"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!

Commenting so I can find this later 😁 thanks op this is a great question

As I said, I have complete respect for your views on career pathways within coding. I simply objected to your massively simplistic statement that all a lawyer needs to do is qualify and then they are “sitting pretty” for the rest of their career. Many of the points you make above do apply equally to career development and earning potential in law. As you say, this thread is about being an coder, not a lawyer. However for people considering career changes who might be reading this, I think it is helpful to dispel the myth that a career in law simply entails “study-train-qualify-sit pretty”. There are far too many people waiting time and money on legal study and qualifications when in fact something more flexible like coding could be a much much better route to a successful career without the cost and constraints of having to go through an artificial qualification process that actually teaches very little of practical value.

To understand what is going on, try CS50 programming for lawyers - a free Harvard course on EdX.

I don't know how people on this thread who are in IT and specifically coding are "not making big bucks". My brother who is in his 20's has been on sic figures almost straight out of uni plus HUGE bonuses

six*

Because it's very dependent on the industry, the skillsets involved and location.

DH started with a ZX81 back in the day and together now we run a very successful business designing embedded software and hardware systems for industry. The important thing to remember is that whatever you do you need to have a passion for it. I couldn't do what he does - it just doesn't float my boat.

We have a team of 4 working with us, all of whom started at a young age. None of us are yet on a 6 figure salary, but we all enjoy what we do.

Having said that we're all around 50 years old and it was, and has been an emerging technology with few good coders around. Things are different now and it has become a much more competitive industry so don't be vague about what you want to do, focus and become known in your field. It's not a fast track to easy money, I'm afraid, but the salaries can be good, depending where you live and what you specialise in.

Good luck OP.

I don't know how any lawyer is "not making big bucks" because my niece earns an absolute fortune as a lawyer (commercial/corporate).

She was on well over £100k newly qualified and somewhere over double that a few years on.

🙄

A lot of techies might care about work/life balance and the tech they work in than the big salaries. Many don’t do it for the money (though some def do).

Some people need encouragement and sign posting to and to hear about people’s personal experience to help them along.

I career switched at about OPs age - but had about 3 years of hobby coding with DH (software engineer) under my belt. Someone I know did a bootcamp in early 30s (don’t know how expensive). Someone else started in admin at a tech company then moved to manual testing and now in cyber security.

there are boom and busts - big round of redundancies for us now as they are outsourcing. But there are lots of jobs out there - so opportunities (just need to keep aware of what skills are in demand).

Sorry but no.

I'm also a software engineer. Yes it's a skill just like any other job. Of course OP can try learn to code. It's not impossible. She may or may not be good at it just like anything else.

Messages like this are just discouraging for no apparent reason. You make yourself sound smarter than you actually are.

Tech is typically a very flexible industry and ironically probably great for mothers. I wish there were more women like OP that take an interest in it and are willing to learn. I say go for it OP!

Fair play to the OP for asking here. If you don't ask, you don't get. And why Google when you can ask someone? A lazy programmer is a good programmer!

As for salaries, it's totally job dependent. I can code, but doubt I would fit into lots of teams, or even have passion for their products.

I have found some thing to enjoy in pedestrian applications. Or rather some itch to scratch. But for most of the web site stuff, personally I think it's a waste of money and a complete brain drain. And pretty pointless. Most websites are still buggy and suck and many omit what is actually useful. Sure, that is a generalisation.

I often think you could take that talent and apply it to real problems. I would class lot of web dev as a 'shit job'. And as I don't like to fleece people, that's probably why I am not on the big bucks.

Fair enough 😂and I never said many lawyers weren't "making big bucks" (unless they're doing Legal Aid work). It just appears to be much easier in IT as the demand is insane. Companies are fighting over coding guys and are offering insane incentives to join them. My brother has worked for banks and has been headhunted by several tech giants. He just left one to join another. It appears to be an employees' market. That's not the case for many other professions.

