141–150 of 190 posts
I’m 37 year old wanting to unlearn computer science, let’s make a deal.
A bit too much romanticizing the field of software for me... I'm not sure this will really help you rediscover yourself.
That said, I know someone who started learning programming around 43. They enrolled in a local government-sponsored technical program that partnered with companies to offer internships. They trained hard, took an internship, and worked their way in — even though it took them over 3 years before they saw any meaningful income.
Now, about five years later, they’re doing well: they’ve earned several certifications, built a strong cv, and landed work at a company with a big name. On paper, they look impressive — even compared to me, and I’ve been programming since I was 13 and working professionally since 17.
But here's the thing: that path takes grit. They didn’t save much during those early years and had to stick it out for a long time before things clicked. Unless you’ve got real motivation and curiosity driving you, it might be a frustrating ride. If you do have that passion, though — go for it. Just do it with eyes open, and don’t expect shortcuts. this guy was passionate about money and he was always crap on interviews but he went through the internship route and now he's doing fine. I started at 13 but I didn't start making six figures until I was 20.
Remember: Even Hodor could not clear an interview these days, despite being perfectly aligned to his job role, but he got hired long-term via practical execution. and well, spoiler alert- his fate is pretty much every programmer's fate. To be eaten alive by.... LLMs?
I didn't draw a single piece of PNG until i am 38. Now i am about to release my second solo developed game. My art is nothing great, but a year a ago wouldn't even believe i could draw a single sprite. https://www.instagram.com/arcadenest_games/ I find my age to be great period to learn new skills. It is never too late.
I want to call out something here. I’m all for learning to code at any age but companies need to stop being ageist and discriminatory towards older coders and workers. I’ve started to see this myself. I’m certain it’s ageism. To the OP, if you’re passionate about it, don’t let anyone/thing stand in your way.
I was let go from a large multi-national in my mid-40's. Went contracting and worked every day I wanted to until I retired.
My whole life I’ve known I was an engineer. However, for a great chunk of the early years I couldn’t express that and did really badly at school.
I just learnt at my own pace and eventually worked as an electronics engineer in the broadcast industry. Then quit that and moved into sw dev.
One piece of advice is to just build stuff, fail and learn.
Good luck
That tells me that you have had some fairly good matriculated schooling. I have been doing heavy-duty software engineering for decades, and am not qualified to teach math, science, or, surprisingly, computers, to primary students.
"Computer Science" isn't really "programming." It's the theory behind things, not just implementation. I don't consider myself to be a "computer scientist," although I know a lot of the stuff they do. My focus has always been on deliverables. In some cases, that's more valuable for getting paid, in other cases (like in academia, or the R&D sections of companies), maybe not so much.
I'm 63, and still learn new stuff every day. I choose to concentrate on deliverables, as opposed to theory, but that's me.
I would suggest that if you want to be at the pointy end, then it's not really about delivering product. That's not always using the latest $BUZZWORD technology, or giving up, when it gets annoying and boring. For me, I find great satisfaction, in delivering end-user product.
For many others, here, they are far more interested in developing theoretical lattices and engines; which is extremely valuable. We need all types, to advance the craft. You also get to play with the best toys.
I would suggest thinking about what the end goal is, then focusing the learning on that.
That's a recipe for soul-crushing long-term unemployment.
TBH journeyman computer work today is plumbing with tools that go stale fast, or perhaps making tools to do the same thing better with less.
By contrast, medicine is now the biggest employer, largely because it's difficult to automate that kind of personal touch, and b/c in the US the population is aging. While being a provider involves training & certification, there are a number of provider-adjacent jobs in logistics and related counseling (e.g., genetic counselors, IT) where you can use your people and explaining skills. All of medicine now is highly technical, so there's plenty to learn, and that knowledge is much more interesting and relevant than CS or programming.
Starting from work with high personal contact and trust (waiting, teaching) which cannot be outsourced, you want to move to work that is highly-technical, highly-ageist, first in line for disruption, with high barriers to entry, and highly-competitive (where you can compete with programmers world-wide for a job)? That's a recipe for soul-crushing long-term unemployment. TBH journeyman computer work today is plumbing…
> …not aimed towards landing a job as a software developer