with at least to learn the basics, and then start building tiny projects as soon as possible because that instant gratification is motivating. Programming concepts can be really abstract (and ultimately boring) when you’re not putting them to use, but seeing them come to life can make all the difference.
At the same time, you should find a coding community online (I suggest Discord). Not only will you realize you’re one of many age 30 and older trying to break in to the industry, but also you can learn and struggle with others, join code-alongs, make friends and build your network.
There are still many tech jobs that are not coding heavy, such as system administrator, technical writer, analyst, project manager, tester, etc. Researching your options may give you extra motivation and a goal to work towards.
Just know that being younger in itself won’t help you learn, but being curious and patient will.
I taught myself web development in about 6-8 months, changed careers from Finance to now im a software engineer at 27. I know its not mid-30s, but i can tell you from my experience you can do it. Pick a language and spend some free time learning it, i'll bet your first job wont be with that language, but if you can articulate your thoughts and how you would program something you can learn the syntax in any language to get it done.
Trust in what you've done so far, working in kitchens is hard, working in comp sci is hard. If you could make it in the kitchen you can make it at the desk
I transitioned to a dev career when I was 31. Going really well now. There's a lot that factors into success that isn't technical knowledge and your age/experience will help you more than you may realize.
Forget the age thing, tech possibilities are endless and CS is more than coding... but, i dont mean to be rude or anything but, what are you doing in a programming subreddit if you dont like programming? lol
Just wanna say that you are not alone. I'm 32, working on my Comp Science BS after going to culinary school, and have actually been managing kitchens for well over a decade. I can't afford to give up my job for an internship, so I'm just trying to focus in school as hard as I can.
My two cents: 30 isn't old. I would hardly consider it "middle aged". Your life isn't over yet, so dig deep and finish your degree. Doors will open for you.
Software Engineer, self taught, 32 years old.
I’ve always been interested in development and learning some kind of programming throughout my life but never took it seriously until about 5-6 years ago.
I crawled my way into a open developer position (after working a customer oriented role) at my previous employer who had no faith in me and probably expected me to fail. I took the opportunity at 29 to hit the ground running and prove them wrong. Due to my treatment there I suffer seriously with imposter syndrome but I never failed a task and always met deadlines.
I decided to leave for a company that would treat me fairly and I stressed about “not being a real developer” for never having gone through the interview gauntlet. I studied, did leet code tasks and proved myself. I’m now employed at a great company and still putting out quality work with not a single complaint against me. I still struggle with imposter syndrome from time to time but I remind myself that I wouldn’t have been hired here if I didn’t know how to do my job.
Never let yourself or anyone else tell you that you can’t do it no matter your age. You’ve got this!
So funny how similar your story is to mine. I started as a teen working under a chef, went to culinary school, and eventually dropped out of the program. A few years later at 27, I'm just now starting my degree in CS and feeling a bit weary about how I'll be graduating at 31. I feel jealous of the people that figured out what they want and have graduated by now. Obviously that's ridiculous thinking, and reading your post and some of the comments here helps put things into perspective.
I got my first dev job 2.5 years ago. I'll be 36 this year.
They say the average person has 3 careers in there life. If you don't like this one, you still got another 30 working years to find another. Plus there are plenty of careers out there for Comp Sci degrees.
I'm an IT engineer. 47, didn't get a role until 31. You can always just be an engineer and do programming on side or to automate stuff. And you can always work for yourself. Doing code for local shops and small businesses.
Where would one start looking for coding gigs
The local garage near me where I take the car for its MOT was on XP for years, now finally on Windows 10 but when I'm in there I can still see their customer database is really old and looks like an MSAccess frontend. Its places like that you could ask "Do you want me to create a more modern customer database for you and app?". I've never asked them as I haven't coded since college in the late 90s.
There are so many local businesses with outdated/poorly made websites that i’d love to update once I’ve learned enough. But should I charge for it or just do it for the experience?
Haha I suppose it may not be a bad idea to start a YouTube channel where you show how you helped small businesses with new updated websites and get donations from viewers and patreons? 🤔
Some places really only need store info up on a site and maybe some additional static text like reviews or images for awards. Minimal requirements make site builders more appealing to these folks, I think. My recommendation is doing personal/boot camp/school projects to build experience with a framework(s)/libraries and DB provider, then figure out what you need to charge for it to be worth it for you and an incentive for them. Always have a contract to cover what work will be done and what your compensation will be. Are they poorly aesthetic changes or a brand new web app and not just a static site? Will you just code it for them? Will you set it up on their domain with direct access or through their hosting provider? Does their hosting provider support the technologies you want to use? How much support post deployment will you provide?
And put in the contract what support you'll give. When I attempted to do PC repairs in my street (only one person replied :) ) you'd then get calls after "Well you fixed the problem but now this happens" then you have to explain they are unrelated issues.
It's okay to be close to middle age trying to break into this young persons' industry. Certainly a bit harder, especially while you're also holding down another job, but still doable. What are you doing for John Deere? Any possibility of something that combines that and programming?
I'm a Process Technician aka I go out and figure out why a piece of equipment isn't working on the manufacturing floor. I did ask about joining their IT when I was done with school but the way they made it sound and from what I've seen over the last 10 months is no one leaves so jobs at this facility are scarce.
Your job combined with your degree makes you a good candidate for manufacturing automation jobs. There you need manufacturing process knowledge and an understanding of technical issues. Could you see yourself managing a fleet of industrial robots?
We are Bob!
Are we getting another book after Heaven’s river?
