Of course! I was a commodities trader until I was blown up (financially) on 9/11. Then in the depths of despair I picked up software development as a profession. It was a straightforward transition since I had a physics/math(comp sci) major and, uh, dabbled a bit since the ZX81.
Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
201–210 of 234 posts
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#202I'd say "Yes, I did," but my employment in my 20s wasn't exactly a career. I started doing tech support at 30, moved into programming, and have been doing that since.
To answer your questions: Sure, there is hope; there is certainly a path, but I am not in a position to recommend one; again, I don't know; yes, I'm pretty sure they will.
For the last one, and looking at gensym's reply, "someone like you", meaning you as you are as you post, maybe not. But then you need to find a way not to be like that, without confidence and motivation.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#203I 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…
Nice response! I agree. As someone who has also done a great deal of hiring, having sincere interest is just so important in the big, wide world of software engineering. So now I tell people this… 1. Live for yourself not your mom or dad or societal expectations. 2. Provided you don’t have any responsibilities besides yourself, do whatever you want for a profession. 3. It’s completely OK to have a job that you can st…
super lovely response appreciate you and your contribution friend
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#204I started my Saas business in my 30s and ultimately it has been enough for me to be financially free. I’ve run it full time since 2005. Yes, I’m in my 50s now and still running a saas and developing new software. 30s, yes you can start over, and it’s even still young to do so.
Edit: I was not a software developer professionally before I started over.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#205I had a modest success when I was 19, struck a gold as an early employee and got rewarded nicely, quit the company, droped out of the school and started to create small side projects. Then when 4HWW book appeared I started travel around the world and just enjoyed the life, drink beers and did all the digital nomadic cliche stuff long before the term become well known. Then my 30s showed up. Money long gone, pasive in…
"Well, what can you do, right?"
I think this sentence somehow sums up the vibe that led to your eventual success. Congrats!
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#206If you look at this moment 10 years from now, you'd be surprised how early it is for you. Eric Yuan founded Zoom at the age of 41. David Baszucki was 41 years old when he created Roblox with cofounder Erik Cassel, who was 36 at the time. Stan Lee created his first hit comic, "The Fantastic Four," just shy of his 39th birthday, in 1961. Samuel L. Jackson has been a Hollywood staple for years now, but he'd had only bit…
This! I had long put off a degree I wanted to pursue. At 32 years old, I was thinking, it will take 4 years and I'll be 36 when I get the degree. My mom, of all people, said, well if you don't get the degree, you'll still be 36 in 4 years. :-)
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#207I've got some answers to your questions:
Q1. Is there any hope for someone like me?
A1. Yes, just don't be a victim.
Q2. Is there any reasonable path to starting over?
A2. Yes, depending on how you define "reasonable." Also, you don't have to "start over."
Q3. Where do I even begin?
A4. Start with something small that interests you. "Follow your weird" (http://lib.ru/STERLINGB/story.txt).
Q4. Will tech companies ever consider hiring someone like me?
A4. Depends on the company; depends on you and how you "pitch" yourself. Again, don't play the victim.
Who the f*k am I?
I'm 59 years old and I've been working in this industry since 1988 and I sincerely believe you make your own opportunities.
I guess you can say that I've had 5 careers over the past 35 years.
* 1988-2014 - Help Desk -> Software Developer
* 2014-2023 - Project Manager, Scrum Master
* 2009-2015 - Smartphone Software Developer (P/T)
* 2016-2022 - Startup Co-Founder & CTO (P/T)
* 2018-2020 - Open-Source Project Administrator & Developer (P/T)
I don't have a Computer Science degree though I did attend RPI, left after less than a year, and ended up getting a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Film & Television from NYU. I've read a few books and taken a few classes but a majority of my programming, software development, and project management skills I've learned on my own, sometimes at my day job; sometimes in the early mornings and evenings after the 925.
I've been very lucky over the years but I've also tried to be prepared when new opportunities come around (which includes seeing them for what they are and what they might be). Everything builds on what came before.
Right now, my next plan, my 6th "career," is to continue the project manager-ing since it pays the bills but move back into programming the things I wanted to code 42 years ago--games, interactive fiction--and learn some new stuff like HTML/CSS/JS and machine learning. I don't think I'll end up programming for other people or other companies but we'll see...
Your experience is worth something but only if it's worth something to you. And it can be worth something to someone else at some other company.
Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#208Bottom line, don't ask. Just do it. You lost X number of years. It's a fact. But that does not mean you can't start now. If you can't figure it out go to a career counselor and let them help you. The last thing you want is to be in the same situation a few years from now -wondering what to do next. The sooner you start the faster you'll get to your goal.
My suggestion is to sit down and imagine your best future. Where do you want to be in 20 years? Then figure out what you need to do to get there. Good luck!
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#209I 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…
Where do people actually find career coaches that arent a sham?
Not necessarily a career coach, but as a new software engineer I have had a few users on HN take the time to talk through career decisions over zoom with me. It actually led to my first job out of college.
Re: Ask HN: Has anyone successfully started their career over in their 30s?
#210I 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…
This question is getting asked pretty often, so I think perhaps dang should consider some monthly who's mentoring / wants to be mentored threads as a service to the community. Especially given the rough times ahead...
I think this is a great idea.