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At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

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Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#31

Post by saluki »

mfalcon wrote: post #7
saluki wrote: post #6

I made the switch from civil engineer to full stack developer in my thirties. I knew some HTML, CSS and PHP and had been setting up websites for family and friends. I started freelancing in addition to my day job. Moved to creating PHP web applications and taking on more and more advanced work. I slowly picked up larger projects, better clients until I got to the point where I was freelancing full time. Now I have a…

May I ask why you made that kind of switch? I'm a SW Engineer and I always liked the idea of being a civil eng.

I always enjoyed programming, was fascinated with startups, technology and SaaS so it was something interesting so I started building websites and then web applications while working as a civil engineer.

I enjoyed civil engineering too, but there wasn't a lot of room for innovation, lots of things are cookie cutter in civil engineering, there is some room for creativity but not like developing web applications.

I did develop two software add-ons for Civil 3D that were released by Autodesk that gave me a taste of software development.

Oh yeah there was also the slight economic collapse where all development and construction stopped, civil engineering firms cut 75% of their staff and salaries stalled and shrank. So it wasn't really a choice I was just lucky I had the skills in place to make the leap over to software development. It wasn't easy but I'm much happier as a developer.

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#32

Post by dnautics »

On hiring:

I'm currently 35 and spent many years in biochemistry, and did a lot of coding on my own personal time (and am doing contract work currently). One of the frustrations is that going through the hiring process, I get a lot of accolades from the interviewers, and seem to do well to extraordinary on coding challenges - but there's something that I'm not "matching right". In several cases, I've been told that they were seeking "senior devs" even though I've been referred via an agency that should have filtered out all but "junior dev" positions.

I suggest getting insight into the "unwritten rules" of hiring, which is what I'm going to start to ask about. There is a myth that the valley (or indeed the world) is a meritocracy, but in reality, you have to 'figure out the game'. Good luck!

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#34

Post by leavingreddit »

dnautics wrote: post #32

On hiring: I'm currently 35 and spent many years in biochemistry, and did a lot of coding on my own personal time (and am doing contract work currently). One of the frustrations is that going through the hiring process, I get a lot of accolades from the interviewers, and seem to do well to extraordinary on coding challenges - but there's something that I'm not "matching right". In several cases, I've been told that t…

Wise words, I think I need to 'figure out the game' myself. Currently on the inside of the tech industry.

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#35

Post by zhte415 »

kisna72 wrote: post #17

I would highly highly recommend you to find problems you have seen in accountancy world that you can solve with programming. You could get both of both world, satisfaction of work you want to do while benefiting from your industry experience. No programmer (not in accountancy world) here knows about the issues and inefficiencies about it than you do, and you probably have a bunch of contacts you can test your ideas o…

This. With 10 years in accountancy you have embedded within you a deep understanding of business problems that a tech person outside your field simply doesn't have.

So seek synergy. Pick a small problem, and solve it. Something useful is far more impressive than something flash, and can be quantified on a CV pretty well. Set a goal, and that should be something where multiple skills are combined.

Could be tough balancing time and conflicting needs, that's probably your biggest challenge. But you have your advantage of knowing something in-and-out, and learning as you get older gets faster and faster.

Don't forget backend. Also seek some understanding of creating RESTful APIs using a related framework, like if you're interested in front-end, probably JS, learn a JS back-end. I picked hapi on node, and really liked it.

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#36

Post by gaspoweredcat »

nope, most any programming language can be learned in a relatively short time, it requires only one thing dedication, as long as you care enough about doing it theres no upper age limit.

as for not being able to compete that is up to you, as long as you have solid skills and can prove it you your age wont matter.

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#37

Post by nashashmi »

sidibe wrote: post #20
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be honest I think you can find those sort of criticisms in just about any industry, you can certainly find them in the software world.

Also CE->SWE here, if you are criticising these issues in the software world you will hate being a civil engineer. While they are in some corners of software development, it's basically all there is in civil engineering. Civil engineering is already figured out. In the first world, what you are supposed to do for most situations is not only almost entirely mapped out but is actual regulations. That's great for societ…

Wow! You just brought back memories of a line in a paper I wrote my first week in Civil Engineering college ... "a boring field that is 1000 years old where all opportunities of innovation has already occurred". But when I was thinking of going into CoE or CS the dot com bubble burst and I had to reconsider.

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#38

Post by id122015 »

Like other said, the answer is no. But think twice! You might have the most lucky career. I dream of a job like accountancy where you do the same thing every day. In IT you solve a new problem every day, and I don't know about deadlines but ask them.

The way I see it might not be how you see it. Your question reminds me about the joke with the writer who said he wants to become a doctor after retirement. - The conclusion of the joke was that to start a new career takes time.

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#39

Post by spiderman168 »

Everything people say is correct, you can reinvent yourself. I hit 40 this year and was looking to make a career move but depending on your home situation may not be feasible. If I were to start again in a different field it would mean a dramatic pay cut to start at the bottom. There was no way to make a lateral move in a new field at the same pay I was making, so in the end I had no choice but to stay in my same field even though my passion was somewhere else. I do agree it's not too late but remember you'd be starting at the bottom again and do you have the time and patience to make it back to where you are now

Re: At the age of 38, am I too late to change career to front end dev work?

#40

Post by spiderman168 »

Everything people say is correct, you can reinvent yourself. I hit 40 this year and was looking to make a career move but depending on your home situation may not be feasible. If I were to start again in a different field it would mean a dramatic pay cut to start at the bottom. There was no way to make a lateral move in a new field at the same pay I was making, so in the end I had no choice but to stay in my same field even though my passion was somewhere else. I do agree it's not too late but remember you'd be starting at the bottom again and do you have the time and patience to make it back to where you are now
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