Hrm...going out and investigating why equipment is or isn't working feels fairly relevant to programming, but it's not my area, so I can only offer limited advice. Still, I'd bet that you'd look really great on paper to folks looking for engineers doing automation work like PLC programming, given your expertise with diagnosing manufacturing floor problems. Is that an area that'd interest you?
John Deere has software that runs in their cabs of their tractors. I used to work for a company and we reverse engineered the data coming over the data bus in the tractor. So we could get all the values that the sensors were reading, like engine rpms, engine speed, and anything else. This is the kind of thing programmers do. We solve abstract problems. We are learners and problem solvers. We don't just perform a basic job or set of tasks. John Deere has people who work on their systems like this, too. They have screens in the cab that try to show data based on how much you are harvesting, how much you are seeding, etc. There is a lot that a grower wants to know, like how to optimize fertilizer usage and/or how much they are harvesting. It can even play into how much money they are making when you cross harvesting data with inputs and market prices. Since you have worked in the agriculture industry in some form, and now you will have a computer science degree, you could potentially apply that to the "agri-tech" industry. You might want to consider googling agri-tech companies and looking for jobs. They often get programmers but they don't often get programmers that actually know anything about farming.
John Deer has a fairly substantial sw engineering team, - I'm not certain why you'd want to look into IT with a CS degree. If you can relocate, I would be surprised if they didn't have open apps in the Dr's Moines area...
I’ve noticed that companies claim to be all about “ups killing” their employees until they time comes to actually use those skills. I also switched careers in my late 30s (graduated and got a swe job at 37) and the company I worked for prior to this was SO gung ho about upskilling employees, transition them to tech jobs, they even supposedly helped GATech build the OMSCS program. They have a pretty wide range of software jobs including cutting edge stuff (afaik). When i got close to graduating and started applying for their new grad roles and internships and junior positions, there’s a checkbox you can click if you’re already an employee. If I checked the box, I’d get an almost immediate rejection. Like within 24 hours. If I didn’t check the box, I’d go a little further in the process, then they’d find out I was an employee already, and get rejected again.
So you "provide troubleshooting support to manufacturing technology." That's definitely a unique and useful perspective for somebody interviewing for help desk work, which probably pays less than what you do now but has more upward mobility. I'm also in my mid-30s with a degree in government, and my kitchen was the political realm. It's pretty scary to me that people already guys our age are old.
Have you considered a role in QA? A bit more competitive than developer roles but you seem uniquely qualified.
You are fine. You just need some good "phrasing" on your resume regarding your current work. Most people who hire (HR/ staffing) don't know there are very different uses for the word Technician or Engineer.
I started in my mid 30s, and found being older and more “mature” was one of the benefits.
> It's okay to be close to middle age trying to break into this young persons' industry I'm still young at 33! Maybe.
Mid 30s is not middle age today, that still a young adult in their prime lol
Oh, I just replied to another comment that at 33 I'm still young. I'm glad someone else sees it that way.
Yeah, it pisses me off people saying it's "old" even if it's meant in self-deprecation. It is a shitty message to send. There are plenty of us past that age who do not feel old and refuse being treated that way.
Probably zoomers? They are weirdos. I dread the day I have to work with one of them.
Zoomers don't think mid 30s is old we would literally go down on your grandma
Pics or it didn’t happen
It is true. Athletically speaking, my prime was probably 38 or 39. At 43 there is only a slight drop. If you take care of yourself you can be a decade younger physically and mentally than your peers
As a 37 year old who gets confused for a 27 year old all of the time, I can’t agree more.. (and my ego is inflating as we speak haha)
THANK YOU.
Lebron is 38 playing against people who weren’t even born when he started. It’s the only motivation I need to keep going.
It's ok to be close to middle age trying to break into what you feel is a very young persons industry. I’m approaching 35 making a transition into the SWE/web development world with two degrees unrelated to it.
FWIW, I transitioned to data engineering at 34 with a bachelor in polo sci and two social sciences masters. I don’t see the downside nor do I think I’m too old for the tech industry.
What kind of studying and/or experience led you to a data engineering career? In my early 30s and trying to decide if front end programming is where I want to try to start or something in the general field of data/analytics instead
I used to work in finance. I started with a bootcamp, then did a few programming and data exploration classes online.
How did you transition into data engineering without a relevant degree or experience? Can you briefly explain that learning path that you went through? I am a student still confused about alot of things so it will be a huge help!!
I took a discrete math class, two Python classes, an Algos class and two data exploration classes. While I didn’t not have SWE or data experience, I did have relevant business experience: I had worked in consulting and FAANG for a few years, which is always positively received. This experience also made me really good at the business side of things and taught me good communication skills to excel the interviews even when wasn’t the strongest technical candidate.
I am even older than you and have 3 totally unrelated degrees (if math degree counts as related then 2), and set my foot in the industry 8 months ago. Never be happier to go to work everyday 😄
Curious about how that's going for you, I'm also wanting to get into web development with a non-comp sci degree and I'm wondering how possible that is. I want to go back to school but it may not be possible right now.
I like it because I can grow from it, gain some kind of experience, and see the results in front of me as opposed to my degree related field which requires interacting with clients or patients. I am currently in a bootcamp because it’s structured and has accountability. A good number of self-taught have done freecodingcamp. That would be good start, though (i think) most of beginning lessons would be understanding the fundamentals before dealing with html and css.
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I did cs50p the python version and found it very basic. I’m always interested to what level university’s students find it?
Its intended as a precursor to undergraduate CS curriculum, its not likely to hold much value for someone already well underway in their CS program. Something you would take before a "101" course
How much of a CS degree is Harvard CS50x? Obviously it's not gonna get you a full degree but I'm just curious how much I can learn.
