It was in 2017. I wrote a lot about it at the time:
https://rodrigohgpontes.github.io/It was a different moment, not sure if better or worse for junior developers getting a first job. It was before companies were “desperate” to hire software developers, like about a couple of years ago, which made them hire more junior devs. But, it was also before the current hiring market contraction (as a proxy see a post mentioning the low number of posts in Who is Hiring thread). But, it was also before remote work was more common (it was effectively impossible to be hired remotely as a junior back then, now it is just hard). Not sure how all of this balances out.
I wouldn’t do anything different. I still vouch for not paying anything to learn to code. I used freeCodeCamp and it only got better since then. To see how I did it, the blog is a good source.
About not having a traditional background it both hurt and helped me.
I just reread this passage on my blog that I had forgotten:
”People will undervalue you. Chances are not all interviewers will be nice. On a promising application for a cool job, I got a call from the founder. He said something in the lines of "You know, you have to understand that you are competing with a lot of young guys who are coding since they are twelve. You have a lot of catch up to do. You have to expect an intern salary and even so work harder to show you can become a good developer. Because I'm not sure you can." Maybe he was just using some shitty negotiation technique to hire me on a low salary, maybe it was ageism, maybe he thought I was delusional on my aspirations and decided to give me a lecture to be more down to earth. Whether he was stingy, mean or patronizing, it was definitely a place that I wanted distance.”
So it hurted in this case. I also read some discouraging comments here on HN on a thread where I said I want to go from scratch to hired in 4 months. But, it also helped get my first job. I was hired to work a small team that one senior developer that was only 20 years old at the time. He was technically worth of being considered a senior, but had to improve in other areas. They saw me being a 37yo junior developer with a lot of professional experience and good communication skills a good match for him. Also, they valued my diligence and dedication on changing careers. Saw that as evidence that I would be continuously learning. So, my advice is to be able to demonstrate in an interview that previous professional experience will be useful in the new technical job. How do, depends on the background and strengths of each one.
I do think my blog has useful advice still in general.
I do think it is a good career change and possible at 42yo, and I would encourage them. The only small caveat is that they need to realize early if they “enjoy” coding. It is important. Few people are capable of committing to the continuous learning demanded to have a good career in software development “only” for the money.
Good luck to them!