Talk to me about coding

[Mrsbadger77]

I'm looking for a career career change and I'm now exploring coding as an option. I have zero knowledge but I had the idea that as I am a linguist it might suit me since it is like learning a new language?!

I have found some free stuff online and have been having a go at some basic HTML stuff which I'm finding enjoyable although I know it'll get way more difficult.

If you are a web developer or use coding would you recommend it as a career? What are the best and worst bits? Is it stressful ? Do you have a good work life balance? How much do you earn and do you have any top tips! ?

Java

Hi OP
I changed in my early 40s, best thing I ever did. Don’t worry about your background, as a linguist you will have lots of the right skills. People come into this from all sorts of backgrounds, not just the ones you’d expect like computer science. Other skills you might have picked up will be useful - communication, problem solving.

I WFH full time but can go to the office if I want. Work life balance is great, there’s very little pressure and I’m well supported. There are lots of opportunities to learn and progress. It’s a very varied job and also very collaborative, I love it. It was hard to start with, and you have to get used to the feeling that you will never know it all…it’s a huge field and things constantly evolve.

Have a look at FreeCodeCamp for starters. There were a couple of recent threads on this which I will try and find.

Recent thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4523029-to-retrain-as-a-web-developer-at-50

Another thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4472515-anyone-actually-switched-to-a-tech-career

Thank you GardenExpert that is so great to hear! I'll have a look at those threads. Do you mind me asking what is the approximate entry salary and how much do you make now ( I know there are regional variations). I'm thinking of signing up to one of the free gov funded bootcamps if I can get one that starts in September.

Hey! Definitely possible to switch career to it. I’d say the biggest factor would be time - you’d need to spend a fair amount of it getting good in your own time before you’d be able to apply if that makes sense? Is there any scope in your current role for picking up any scripting tasks? Good luck! It’s great and I love it

"coding" covers a pretty wide area. I'm not convinced that linguistics will give you the best basis, but perhaps it comes with the syntactical analysis skills which transfer to analysis of problems. If I think of the best coders I know they have: an aptitude for problem solving; the ability to listen to business requirements and understand how to convert that to technical solutions, and communicate well with non-techies; the ability to think logically and split issues down into bite sized components; the tenacity to complete projects, even the boring bits like test plans and documentation; and the curiosity to keep learning new tech every year.

I can't really answer your actual questions as my area is more niche, but I think like many roles the stress and hours will depend on the company. More pay generally =more stress! Getting into a job with no background may be tricky, but if you could afford to do an apprentice developer job then they are a good grounding.

@Mrsbadger77

Thank you GardenExpert that is so great to hear! I'll have a look at those threads. Do you mind me asking what is the approximate entry salary and how much do you make now ( I know there are regional variations). I'm thinking of signing up to one of the free gov funded bootcamps if I can get one that starts in September.

Not really sure on entry salaries at the moment and as you say it will vary with region and also company. What I can say is that mine rose very rapidly in the first couple of years and took me to almost where I had been when I left my old job.

Look into company graduate schemes as well. Those would also be a pay cut, but they aren’t just for people fresh out of university, I know of people who have done them later in life, and they give a good grounding.

linguist it might suit me since it is like learning a new language

Sorry, but I think that's irrelevant, sure we talk about programming 'languages', but that's about the limit of the similarity, so although c++ looks completely different to Cobol (showing my age here!) they are doing the same thing, instructing a really stupid computer to do something useful.

As PP mentioned, an ability to break things down into smaller steps and define them as procedures and algorithms is more important, to mentally go through all the possible states a piece of code will face, and to write that in an efficient, logical manner that another programmer can maintain is important.

Every PC/Laptop is ready for you to start coding & practising, all the tools you require to interpret/compile your code a freely available.

Finally remember that coding is not about designing nice user-interfaces and snazzy apps (although they need coding), most of it is behind the scenes and will never be 'seen' by any user.

nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/solutions-architect

This is a useful website for career change and skills required..

I've worked with a woman who self-taught coding, attended a bootcamp and became a software engineer from a language background. She used to work in a tourist office. She was a great coder.

I've met plenty of other adult converts and they've all been people I admire. There's a woman on my team at the moment who taught herself to code last Summer while on furlough from her job in a department store warehouse. Really impressive.

In terms of opportunities, there are lots and there is a lot of variation. Companies love adult learners/coverts because they bring so much to the table - often lots of people/organisational/presentation/communication skills, self-starter personalities, and sometimes domain expertise (e.g. if your company writes music software, having a developer who was a professional musician is preferable to having a developer who has done that only).

If you are a web developer or use coding would you recommend it as a career?
Yes

What are the best and worst bits?
Best bit - building things as a team, helping others in the team to get on
Worst bit - the boring details are on you
Is it stressful ?
No. If it's stressful it's because you work for a bad company who can't organise things sensibly.
Do you have a good work life balance?
Yes. I work 3 days a week, although part-time jobs are rare.
How much do you earn and do you have any top tips! ?
£85k per annum pro-rated to £51k because I work 3 days a week. But just to note, I got my first developer job in 2001.
Top-tip: expect to keep learning. The techs you use continually change - so you can't learn it all and then that's it, you'll be dated in 5 years time. The expectation is that you take control of your own learning. Luckily I love that aspect of it.