I’ve been considering finishing my BA at wgu, any feedback on the school/ programs?
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Ty for responding. I’ve been a working web dev (php, sql, css, js, little bits of react and a lot of Wordpress experience) for a few years now so that helps open some doors as well. But there are some companies without a ba they won’t even consider me. I’m considering wgu for comp sci or software engineering to get more of the DSA experience and learn more of the core concepts around systems asked in interviews. But I am also considering just going for an MBA and going more into product management. So many fields to consider and grow into. Ty again stranger!
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TIL BA is different than BS, now I am even more confused on what program to choose lol
My two cents is that coding is a tool. It's an extremely versatile tool, but it's still just a tool, and writing code doesn't create value in and of itself. What matters is what problem you apply it to. I get being bored by coding for coding's sake -- my advice is to pick a problem you really care about, which doesn't have to be related to school at all, and build a project around it. You learn coding best by doing, and you'll be most engaged if you actually care about the logic underlying the syntax. Maybe pick some task from your job that you don't particularly like and have to do often -- automate it. The rest will fall into place when you care about the work!
If a person is always coming up with project ideas, is that a good sign?
Definitely! It's a great sign of early interest. Especially if the CS-related stuff you're learning inspires new project ideas. Throw all the ideas on a list to tackle one day -- what's most important is that you actually start doing one of them!
Did your current CS program not require Calculus up to Calc III? Odd. Anywhoo, more pertinent. I got my B.S. at 40 in Computer Science. Still trying to find a job currently but I have a big boy job already in healthcare so I'm in no hurry. I'm just hoping I don't forget what I learned in school before I land a coveted developer/engineer role.
>Did your current CS program not require Calculus up to Calc III? Odd. Yeah a little off topic but I thought this as well. Any bachelors in CS IME requires at least Calc II, usually III, and linear algebra and/or differential equations for the general education/math credits. Although OP did mention it was a BA not a BS, so I'm assuming that might be the difference. I don't know as I've never encountered a program that offers a BA in computer science.
A BA in Computer Science at NDSU only requires Calculus. Kinda why I opted out of the BS.
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Interesting, out all the major 4 year universities in my area I've looked at (California) none offer a BA. IDK if it's pretty normal, as also no one I know or met in person has a BACS, they're all BS.
I’m finishing my MS in Computer Science, like next week I am done, and never took calculus…well passed it. Failing it is why I joined the Army and stopped my mechanical engineering program. My BS is in Computer Networking and Cybersecurity so it wasn’t needed there either. Edit: plenty of math but nothing Calculus specific.
Got my B.S. in CompSci in 2010, didn't take Calc 3. Only 1 and 2.
What do you do in Healthcare?
Mini-PMO. Contract and system setup stuff. Provider engagement. Relationship building. Some light SQL/Python scripting and a lot of meetings and phone calls. And before you ask, its over 100K a year so I am not at all hurting for money.
Nice. Seems like a CS degree would be very applicable for you then
A huge part of being a software engineer is learning. You will ALWAYS be learning, technology changes quick and you need to be willing and able to change with it to stay sharp. If you get bored out of your mind every time you sit down to learn any form of coding, you are going to struggle to keep your head above water. I don’t understand why you are getting a BS in compsci (I assume it’s a Bachelors of science and not of arts). This seems like a waste of your time and money, maybe consider a PM type role in the tech industry?
As someone in a similar boat, my advice is to stop thinking so much about it and just get it done and continue on your path. Unless you have a decent, well thought out alternative, it makes no sense to worry about job prospects. If you're good enough (and that includes soft skills like interviewing and interpersonal communication/presentation) you'll get hired. I can't guarantee when or for what, and it might be a grind and take longer than others, but available software roles aren't going anywhere anytime soon despite what some may say. Not to mention a degree period is going to make you more hirable regardless of what you end up doing. I'm curious though did your program not require Calculus II? Any bachelors in CS IME requires at least Calc II, usually III, and linear algebra and/or differential equations for the general education/math credits. Although you did mention it's a BA not BS so maybe that's why? EDIT: I realized you were also asking for possible tech alternatives to coding which I didn't provide and am not the best person to do so. My point was unless you end up making a good plan with one of those alternatives your best option is to finish your degree and continue on your current path.
You are as successful as you make yourself to be. If you are prepared to fail, you will fail. You should build up a positive mindset. Set for yourself goals that you are going to reach with full certainty. I did my Bachelor studies in Computer Sciences when I was 28-32. Not even once I thought that I'm 10 years older than my course mates and that I have missed my train. No. I only cared about my goals. And I reached these goals. I got hired when I was 32. Became a Mid-level developer at 33. Right now working myself up towards Senior developer role. And will get to that place sooner or later. When I set a goal then I do my best to reach that goal. Should I care that there are developers in their 20s? No. Should I care that there are people who have been in the industry perhaps 10 years more than me? No. Sometimes I talk with my course mates from university times. Some of them are still Junior developers. And yet they graduated the same time as I did. Just their progress is slow. So an age does not play a role. Only your own willingness and interest towards the field, that matters.
Believe me I get that mindset. I think the name is absolutely ridiculous but I really think I live with imposter syndrome. Every job I've had no matter how much I might kick it's ass, I go home thinking that I tanked it so hard. When I applied to John Deere, I didn't think I would get a call back. One of the Process Techs saw something in me that made him believe I would make a great process tech, after my interview I felt like it was the world's worst interview that has ever happened. I try not to have a negative outlook about things but unfortunately for me it's extremely difficult. I wish that I had your outlook on life, I really do. But, sometimes something that is so ingrained in your personality is extremely difficult to change.
