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Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?

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Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?

#11

Post by gensym »

I know lots of people who have started their careers over in their 30s. My mom, for instance, went to school to become a respiratory therapist. My dad was in his 30s when he learned to be a tool and die maker. Both of them needed formal training.

I've hired people who have switched careers by going to dev bootcamps, but their situation was different because they hadn't had a period of downtime. In general, though, I love hiring career switchers. They've demonstrated the ability to learn and adapt rather than just let momentum carry them on.

As someone who hires software engineers, here's my perspective on this question:

> -Will tech co’s ever consider hiring someone like me?

Based on your description right now, I probably wouldn't hire you. You sound like you are directionless. I love mentoring new engineers and cultivating their growth, but I need them to have the focus and the drive to do that growth, and the description you have here doesn't paint a picture of someone who would likely be successful at that.

However, if I were to see the resume of someone who spent their early 30s directionless and then figured out what they wanted to do and took the serious steps to do that with a record of setting ambitious but reasonable goals for themselves and hitting them, along with developing the beginning of the technical skills needed for the role, I'd be really excited to consider them.

I suggest you hire a career coach to explore your options; you're younger than you think. I wish you the best in figuring this out.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?

#14

Post by blahblah1234567 »

"- Where do I even begin?"

With logic:

- Pick a goal (AKA a destination)

- Find a map to achieve that goal (AKA a Roadmap)

- Ask a question regarding the above two points, to a search engine, such as "Roadmap to becoming "

For example, perhaps it's "Roadmap to becoming a Civil Law Attorney" or "Roadmap to becoming a Web App Developer"

If it's the latter, here's a good resource: https://roadmap.sh/

If you intend to educate yourself, search for "Resources for

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?

#16

Post by nicpottier »

You spent your 20s cutting your teeth on a failed startup. Lots and lots of people do that and it's a perfectly acceptable thing to have on a resume. I know people who have started in their 30s from never having programmed professionally at all and are now working at a FAANG company. The world is your oyster, go get it.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?

#18

Post by bonecrusher2102 »

Yes I did this. It was pretty tough but there is a way.

I was fired from a job in the media industry and decided to start over in tech. It was really a low point for me honestly; I can empathize I think with your post.

I found an entry-level job as a Scrum Master. The role gets a ton of hate, and some of the criticism is justified, but it helped me learn the tech world from the very bottom.

I spent about 4 years doing that. I did a lot of listening and learned an incredible amount from the development team. It was probably the most important thing for me -- whatever career you choose, find a way to start in the trenches with the folks doing the real work.

Then I became a Program Manager. That was really good because it helped me learn the delivery aspect, and get me plugged into the strategy aspect of the techbiz.

I should note here by this time that I had been really lucky in a couple of respects:

1. I found a company that was VERY good at developing their employees into new roles.

2. I found mentors and sponsors within that org that helped me to grow and sponsored me for new roles.

But after a few years learning the Program side, I transitioned to PM, where I am very, very, happy, and to be honest have a leg up on some of my peers because of my deep experience embedded with dev teams and understanding their struggles day to day, but also having to service the needs of the leadership/exec team as a PgM.

I guess I would sum this up by saying, it sucks, and it takes time, but it is 100% doable. I'm not exceptional in terms of brains or skills, which I don't mean as a knock to anything or anyone, but rather as a way of saying, "If I can do it, I really do believe others can too."

The thing to focus on are my 1 & 2 points above. Those are absolute game changes and IMO must-haves.

And LUCK again plays an unfortunately large part in all of this, I feel I must repeat. But I wish you the best of luck, and hope that my note gives you an amount of hope.

Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?

#19

Post by TnRHL »

As someone who works at a tech company and hires people, the key thing is motivation and passion for stuff. I see that you say you have no motivation and that is the only thing you really need to work on. Some of my most valuable people are not technically gifted - but they care about the product and work hard.

There's always hope. You could get some Python - perhaps start going through some Coursera courses (to show that you're actively learning, and will help reestablish your confidence - I've seen people quote numerous on-line courses and it's always a major plus) and try to get even a low-level job at a tech company, then work your way up. I regularly see manual QA people move to test automation, then move to working directly on products.

Even if you don't get a job at a 'tech' company, there is some sort of tech at all companies - and it's more important to be working in a field that you like and transfer to a more interesting company than to be coming from gig work.

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