I think this is a great question! There is a lot of helpful advice in this post. First, let me just say I turned 38 so I feel like this question really is aimed at someone in my age group, but is also relevant for older individuals.
The challenge for me that exists is that it's harder to jump into IT at this age because you are up against people in the age of 20 and older that will be more attractive to a company. I also think that learning how to get past imposter syndrome will hold you back. There is also the advice that you just "DO IT" like Nike. I don't think it is that simple to just write some code, create an application, talk about it, and then get hired. You have to meet a certain profile or have the skills that a company is looking for. In some cases, you might not ever be the kind of profile the company wants.
I have been trying to break into a tech job since I was 26 with an Associate's degree in Computer Information Technology and started applying for everything that I could. Now, this was also around 2008 when the economy tanked and everyone felt the effects in the tech industry. I was interested in being a Java developer. Unfortunately, I could not pass the technical interviews or whiteboarding challenges that were expected back then and so I decided to make a switch from a job as Java developer to a job in Web Development. But it may just be my own experience, however, I think it is definitely harder for someone to break into software development over 30.
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I think this is a great question! There is a lot of helpful advice in this post. First, let me just say I turned 38 so I feel like this question really is aimed at someone in my age group, but is also relevant for older individuals.
The challenge for me that exists is that it's harder to jump into IT at this age because you are up against people in the age of 20 and older that will be more attractive to a company. I also think that learning how to get past imposter syndrome will hold you back. There is also the advice that you just "DO IT" like Nike. I don't think it is that simple to just write some code, create an application, talk about it, and then get hired. You have to meet a certain profile or have the skills that a company is looking for. In some cases, you might not ever be the kind of profile the company wants.
I have been trying to break into a tech job since I was 26 with an Associate's degree in Computer Information Technology and started applying for everything that I could. Now, this was also around 2008 when the economy tanked and everyone felt the effects in the tech industry. I was interested in being a Java developer. Unfortunately, I could not pass the technical interviews or whiteboarding challenges that were expected back then and so I decided to make a switch from a job as Java developer to a job in Web Development. But it may just be my own experience, however, I think it is definitely harder for someone to break into software development over 30.