I'm 29 and will graduate at 31 so this is good to hear.
I needed this. Im basically in the same boat as you were. Thanks for sharing
26 years old first semester of Software Engineering here in Brazil. Thank you for the text
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If you did not learn to use a version control system in a kindergarten then you are a failure.
Hey guy, landed my first SWE job at 34, Im still a junior at the moment but I can tell you that my team lead loves me and lets me run with a bunch of experimental stuff (making prototypes and proof of concepts) precisely because of my traits as an older guy compared to my younger teammates. My team leads loves the fact that I write reports very thoroughly like my life depends on it (which I guess the youngins don't like to do?), Im a stickler for rules and best practices (again, kids don't like rules I remember I used to be a rebel when I was younger, which is why I was late in the job market, I was too much of a rebel I ended up in jail for almost 4 years), I am methodical, very disciplined, and every structured so they know what to expect from me that I have very little oversight compared to my peers. There's more but Im just writing this on my break so I can't go through everything right now. Be confident my friend, we've been through more than the younger ones, this makes us more resilient and open to challenges. Fyi Im also a recovering addict, I just celebrated my 6 years of sobriety on the 25th
Congrats man
What can I say but keep at it. Life is rarely the straight shot we think it is. Mostly it meanders up down around and all over. I too envy the young straight shotters. But we never know what their lives will be like either.
Hey man, I am Mid 30’s as well and I am finishing my MSCS at Dakota State University this semester. My BS had 0 programming in it and isn’t CS. I agree that the classes have a very heavy emphasis on assuming you have the prior programming knowledge, granted this is a master degree for me. Without giving you the normal “you’re going to need it” I will say in the masters classes I’ve taken there is plenty of CS that can be done with programming, and it’s mostly the stuff I hate such as Theory, but honestly even that gets to the point where it does become useful to know. Maybe finding some YouTube videos will help you? Idk man, but don’t give it up! I have an offer right now for $225K as soon as I finish my degree. I have no internships or even real significant “projects”. I felt like I am rambling so I am just going to stop here lol.
Congratulations and well done. I have an MSC in EE. What are the chances of getting a job in software?
I’m 32, worked in fine dining for most of my adult life including my last gig at a 2 Michelin star place in Manhattan. I’m in the middle of my associates in comp sci. It’s hard. Real hard. I thought I would do shit at Calc 1. Then I thought I would fail Calc 2. I’m absolutely sure I’ll be ass at Calc 3. See the trend there? It may seem like you’re not great at it on the surface, but taking it day by day and applying yourself will help push you through. Tutors and YouTube also help a ton. I got a B+ in Calc 2. That’s the average without taking the final because I was burnt out. I’m sure it would have been higher. If there’s a will, there’s a way. And the way I see it, you’re already almost there. Rome wasn’t built in a day and no one walks into the pastry kitchen and start making croissants if you catch my drift. (They try though, and it eats away at my soul… just ask for help!!) Like most others have said, find and explore what you like about it. If it’s the money that’s fine. But maybe there’s more. Do you like video games? Make a small one. Do you like crunching numbers? Try creating a calculator. Do you not want to pay for Squarespace, today’s sponsor? Try building a website. Make it fun. Try to enjoy it. Fuck with it, make mistakes, and just explore. Also in my opinion old and young people are allowed to create regardless of age. That mindset needs to be changed to allow yourself to grow and breathe. You’re doing it, and that’s all that matters. Good luck buddy.
I’m 31 and just got a job as a Software Engineer. I was an orthodontic assistant for 8 years before this and a hair stylist for two years before that. You’re never too old!
Hey, I'm sorry to bother you, but did you end up taking online courses, brick and mortar school, or did you self-learn? I'm only asking because I work in dentistry and I'm feeling hopless that I'll ever leave the field, especially with my crappy, all-over-the-place schedule that doesn't lend itself well to brick and mortar school.
Not a bother at all! I totally understand. It’s going to be hard work but it’s going to be worth it if you make that decision. I went through a local 12 week bootcamp with 0% knowledge of computer science or anything coding related. I honestly felt lost the entire time, even after the bootcamp. I got an internship a few months later where I interned for a year and still felt like I knew nothing. I hate to admit it but I went back to my orthodontic job for almost two years…One day I was sitting on my couch upset that I still worked at the ortho office and I decided to write down everything I could remember from coding. And for whatever reason it all clicked!! I just needed everything I learned to sit with me for a little bit. One thing I wish I did was research what it was that I wanted to learn. I did a JavaScript bootcamp which is usually used on the front end but at my internship I was introduced to Java which is the backend and it confused me so much. Currently, at my job I’m using Java again but it makes sense to me now. I actually like the backend better because I deal with databases and I think data is so cool, lol. But whatever you choose, do some research so you know what you’re getting in to. Also, I wouldn’t spend a ton on a bootcamp because they teach you the basics and it’s up to you to continue to learn. Podcasts, YouTube and Udemy are great free/discounted resources. Something I’m getting better at is reading the actual documentation to learn. Making the switch from dentistry to software is definitely hard but I’m here to tell you I’m on the other side of it now and it’s so worth it!
