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Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

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Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#11

Post by xivzgrev »

I did a career change as well. It can be hard if you need to -take a cut in pay/title -work on “lower level stuff”

You may compare yourself a lot to peers who did not do career changes.

My piece of advice is to be prepared for the mental challenge that comes with volatility, and focus on this question, “am I closer today than yesterday?”

Fortunately software engineering is such a high paying/status field you may not experience the same feelings. But I’m 4 years into my transition and i finally just recently have started feeling some footing under me / more secure.

Talk with people and really get a feel for the field, the good bad and ugly. It’s a lot of investment to switch that can be so worth it.

Do it on the side and see how much you enjoy it. I almost did software engineering as well and occasionally think about it, but I realized it can be incredibly frustrating / abstract at times and I didn’t like that. What will it be like for you?

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#12

Post by jnbiche »

hnuser987654321 wrote: post #5

I don't think you are too old. Many of my coworkers had erratic, non-technical careers (construction, military, fireman, etc) until their 30s. Just prove you can solve business problems using code. If I were to get into software again, I would completely ignore the hype and choose a robust set of technologies and exclusively master them. Namely, Java (Spring Boot), MySql, Jquery. These are some of the most mature and…

> Jquery

As a frontend developer (who's also old), I'm going to argue strongly against jQuery. I like jQuery. It's had its place. But it's on the way out. Your time would be much better spent learning vanilla JS (preferably ES5+ES6 but even just ES5 would be much better use of time than jQuery).

You can easily do anything with modern vanilla JS (and modern browser APIs like `document.querySelector` and `fetch` than you can with jQuery.

Otherwise, good advice, except I'm guessing you mean a "TODO List" app, not just a TODO list (and the concept of a todo list app may not be apparent to a non-dev, so: https://github.com/themaxsandelin/todo).

Also, I agree that the OP is not too old. After working for a few years as a software developer up to the dotcom bust, I went into health research for a while before returning to software. But I did manage to frequently use programming in my jobs, which made it easier to get back in. So I'd recommend trying to find a way to use some programming in the lab you work in before trying to switch, along with putting together some sample projects in Github.

Just be aware that you will run into ageism, and if you happen to deal with serious illness (as some of us do as we get older) and are out of work for more than a brief amount of time, that will be another big strike against you to overcome in the industry. You probably wouldn't face those to the same extent in research labs.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#13

Post by [deleted] »

hnuser987654321 wrote: post #5

I don't think you are too old. Many of my coworkers had erratic, non-technical careers (construction, military, fireman, etc) until their 30s. Just prove you can solve business problems using code. If I were to get into software again, I would completely ignore the hype and choose a robust set of technologies and exclusively master them. Namely, Java (Spring Boot), MySql, Jquery. These are some of the most mature and…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#14

Post by chrisgoman »

Develop any software for your domain (lab technician or microbiology) that solves a simple problem you see or encounter daily. Identify a problem in your current day job that can be solved with software like recording data in the lab, tracking supplies, etc. (nothing too complex) and come up with a solution (website to check-in/check-out, mobile app (?), etc.) and learn how to build it. It will not be perfect but you will have done something. Having domain experience will GREATLY make it easier to transition -- learning a new field and software at the same time is going to be rough.

https://sysadmincasts.com/episodes/51-mechanics-of-building-...

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#15

Post by wai1234 »

You don't mention WHY you want to get into software. If it's just because you think you can make a lot of money, that's a poor reason to switch careers. You also say you lack experience. Do you mean you have none at all? That would make my first question even more important.

If you have no experience at all, take an introductory software course at a local community college. An online course or how-to book would be a less ideal starting point. You will want more access to an instructor to get you past zero. Understand that you will also need some understanding of algebra and formal logic before you get very far, so if you are rusty or never had much math background, you might take a course in that too.

Getting your feet wet will help you understand what "software" means and if you have an aptitude for it. Only then, should you commit to at least 1-2 years of hard work in your spare time to get to a minimum set of skills that are employable. With patience, perseverance, and a bit of luck, you can get there even at 37.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#16

Post by austincheney »

> I feel I'm too old to ever get a job in the field.

I have been doing this a long time. There are stories about places that do discriminate on age, but I have never encountered this myself and its illegal to discriminate on the basis of age for people 40 and over, so I suspect this is rarer than many people will suggest.

Really, its all about attitude. If you are entitled and constantly look for things that are easy you will be treated as a beginner. If you have confidence and are ready to accept more challenging work at risk of failure you will be treated as more of an adult. Some people figure this out at an early age and some people never figure it out.

The above advise might sound like common sense. Perhaps in other programming disciplines it might be common sense. As a JavaScript developer all I ever hear about are people wanting to make things easier and panic if they aren't isolated to their single pet framework. Since these behaviors are the norm, in my line of work, it doesn't take much to stand out.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#17

Post by brianpgordon »

Step zero should be to see if you actually enjoy software development. It would suck to switch careers and find out that it's not a good fit for you.

I would suggest starting with Processing. It's a very simple programming language with very easy-to-use tools which was made specifically for learning by non-programmers. Just go through the video tutorials at https://hello.processing.org/ or at Khan Academy.

You may never use Processing again, but the concepts will carry over and it will give you a feel for what learning to program is like.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#18

Post by wittedhaddock »

Hi! I am a little biased because writing software, in my limited experience, can maybe have a similar likeness to being really great at the piano -- imagine being Beethoven and writing & playing music -- a flow state intense and expressive, but only because the skill in a moment in time very adequately matches the challenge.

One of the most underrated things I think about learning software, and I'm sure many things, is the ability to easily match yourself with a perfectly suited problem and feel the feedback very, very quickly... just make sure you can understand the basic grammar, like assignment (=) or keywords like 'let' and from that sentences will begin to cluster in your mind :)

And maybe as an easy practical thing, maybe don't add the whole weight of a label so early, and just enjoy some problems on https://projecteuler.net/ like you might enjoy playing with blocks or magnets as a kid

Have fun and enjoy the triumph, solving the problems can be very rewarding

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#19

Post by scott00 »

The first thing I would say is don't let your age stop you.

The next thing obviously is that you'll need to learn how to write software. I'd recommend you work through a few beginner tutorials and then pick a project and just start working on it. I don't have a huge sample size, but people I know who've started learning to write software because they wanted a problem solved and thought it could be done with software have generally succeeded in learning, while those who just have a vague desire to learn generally don't.

If you can't find a project that interests you, I'd look into boot camps or just going back to a traditional college for a degree in CS. Those paths will have the additional advantage of putting you at the start of a pretty clear pathway towards getting a job.

As far as finding a job, I suspect you can leverage your lab/bio background. Domain expertise is very useful in software development. Looking for jobs with companies that can use your background can help you compete with others who might have stronger software backgrounds.

Re: Ask HN: Where should I start as a 34-year-old switching to software as a career?

#20

Post by tenaciousDaniel »

chrisgoman wrote: post #14

Develop any software for your domain (lab technician or microbiology) that solves a simple problem you see or encounter daily. Identify a problem in your current day job that can be solved with software like recording data in the lab, tracking supplies, etc. (nothing too complex) and come up with a solution (website to check-in/check-out, mobile app (?), etc.) and learn how to build it. It will not be perfect but you…

^ to add to this, when you eventually start looking for jobs, try to find a job in a domain you understand.

I transitioned careers to programming when I was 28, and my first 2 jobs were in finance. I dgaf about finance and didn't understand it at all. Made it far, far more difficult for me than it otherwise would have been.

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