"Learn to code"

[Howaboutnope]

I've read this on a few threads recently - IT is where the money is at. But its all double dutch to me- I'd love to learn and try a new career and earn more money but I'm 34 and really don't have much IT knowledge bar the basics and using a laptop everyday. Is it really that easy to learn?! And how does it translate into a new career? Tips for dummies welcome!

@Lunalae thanks so much for your advice 😊

Our UX designers create smoke and mirror mockups of page functionality and branding in some online tool (whose name escapes me) and do focus groups on different journeys and how well they are received (and ultimately work with analytics to define multi variant testing journeys) I'm sure they do more than this, but this is what I see. It is FE devs who for us do the browser/device/usability stuff but maybe that's because our UX team don't have those skills, I don't know.

Sorry meant accessibility not usability.

Azure?

Agreed!

Thanks OP , a valuable thread in so many ways.

Interested to know what some of you think re teens starting. My 18 year old has a v experienced coder dad. Ds is a natural coder, v good at maths,picks up languages v easily, got through to GCHQ Elite cyber camp etc. However he is looking at Comp Science Uni courses and the requirements are insane.3xA*,As. His Comp Science Alevel doesn’t even seem to do a lot of coding and what is in it he could do in his sleep. Presume Comp Science degrees are the same re coding time. No wonder there are shortages for coders if the course requirements for Comp Sci are so high and the amount of actual coding small. He is an A student but going through a lot at the moment so As x3 not a given at all and pretty sure his predicted grades that will be used for ucas won’t be as high as they should be.He feels if he doesn’t go to a good Uni there is no point as nobody will want him. Ironically Dh got into Uni on BTechs and didn’t even have Alevel maths. He thinks it’s nuts. He has an engineering degree and got an MSc later.DH has tried telling Ds that when he recruits it’s experience he looks for not Unis but getting coding experience when you start off is hard. He is going to do some voluntary coding work for a charity this summer but got to start thinking about UCAS. He isn’t sure what area to go into after.So what are good courses to look at, areas, ways of getting on the ladder etc.Is a Comp Sci degree the best way in/ necessary? Would apprenticeships be better if so where ?

pixie5121 thanks so much. Don’t think he’s that advanced just naturally able iykwim.Doesn’t have a portfolio and needs direction, it’s the next steps after Alevels conundrum. Really can see why there are shortages. Doesn’t seem to be a direct path for coding.

@SpringSpringTime I wrote a detailed reply to @pixie5121 on getting into non technical roles if you scroll up

@Huff13Puff

• Unis

Are you looking at ‘elite’ unis? Places like University of Chester, Manchester Met defo don’t need 3A’s. You can try ‘Computing’ as opposed to CompSci, which is more practical and usually has lower entry requirements.

You can also try ringing up unis, there are usually places in Clearing, or they have an open day/skills sessions. I know some people got C’s and D’s in their A-levels , but got an unconditional offer because he impressed admissions. If you DM me I’ll tell you the uni name.

There are also ‘adjcanet’ courses like Games Design ‘ IT’, etc etc. Most grad wchemes just want people with STEM degrees, so any In that line will be ok really.

• other ways

Apprenticeships Doing an online BSc which takes just about anybody, while he continues to work on his programming skills at home.

I wouldn’t advise avoiding
any form of degree (even most apprenticeships are degree apprenticeships). While you ‘can’ get a job with it you’ll face barriers later. Unless you freelance or become a contractor, but best to keep options open. The best time to get educational creds is when you’re young and free… and not working.

also @Huff13Puff the uni name absolutely does not matter for IT.
go to the cheapest and easiest uni. That will leave more time for his own projects and building a portfolio.

*he not they impressed admissions

They not he Christ

Also… there are TONS of tech degree apprenticeships as opposed to other fields.
the Big investment banks (JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley), high street banks (barclays), big4 accounting firms, Tesco, Sainsbury…. Lots and lots.

These are the most efficient route IMO.

@L1ttledrummergirl Do you mind sharing which course you have started?

The Odin project mentioned further up. I liked the sound of it because it challenges your brain, allows you to work at your own pace but more importantly is free.
I figured I could start with it and then see what comes next. Once I know which direction I want to go in (assuming I enjoy it) then I don't mind investing in a course, but I'm hoping this will give me a starting point.

Thanks @L1ttledrummergirl . Good luck. Just having a look myself now.

That’s really interesting. Are all uni’s thought of the same when you have an IT degree on your CV?

There's some good advice on here and I'm not really going to be able to offer anything other than an insight into what my experience has been like.
I have a masters degree in IT. I was sh*t at coding. Even HTML (this is back in the Netscape era) I failed my C++ exam and had to take a different module instead to pass the degree. I just didn't really get it. I have a mathematical brain in general - but coding never clicked for me.
Prior to that I did a mechanical engineering degree but very little experience with computers other than typing up my homework on them and saving it to floppy disk, as we did in the 90's. However the degrees did give me useful grounding and obviously something to put on my CV, and I ended up as a SQL developer as a graduate. I fluffed my way through it, and eventually ended up as a software tester. Which I am still.
I don't love it. Its a job. But because I can grasp what's going on, on the back-end, and I understand the database - even though I'm no good at actually writing the code, I'm able to do my job. All I have to do is ensure that stuff works, and try to make it not work. Then I send it back and let the developers worry about why it isn't doing what its supposed to do! Its a technical role, but not super-technical. There is automated testing, which is more towards programming, and which I have so far avoided, but many companies want this ability nowadays.
I don't earn loads. That's mostly my fault as I don't see it as a career so I don't go above and beyond. Its simply a job to pay the bills. I don't think about it when I've left work (as a graduate I'd do overtime all the time - but these days I have kids and a house and a crafty sideline) but if I had the inclination, I'd probably be on twice what I'm on.

Most content is very theoretical, meaning that it’s possible to graduate with little practical programming experience. Programming is a craft.

Therefore, for most ‘general’ programming jobs, projects are more important. Jane from Redbrick who got a First, and nothing else. Will be less favoured than Joanne from bottom 10 U.K. uni, who has joined hackathons, build her own website, whatever. And more importantly can talk about what technical decisions she made, and why.

There’s no need to filter by degree name because competence is easy to check. There are also programming tests that weed out a surprisingly large number of candidates.

The degree content (not the name) might make a difference for certain jobs (e.g niche fields like Computer Vision, or one of the few jobs that require a strong theoretical Computer Science foundation).