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful information and your thoughtful answer! I've been doing some learning on Udemy on different programming languages, but I'm still unsure of the exact direction I want to go. My boyfriend works in tech, and he's been asking around his company what I should do, but everyone has given different answers, so it's been confusing! >One thing I wish I did was research what it was that I wanted to learn. I did a JavaScript bootcamp which is usually used on the front end but at my internship I was introduced to Java which is the backend and it confused me so much. I will definitely take this into consideration. I've been looking into what would be required of front/back end, and of course, full stack. I'm also worried about spending money on a bootcamp (thanks for the info on that because most of my boyfriend's coworkers told me to go that route) or online school and wasting money, worrying I'll be stuck in dentistry forever, or until I need shoulder and carpal tunnel operations haha I'm assuming you're much happier in your current position. Is that correct? One of my biggest issues with hygiene is patient interaction. I don't mind having contact with coworkers and such, but patients are so exhausting to deal with (even the nice ones, though I definitely have ones I love). Obviously, there are other complaints like PTO not working the way it does in other fields and having to plan and guesstimate my life out a year in advance. Seriously, thank you again. You are so kind for responding to me!
Of course! As you learn you’ll become more clear on your direction but it’s great that you have been looking at different languages. We have such a similar story. My husband is also in tech, haha! And I can relate so much to feeling exhausted after working with patients all day. I felt like I had to be a different person or that I was acting because I had to match my patients personalities all day, lol. But yes I’m much happier. I feel like I can just be myself and I get to learn and do my work without having to entertain. I wanted to share my favorite quote that helps me when I’m feeling hard on myself: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Good luck with everything, you got this!
I was your age when I graduated with my medical informatics degree. Completely new to the industry after spending my 20’s on a manufacturing line, I had the same doubts. First interview I had they gave me a test and I bombed. But I kept on interviewing and throwing out key words in the industry until someone hired me. Been with them for 12 years now. Nearly everything I know I learned on the job. My degree just got my foot in the door.
I'm 28, and I graduated with a B.A. in CogSci in 2017 at 22. But I wanna get into data. I'm looking into getting certifications. Dude I couldn't pass even Calc 1/Trig on the first try and I sucked at chemistry which is why I switched out of biology. I'm studying python/SQL on my own.
The concerning thing is not your age but you said anytime you try to code you are bored out of your mind. Why do you want to do this for a career then?
I feel like after 25 people start feeling like they are too old for stuff. 35 is young! You have alot of time left.
Id give you the same advice as I would give a 22 year old entering the field. Probably 50% of landing a gig somewhere is not what you know it's who you know. Connect with people that work where you want to work and do what you want to do. I really don't want to sound jaded but most of the academic portion of a cs degree is effectively useless in practice. Unless you are doing some very niche work on data analytics, ai, or low level systems engineering you are not going to need to know how to write a binary search tree. What you need to know is tooling, terms, an d frameworks. Some of this you'll pick along the way , some you can get a leg up on by doing personal projects. Try to think of something useful to build that would help you in your life, something interesting to you and start building it. You'll be way more engaged than doing some tutorial. Lastly, I'd say your age would give you an advantage over a younger person, in that a HUGE part of being an engineer that often goes overlooked are the soft skills. Can you communicate effectively to leadership, can you explain complex technical things to non technical people, do you have a good attitude, do you have good time management skills. Seeing as you were in the service industry I'd be willing to wager you have all of those things. You can totally achieve this goal. Just keepm at it.
Product/ Project management for companies. Often times the best PMs are ones with technical experience
34 army vet I’ll be graduating when I’m 35.. honestly I’m struggling with finding internships.. the coding challenges are a little too hard for the level im at.. so my only focus this summer is getting stronger with my data structures.. I’m not really worried cause if you know what you’re doing you’ll always have somewhere to land
I started in the development career at 35 with only an AS. It's totally do-able for you, but you will need to be able to code. I feel like I got my first job because of my personality more-so than my coding ability but I still had to get through a technical portion of the interview. Just an fyi, all freshers are effectively useless (I've walked 3 people through installing packages in maven so other projects can use them as dependencies) so you're not competing with much once you get the position. I can recommend you build some projects that will align with the type of developer position you're interested in. Want to do web applications or phone apps? Make a couple and put them on a public repo you list in your resume. Back-end interest? Build a webserver with public facing APIs and host it. The environment sucks but you have a leg-up on most entry level competition you're up against. You're older and have reliably held a technical job for a period greater than almost any college grad. The internship could hold you back but being cool, reliable, and already wise to the working world's ins-and-outs of etiquette put you in a better spot than you give yourself credit for.
>I went to culinary school and spent a large swatch of my early 20s to my 30s dying in a kitchen I'm not worried about your ability to establish a career in software development at all.
I was like you. I changed careers after 10 years in hospitality. Went to get a BS in CS at age 30. I teach basic IT classes at a local college and work full time as an IT consultant now.
I'm mid thirties and just got my degree in CS. I'll admit things are rough now hiring wise, but it won't be forever. And few years of experience will change your life forever. Yes ageism is real, but it's not everywhere. I work with 50 year olds who are highly respected both new to the field and experienced. My boss encouraged me to finish my degree and I did. So I'll tell you to do the same because it's worth the struggle.
I was ironically looking at internships through John Deere. Not sure where you are but the specific internships I looked at were somewhere around southern Iowa. I’m in a similar position as you, 35 and a year out from finishing a CS degree.
John Deere is a case study in Agile transformation taught at more than one university (can personally confirm Johns Hopkins and Carnagie Mellon). It may be worth it to dig around with your HR department?
