Business background (I have learned a little bit C language 20 yrs ago. I founded it was interesting. )
I am looking for a change of my career. My friend who is DevOps suggested me to learn web development. It is attractive for me, because working in the IT industry means home office is possible (the most attractive point for me), and also well-paid.
So I started to learne HTML, CSS, and Javascripte from FreeCodeCamp.org at home every evening after the kids slept. As I have a 2 yrs old kid and I work 4 days per week, I only have around 20 hours study time per week. I have been studying on this website for one month. So far it goes well. I would not say that I've found a great passion about coding right now, but I found it is interesting.
But there is one things that I am very concerned about, my age. After a coupe of years study, I will look for a junior job or a stage job when I will be around 42 years old? And maybe it will be difficult to find a junior job at my age? Today I have been told that it is better to start before 35 yrs old by a front-end developer. Because there will be many new technologies in the IT industry every year, we have to keep studying the cutting-edge technologies. As a beginer who starts to learn web development in the 40's or 50's yrs old, it is a little bit too late to start.
I would like to hear your advices especially if you work as a web developer.
The problem with web development is that it is not particularly difficult to learn and everyone does it. Every high school and college kid interested in IT has experience of doing this kind of stuff, which means yes you most likely will get filtered out because of your age in most cases.
If it’s your passion by all means peruse it, nobody should give up on their dreams without at least giving it their best shot. But if the objective is to re enter the workforce you’re going to need to bring more to the table than CSS/HTML & JavaScript to stand out from the crowd - business knowledge, expertise in a middle tier or backend technology.
39 is no barrier to learning, though it might be one to earning.
I started at 50. I was 100% self employed. Loved the work and taught myself. Worked from home about 2 or 3 days a week. Until the likes of Wix and Weebly made my work pointless, as anyone can now build a website...
To really do full stack development, you'll need to learn a language such as C#, and its important libraries. An understanding of database technology will also be useful, with some SQL. Learn some Python too.
Being able to develop a website is one thing, being able to build commercial, scalable, maintainable, secure, robust applications is quite another and requires real skill. There are hobby online shops, then there are places like Digitec. It's a completely different level.
Age is not necessarily a barrier. I'm in my fifties and I find it easier to learn new technologies and techniques now than I did in my thirties. (It's some of my colleagues who are twenty years younger than me who stubbornly stick to the old ways... ).
When I was ordering a website it was important to me that it was easily customisable and that I could get support later if I needed and I did need because I wanted to change some things. I did not opt for a Switzerland based developer because having someone to call up when I need would have been too expensive.
Another thing is how do you get customers. Can your friend help?
My ex started his own business doing web development and search engine optimization when he was in his early 40s. He was self-taught, and within two years, he was making crazy money. (That was in Seattle).
A better option is cloud development. You can take courses, exams, and get certifications on the platforms from Microsoft (Azure) or Amazon (AWS).
There are many options here, from full stack developer, front end developer, back end developer, DevOps specialist, Scrum Master, Administrator, Jack of all trades, etc. You can study programming languages like C#, JavaScript, tools like Angular, back end databases, both relational and non-relational. You can also focus on the admin side, security, or specific tools like MS Teams, Outlook, SharePoint etc. etc.
The market is very hot for this type of expertise at the moment. Forget "web developer", that hardly exists anymore.
It takes some time to get into this stuff. I am talking years, not months.
I would also suggest to focus on a particular aspect (especially in general if you are a fast learner), some in-demand aspects like cybersecurity or finance. If you‘re good at what you do, age won‘t matter.
Definitely look at Dev Ops with cloud or cyber security as already suggested. Web development is dead as it can be automated by a number of services unless you get a job working for one of those companies.
I learned web development when I was 65, just for my own online shop.
I agree you will need to learn mySQL and php is also useful.
There is a lot of low price competition from web developers from India, China, and Ukraine so you need to think about what could be unique for you to offer.
My advice would be not to get fixated on a specific role like “web developer” or industry like “IT”. Why limit yourself?
It’s very easy to fall into that trap because as humans we need clarity and a sense of orientation - fix a goal then study, then get a job then work your way up. (That’s last century).
Embrace the unknown a bit and keep an open mind, your dream career change job you probably haven’t thought about yet!
You have many more skills than you probably give yourself credit for. Those skills are most likely transferrable with some effort and some will require you to pick up something along the way or some kind of training. (But not necessarily, most of what you need you will learn on the job)
So I would ask different questions if I was in your shoes and looking for a career change - for example:
- Why do I want a career change? (Spend as much time as needed here)
- What do I think I am good at? Where have my skills / experience served me well in the past? (Make a list of these, write down examples)
- What do others say I’m good at? (Ask family members, your friends and current/former colleagues - you’ll be surprised what you will find)
- What do I care about the most?
- What kind of skills are needed in the areas I care about the most?
- What kind of jobs exist in the areas I care about the most?
- Which of my strengths / skills / experience can I already deploy in a new work field?
There are web development bootcamps organized by private companies (Google "coding bootcamp"), also part-time, which might give you a better structure than studying all alone yourself. They also teach backend development.
Plus You can network with like-minded peers who are in your same situation They might help you land an internship
The con is that they tend to be expensive (think thousands of CHF).
CareerFoundry (German company) offers courses on front end development, UX/UI design, Python for web developers. It’s a bit pricey, but worthwhile in my opinion.
I did the 8-month course in data analytics last year and it helped me upgrade my technical skills as a market analyst. Plus they offer a job prep course upon finishing the classes and offer suport and warranty for finding a new job (provided you follow their advice and curriculum). And I am still in contact with their career coach on an occasional basis when I need guidance on my career. Can only recommend it.