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Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

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Re: Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

#11

Post by dezeiner »

lacker wrote: post #9

Can you code or are you looking for a non-coding role? If you can code, the path back into tech from a lost decade is pretty straightforward - practice up on coding interviews, spam enough companies with resumes to get interviews, then do well on the interviews. If you can ace a coding interview then people will overlook time in your past that you spent unemployed or working for failed companies. If you can't code an…

I can't code, unfortunately.

My goal from the very start has been to be a self-starting product builder. I worry it's too late at this point as I don't know who'll take me under their wing at this age.

Re: Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

#12

Post by dezeiner »

usgroup wrote: post #7

Is money a thing for you? It this a serious hobby or do you actually need it to live? If you want to become a PO at 40 I think you’ll have to somehow find roots for if from the experience you do have. Else do you really want to start out as a junior analyst and work your way up?

Thankfully, I've got a bit of runway to figure things out.

My ultimate goal is to be an entrepreneur by way of product building. But I'm beginning to question if I'm fundamentally not wired for it.

Re: Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

#13

Post by mattbrewsbytes »

dezeiner wrote: post #4
mattbrewsbytes wrote: post #3

It sounds like your goal is to be a Product Owner/Manager. I think your best career path is to start with Business Analyst or Project Coordinator types of roles at a SaaS company that builds products and is making profit. They will have Product Managers and likely some career options as you get more experience. The difference with Product Manager vs. Project Manager I think is really a Product Manager will have to ac…

Thanks for the guidance. As an alternative to PMP / Scrum certification, would it be worth looking at Product Management courses directly? Would I be making too big a leap in skill development?

I took a MS level project management class that was geared towards PMP and the instructor had run massive projects to build out factories before teaching. I don’t know what base you’re starting from but if there are courses that seem relevant, research the department/school they are under to see what people that finish those courses end up doing. See if the instructors have real world experience and if you jump into that, aim to build your network along the way. I have no idea if they do product mgmt but MIT and Stanford have some of their curriculum free online or post videos from classes. You could get a feel for the content and see if it would help, if thats available.

I think you’re underestimating your experience at a startup. Bad experiences really help solidify what not to do and the path ahead is easier to see.

Re: Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

#14

Post by readonthegoapp »

dezeiner wrote: post #11
lacker wrote: post #9

Can you code or are you looking for a non-coding role? If you can code, the path back into tech from a lost decade is pretty straightforward - practice up on coding interviews, spam enough companies with resumes to get interviews, then do well on the interviews. If you can ace a coding interview then people will overlook time in your past that you spent unemployed or working for failed companies. If you can't code an…

I can't code, unfortunately. My goal from the very start has been to be a self-starting product builder. I worry it's too late at this point as I don't know who'll take me under their wing at this age.

Not sure what coding has to do with product management -- unless you are planning on building an IDE or some very developer-specific tool or something.

I went thru at least one of the product mgmt courses on linkedin and i thought it was great-ish. two guys. one guy was hella funny. i figure if you can go thru that and understand the gist of what they're talking about, and can talk about how prod mgmt can or should be done, just the high-level concepts, then you're good to go -- go get a job.

product mgr. product owner. junior. product analyst. etc.

and, i thought i heard 'Prof G' give some good advice the other day -- he told some older woman who was concerned about getting a job while older -- "well, go get a job -- if you can get a job, then that's the proof, just like it is proof if you can _not_ get a job." -- i.e. don't worry about x y z -- just go get a job.

my biggest problem as a wantrepreneur is i just don't want to do product management for anybody else but myself anymore. :-)

i also think finding a mentor is a great idea. and just like-minded idea-y/imagineer-y/startup-y-type folks -- entrepreneur meetups, etc.

Re: Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

#15

Post by usgroup »

dezeiner wrote: post #12
usgroup wrote: post #7

Is money a thing for you? It this a serious hobby or do you actually need it to live? If you want to become a PO at 40 I think you’ll have to somehow find roots for if from the experience you do have. Else do you really want to start out as a junior analyst and work your way up?

Thankfully, I've got a bit of runway to figure things out. My ultimate goal is to be an entrepreneur by way of product building. But I'm beginning to question if I'm fundamentally not wired for it.

I think be prepared to accept that — you’ll find orders of magnitudes more joy when you find the thing which you are wired for.

Re: Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

#16

Post by aintmeit »

Hey hey! I've met people who match the description in your post, and over time they've rocketed to success. Coding is not as important to a product's success as people make it to be. If you think you're good at coding, the furthest you'll go is architect or principal developer. I'm not saying this to reframe or control the narrative. I'm saying this because of fact. Some people are simply inevitable. Others?

Copycats are better off learning how to invest in themselves through introspection. You know the saying that goes "Every time you point a finger at someone else, there are three pointing back in your own direction"? Because character is destiny, the best an imitator can do is desperately say things as if uttering the magic words will achieve anything.

FYI, 'if' is a conjunctive adverb, which doesn't require a preceding comma since it's not a coordinating conjunction. Improving the way you write will improve your thinking process :) As the poster says, "Hang in there, kitty!".

Re: Ask HN: How to restart tech career from scratch at 36?

#17

Post by kirso »

usgroup wrote: post #15
dezeiner wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thankfully, I've got a bit of runway to figure things out. My ultimate goal is to be an entrepreneur by way of product building. But I'm beginning to question if I'm fundamentally not wired for it.

I think be prepared to accept that — you’ll find orders of magnitudes more joy when you find the thing which you are wired for.

This is a process though... It takes lots of experiments & self-enquiry to reach this point, particularly evaluating the experiences but I believe this is the most rewarding thing that happens in life when we understand it.

Seems like everyone wants to IPO these days, until you ask them what would happen if nobody else would know about their success and they wouldn't be allowed to communicate it.

Anyways, PM roles can be great but are also not for everyone. Best thing is to try and see, same with product building.

For self-reflection I recommend the Life Design Stanford course or Self-authoring by Jordan Peterson.

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