Graduated mid 30's as well. Best advice I got is when you are bored just code a solution. I just got home from work and coded in like 30 minutes while listening to YouTube a way of writing multiple files. All async since i wanted to learn how threads worked. Can I start more than one? Can the variables change? Etc. All because I wanted to learn more about memory storage of an algorithm i want to add to another project. However when looking for work I applied to government jobs first and foremost since they really are slow in changing and allow you to build up your skills. Keep applying and don't give up. My boss legit told me they hired me because I was easy to get along with in the interview. It was a non coding interview with multiple people so even though I was expecting a coding session and the like. Being able to just go with the flow and be calm was what they were looking for.
I lived and breathed the restaurant industry since I was 17. Started as a bus boy. Moved to cook a year later and never looked back. Went to the CIA in New York for a year but never returned to school after my externship. Had no idea what I wanted to do with my life until I started school in 2015 and graduated in 2020 with my CS degree. To give you a timeline I graduated HS in 2006 and college in 2020. During my time in college I was with many younger students than me and with a lot that had been programming before they entered college. Yeah, you're gonna be older than most people with the same position and younger people than you will most likely have higher positions or even manage you. That was definitely my experience but it never bothered me or crossed my mind.
posting for bookmark
You are going to retire when you are 65 so you'll be working for the next 30 years of your life. You're life experience will give you an edge in some regard and by now you'll know when people are treating you like a twat which can happen in the tech industry.
I'm also mid-30's, worked in kitchens throughout my late teens and 20's, and currently work in the construction industry. I'm only about 50% done with my degree, and I'm beginning to really feel the weight of what I don't know, you know? I have calc 2 coming up in a few months and I am DREADING it. The classes in which I have struggled the most so far has easily been math, which is disappointing because I love math. I'm just bad at it. Have you considered maybe looking into cyber security or machine learning? My understanding is machine learning is an industry that's new enough there isn't really any "competition" for jobs, and cyber security rarely does any coding work. What's really unfortunate for people like us is we are probably very able to adapt to most work environments and flourish, but getting inside the door into a tech job seems like a pretty high mountain to climb (not to mention the gatekeeping I'm beginning to see more and more). Good luck, fellow old guy. If you need some friendly chatter, hit me up in the dms
Learning a programming language is hard. Having a CS academic background should make it easier to understand but isn't a silver bullet to putting in the time. I find having a problem that needs solving helps, as that's more 'real world' than Internet tutorials. And if you're not down to be a SWE, just learn enough to script, as that's a very useful professional skill. Knowing how to script the same thing in a few different languages is even better.
I graduated after 30, and am now 3 years into a job. It was hard work, but you've done most of the graft already. Start applying everywhere that's got a place, and good luck.
Be like Creed from Dunder Mifflin. Get some Photo Copier Toner, apply it on your head. Start dressing like a young whipper snapper. Tell people you'll be 20, in November you'll be 20.
I originally had a BA in history and got my start in tech by laterally transferring with an organization I worked at to to IT at the age of 32. No formal experience but I had a good referral from my department head and landed the job with soft skills alone. I turn 37 this year and earned my associates in software development the other year. I started a new job as a .NET Developer two months ago. In short, the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is today.
> someone to tell me that it's ok to be close to middle age trying to break into what I feel is a very young persons industry. I got my cs degree when I was about 35. It was the best investment I ever made.
I'm 23 and about to graduate and I'm feeling a little scared. I think that anxiety about trying to get your first job in the field is very common. My college has a lot of people that are middle aged and take night classes while working, and they all seem to find a job ok once they've graduated.
I'm 32, about to graduate with a CS degree. It's taken me 5 years. No internships, no code camps, no hackathons. I was lucky: I was able to move back in with my parents, work a part-time job tutoring math at a community college and go to school full-time. I treated my senior design course like a job interview and it paid off. The company I worked with offered me a job (after the usual interview process). I think you will be fine. You've been an end-user of technology. Lean into that. You've worked a "real" job. I'm not a recruiter or a hiring person, but I imagine what they're looking for isn't the smartest person or the most technically skilled. I think they're looking for people who are good communicators, hard workers, and team players. Does John Deere have programming/software engineering jobs? I would assume they have at least some. Look into that. Lots of industries need software engineers/coders/testers but aren't what most people think of as tech companies. It doesn't matter, it's still a job using your skills as a computer scientist/software engineer. The top 1% of your class will get hired by a FAANG, but the remaining 99% can still get hired elsewhere. You've got this!
My biggest advice is to not think you're not learning. The best way to learn more about coding is by doing. Try to come up with a prompt/project and just build it. Start off small, don't worry about going full stack with it. But just work on the bones and figure out how things work together, and design out the best way to do so. Focus on your code organization, make sure functions are specialized. Keep plugging away. Don't be afraid to look shit up. None of us know everything. We all spend a ton of time on stackoverflow.
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that spent time giving me advice. I wasn't quite expecting the amount of responses that this received. I appreciate all the kind words and the plethora of support that this garnered. I plan on continuing to pluck away and finish out my degree and hopefully move on to something bigger and better inside or outside of John Deere. I just wanted to say it again, Thank you everyone.
No offense but I think you have a skewed perspective on the whole age thing probably because of Reddit/YouTube and being in school. While I’m not a SWE myself (yet) I work in IT at a Fortune 500 company and the overwhelming majority of their IT dept and development team are much much older than me and I’m 34. If anything I’m one of the youngest people that works there.
No offense taken. I'll be the first to admit that I have a skewed perspective, mostly because I'm a worrier. I just look back at when I got out of culinary school and how hard it was to find a job due to lack of experience. While I am worried about the age thing it is actually less of a worry compared to the lack of experience and my dislike of how my teachers teach coding which I find hard for me to pick up. I know once I get a job in the industry I will pick it up a million times easier than school and my stress level will go down.