I must say I have absolutely no idea what languages he specialises in or what on Earth he actually does beyond "coding" 🤪

May I ask a question, as there are obviously some very knowledgeable people on this thread. I’ve just done a big project at work to digitise part of our operations (we’re a small business and we were running a delivery service on paper). I’ve absolutely loved working out the organisational changes required to work digitally, working out what’s possible with the new software we have, learning how to talk to the devs and explain that back to my team who haven’t a clue about tech….I love learning new things, have a lot of ideas and am good at getting people on board, and I love working with technical people and systems. However my project will be complete soon and I would like to do more of this. What ‘real’ job should I be looking for and how would I get there? I know I don’t have the heart and soul of a dev but I would love to do something tech adjacent as I find it all very exciting.

Well if they are in the banking sector, it's high responsibility coding! Could even be legacy systems/programming languages that are no longer popular and become very niche.

@SpringSpringTime Business Analyst is what you're looking for

@SpringSpringTime sounds fun and satisfying. If that's a common piece of software, and you like it, you could try and set yourself up as a go between for other like organisations requiring something similar. Specialising in a small field I would recommend over being a polyglot programmer. If the demand is there.

@HoleLottaLove

I suppose what the OP is asking is... can she believe the hype, because everyone and their grandmothers are 'learning to code'. If it was that easy we wouldn't have page after page of people stuck in NMW jobs, unable to feed their children, blah2, surely?

But most people on these other threads have at least looked into bootcamps etc. OP hasn't even done a basic Google search. PP aren't wrong about the need for initiative in this industry. People are more wiling to help when you've done some legwork instead of expecting everything on plate. Which is how I get a lot of 'grumpy' devs to help me out ...

I smiled at an earlier PPs comment about "Programming computers isn't magic" because my boss often uses magic to introduce computing concepts, e.g. a self-working trick is like an algorithm.

"Magic is a combination of a secret method and a presentation. A computer scientist would call the method an algorithm, and that is all a computer program is too. The presentation corresponds to the interaction design of a program. For a magic trick to delight, you must get both the algorithm and presentation right. The same is true for programs."

We have 3 free 'Magic of Computing' books to download as PDFs here
www.cs4fn.org/magic/magicdownload.php

I like the 'parity check' one in the first book (the trick is called ‘The Out of Body Experience‘ and you can find it on pages 24-31 (pages 13 – 16 of the 33 page PDF)) where you get an audience member to flip one card in a 4 x 4 panel (without telling you which) and you have to work out which card by magic logic :)

Example picture attached is from pages 26-27.

We have loads of other free stuff to download too, including magazines for schools cs4fndownloads.wordpress.com/ and classroom activities for teachers teachinglondoncomputing.org/resources/inspiring-unplugged-classroom-activities/

Jo

This sort of thing is such a privileged thing to say.

Some people didn't grow up in homes that could afford a lot of technology and/or didn't have parents who encroached them to follow their interests.

My parents were wealthy but had very traditional views on education and didn't let me have a computer as it would ruin my handwriting. I don't code at the moment but I had a job for a few years which involved some coding which I was perfectly competent at. If I wanted to make a career out of it, I think I could.

Go for it @SpringSpringTime . It’s annoying as there are lots of different terms bandied about. Perhaps look at job descriptions of: Project Manager, Product Owner, Product Manager, Delivery Manager. ?

sometimes domain expertise from your earlier career can help too. Another role is: Business analysts who gather requirements from internal/external stakeholders so the devs can know what features they should be working on. I wouldn’t do this immediately, but you might eventually find it helpful to do a scrum or ITIL qualification (some companies may sponsor this so def ask before forking out yourself).

Why is it insulting to encourage people who may be very capable at the job to give it a go? Many people would have faced barriers in the past to undertake Computer Science degrees or Maths degrees as mentioned by a PP. These subjects historically have been dominated by men but that doesn't equate to everyone else being a bit rubbish. Perhaps there are opportunities more than ever to overcome the cultural and gender barriers and there is going to be real talent in that group of people that come to the forefront.