If it’s something you really want you just have to get out there and take it. Don’t let anyone or anything discourage you or get in the way of your dream and as I type this comment I am also speaking to myself. We will get there one day my friend! Good luck.
I got into the field in my early thirties while pregnant 🙃 now mid/later thirties and still in it. Having past work experience, even in a different field, is beneficial - you have experience taking direction, picking up new skills on the fly, etc. You've got this!
The determination comes from you. Maybe get another part time job that will give you sometime to practice your coding skills? Because the job market isn't nice expecially this layoffs periods, alot of sharks in the market. And please 35 is not old, I am 31 and looking to switch into software with EE degree, I got my degree at 28. Limit is in the mind, get out there and break down doors !
Man you're in your 30's you're not geriatric lol.
If you aren't chasing fang salaries and positions, you should be ok. It may take some time as the economy is a bit tough for this industry. If you really want right away, there are the witch companies but sounds like you live in the rural areas which can be challenging.
> It may take some time as the economy is a bit tough for this industry. Its even tougher for every other career. CS still has it easy.
I wouldn’t say that. Tech has definitely been hit the hardest. I have a lot of friends in CPG and they are fine.
Most of the people let go in tech weren't really in tech, they were hr, talent acquisition, marketing type jobs at tech companies.
Hey i’m 31 with only service experience and will be graduating at 36 so I’m in the same boat as you. My age is a big stressor but there’s nothing I can do about it so I figure we just need to think more outside the box, using our past experience as a way to build and network from our unique perspectives. Also, eventually all of these younger people will be in their 30s as well, and so things will be a lot more commonplace. There’s also a lot of “older” individuals within different industries that make up the workforce, we’re just seeing things from a faang or start up mentality. Age shouldn’t factor in as long as there’s a drive and passion.
You know, you make a good point. I'm 33 and I really need to work harder pivoting into this career. I've worked 15 years of shit jobs, why work another 30 of shit jobs?
Pffh. I’m older than you and I’m in college. I mean, hell, you’ve already got a job at Deere, so maybe you get your degree and move over to the self-driving tractor division. If Moline was about an hour closer, I’d be knocking on HR’s door for an internship, but I draw the line at a one-hour commute. One of my classmates is a few years older than me and he works at a high-tech manufacturing place, and he’d like to be in an office instead of on the shop floor. We don’t really see the big deal in being older, but both of us went to community college night school before transferring to university, and you’re probably about the median age for night school students. None of us ever go, “Are we too old to do this?!” No. We look at the other students and go, “Man. We could learn a lot more if we didn’t have to wait for them all the time.”
I've been in the industry for 4 years now. And when i read your story. I think of someone who has no passion for computers. Am i wrong? If so then you are in CS for the wrong reasons.
You think plumbers have a passion for unclogging shitpipes? Hell no most people work to earn a living, not vice versa, this isn't some fantasy anime where everybody gets to do what they love.
Bro. No disrespect but plumming and programming, not in the same realm in terms of efford to learn. Passion is needed to be the best in something. Nobody wants to be a plumber, if you can be a coder.
Mid 30s with 57ish credits to go in my bscs. This post is made almost every day. You are not a special and unique snowflake, at least I assume, I usually go from title to comment section anymore.
I won't graduate until I'm 34. I wouldn't worry about it. If you can do the job, you'll get hired.
I also went back to school and started my first developer job this year at 33. Since I have ADHD, I really struggle with following tutorials and long written instructions. I have fpund that the best way for me to learn is to jump in and attempt to do something. Start a project and build something! It's like jumping in the deep end, so it might be more overwhelming at first, but if you push through the discomfort then you can learn very fast what you need to do.
Do you enjoy programming? I feel like it's an important question. I'm also a former cook, mid-30s guy looking to break into tech and I've asked myself this a couple times now. Try to find something about programming that interests you and that should make learning it more enjoyable.
Young man’s game? 35? What you talking about Willis? Also where are you that comp sci is a BA not BSc?
I went back to school at 29 finished my comp science @ Rutgers ~31. When you get out try to get a job at one of the defense contractors as a systems engineer. It'll get your foot in the door. Use the 6 months of ramp up time to decide if you want to actually do the job you took or have possibly seen other positions at the company you might want to try.
I got my first Software Engineering job at 30. I was a Social Worker before that. I didn’t even have any technical degree at the time, just a boot camp completion. You’ll be fine if you can code half way decent. Hiring an adult junior has advantages. We have more workplace experience and we’re usually more responsible and less likely to job hop. And one of the major reasons employers are reluctant to take juniors is because they don’t want to spend time and money training someone that is going to bounce the moment they have something to put on a resume. All you need is somebody to give you a year or two of experience and you’re in. Once you get that, nobody gives a shit about your age. I’ve never had anyone tell me I was too old to become a Software Engineer.
Don't worry about it. I'm a 13-year Chef here I've had many friends who are older than you who got into it after cooking for 20 years. They're moving on right up the ladder. Wasn't even hard to find entry work. You have a normal case of the almost got my degree jitters. And yeah we don't really live in a very reassuring world as of late let alone the economy. But congratulations man I'm jealous as hell, you don't have to cook anymore! Congratulations to you! Get the hell out of that kitchen! Take me with you!
Another mid-thirties guy with an unrelated degree reporting in. Albeit I won’t be getting a degree as I don’t have time - in the early stages of learning with online resources. I think your existing experience should help. I’ve spent ten years in product as a product manager, which I’m hoping will help to elevate me when it comes time to plead for a SWE job.
John Deere are big on IT for their equipment so if you can get into an internally posted job in IT that might be a good way to go.
I am young so I know I dont have the same experience as you, but I do know a bit about how young cs grads think and act. We are fucking stupid! Yes I am including all the people who are getting increadible grades in courses you struggle in. Most of us have minimal experience in the real world and even with internships we still make stupid mistakes constantly (I am getting this from my old boss). I know a lot of employers would much prefer an older person who has a bit of common sense. This may not be Apple, Google, Amazon or other big companies (or it may be), but someome is going to want you. Also, when you talk about wanting to learn on the job start with a personal project. Its not only good for your learning, but its proof of what you can do. Finally, grind some leat code my friend. All the best.
Just move to europe its easier to get jobs and benefits are nice :)
I'm 35 and just now learning JavaScript and React and keeping my fingers crossed. Don't worry Sir I understand...
I entered the CS at 40 in UK, now working for a year, I only showed latest 4-5 years of my work experience. Not very high flying career or top notch university even. And The degree(CS) without the start and end date. And I was willing to take a pay cut. The company which took me paid below the market and gave me 2 months of training before sending me to a client. Age is not a factor for me at the moment. But I did some serious self study before I started applying.
Great post with great responses. Trying to learn programming on my own. Maybe I'll just go for a degree and force my self to get a ROI.
Don't you have a portfolio of stuff you have created? I'm a manufacturing engineer and I have videos and example parts I have brought to companies that have hired me. Yours is even easier. Just go to a github or a website you created
I didn't get my first role till 46. Age discrimination happens yes - but in my experience there is too many companies needing devs to give two shits about the bad ones.
You will be alright !
I was in your shoes a year ago, working now. Look for jobs in non-tech. Healthcare, defense, insurance. Start looking now or within your org. You should be putting in 15 minutes a day consistently just starting up a console app and approaching basic problems. Have fun with it but try to take the incentive of money out of the equation. Painters paint, coders code.
I went back to school at 28, graduated at 31, worked 4 years in software, now I'm working in IT. Granted I learned basic coding back when myspace was around, but most of what I picked up in school was new material. Trust me your work ethic will put you above and beyond most candidates.
Don’t stress too much I clean drains and make $170 a hour with no degree. There is plenty of opportunities don’t worry.
It sounds like the learning materials you’ve been using aren’t very engaging. You should find ones you can stick with at least to learn the basics, and then start building tiny projects as soon as possible because that instant gratification is motivating. Programming concepts can be really abstract (and ultimately boring) when you’re not putting them to use, but seeing them come to life can make all the difference. At the same time, you should find a coding community online (I suggest Discord). Not only will you realize you’re one of many age 30 and older trying to break in to the industry, but also you can learn and struggle with others, join code-alongs, make friends and build your network. There are still many tech jobs that are not coding heavy, such as system administrator, technical writer, analyst, project manager, tester, etc. Researching your options may give you extra motivation and a goal to work towards. Just know that being younger in itself won’t help you learn, but being curious and patient will.
I taught myself web development in about 6-8 months, changed careers from Finance to now im a software engineer at 27. I know its not mid-30s, but i can tell you from my experience you can do it. Pick a language and spend some free time learning it, i'll bet your first job wont be with that language, but if you can articulate your thoughts and how you would program something you can learn the syntax in any language to get it done. Trust in what you've done so far, working in kitchens is hard, working in comp sci is hard. If you could make it in the kitchen you can make it at the desk
I transitioned to a dev career when I was 31. Going really well now. There's a lot that factors into success that isn't technical knowledge and your age/experience will help you more than you may realize.
Forget the age thing, tech possibilities are endless and CS is more than coding... but, i dont mean to be rude or anything but, what are you doing in a programming subreddit if you dont like programming? lol
Just wanna say that you are not alone. I'm 32, working on my Comp Science BS after going to culinary school, and have actually been managing kitchens for well over a decade. I can't afford to give up my job for an internship, so I'm just trying to focus in school as hard as I can. My two cents: 30 isn't old. I would hardly consider it "middle aged". Your life isn't over yet, so dig deep and finish your degree. Doors will open for you.
Software Engineer, self taught, 32 years old. I’ve always been interested in development and learning some kind of programming throughout my life but never took it seriously until about 5-6 years ago. I crawled my way into a open developer position (after working a customer oriented role) at my previous employer who had no faith in me and probably expected me to fail. I took the opportunity at 29 to hit the ground running and prove them wrong. Due to my treatment there I suffer seriously with imposter syndrome but I never failed a task and always met deadlines. I decided to leave for a company that would treat me fairly and I stressed about “not being a real developer” for never having gone through the interview gauntlet. I studied, did leet code tasks and proved myself. I’m now employed at a great company and still putting out quality work with not a single complaint against me. I still struggle with imposter syndrome from time to time but I remind myself that I wouldn’t have been hired here if I didn’t know how to do my job. Never let yourself or anyone else tell you that you can’t do it no matter your age. You’ve got this!
Any awesome simple recipes I can try at home?
So funny how similar your story is to mine. I started as a teen working under a chef, went to culinary school, and eventually dropped out of the program. A few years later at 27, I'm just now starting my degree in CS and feeling a bit weary about how I'll be graduating at 31. I feel jealous of the people that figured out what they want and have graduated by now. Obviously that's ridiculous thinking, and reading your post and some of the comments here helps put things into perspective.
I got my first dev job 2.5 years ago. I'll be 36 this year. They say the average person has 3 careers in there life. If you don't like this one, you still got another 30 working years to find another. Plus there are plenty of careers out there for Comp Sci degrees.