"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!

An aptitude for programming, @pixie5121 , and you are testing my patience.

FWIW, I used to be a software engineer, so I do actually know what I'm talking about.

They are really pushing the "Learn to code" in our place as well. At 51, with experience of working with coders as a Project Manager, I already know it's not something I would be good at.

It's also slightly insulting because at our place- not so much now, but certainly a couple of years ago - they were making out that either you could code or you were some sort of antiquated dinosaur.

But strangely here I still am and those darn projects don't deliver themselves. It's almost as if you needed a team of people with different skills to deliver the finished article.

I think it's over-simplistic to suggest that anyone can learn to code, and even if they could you wouldn't need them to.

Oh stop sneering @pixie5121 . It wasn't a 'magical' test.

If I was recruiting @pixie5121 , I'd have wound the interview down, because I would not wish to have someone aggressive and argumentative in the team.

Also following here as I'm hoping to retrain but in databases.

It depends on the coding. I'm good at SQL and DAX but really don't get much from HTML or coding for websites. I know some Python but the big reason for learning coding is what you want to do with it. Do you want to look at a thousand rows of code and spot errors (or security issues) do you want to make a website or help organisations with their data. I do the latter and have been coding in a job for 2 years but have years of practical experience to go along with that of working with data, reporting and in a consultancy style. I'm on £35k a year which mumsnetters sniff at but in the real world it's a decent salary, I could earn more in the private sector. I have a degree in a creative subject, but like others have said I made my first spreadsheet 20 years ago so it's more the being comfortable with IT generally that's important. In that sense you're probably better off getting really good with office packages and becoming known as good with that stuff. Data work in Excel is often enough to impress some people, clunky and usually inaccurate as it is but gives you some soft skills.

@pixie5121 wow

If I were to imagine what a test would be like, it would be to see how people approach problem solving, as a discussion of a real world problem, what are the starting assumptions/knowns, what is the desirable end result, what are the commonalities, what comes before what, in the process to the end result what issues might they not account/be able to account for that could impact the behaviour and what might be the outcome if they did occur, how might you mitigate that? Languages can be learnt, but appreciating how best to solve a problem is the skill.

There are courses by companies like Northcoders and le wagon etc that work with employers to help you find work during/after their courses

If people can't sit and discuss an approach in words in an interview, then they probably aren't the right person, development is usually a collaborative effort and it is rare to get it perfect from the off, discussion and accepting other people's input as part of the approach is key.

This is me.
Thank you for the links, I've started TOP this afternoon.
I had to giggle when they tell you that you have to do a lot of the legwork yourself, they emphasise this a lot, then tell you to download some bits.

I did this, figured out how to get them set up, pressed next and found step by step instructions...

I'm really excited, I wander how long it will stay like this though.

Have you looked at other careers in IT?

Risk management, project management, change management, regulation, service delivery, scrum masters, product owners, cyber (threat intelligence, NIS regulations, Risk, security trainer) etc, auditing.

I'm looking to hire a couple of C++ developers (regular poster but had to re-register due to website upgrade shenanigans!), who are willing to work at home. A starting role really around 40k.

Fire me any cvs!

As pp have stated it really undermines people who programme to say anyone can do it. You wouldn't say this about doctors or lawyers or engineers. It's really irritating.
It takes patience, attention to detail and real commitment.

Agree. Anyone who is interested, have a look around SANs and NCSC for info. It isn't all about hacking etc and there are some good roles around that aren't heavy with the tech.

Go look at AirTable. No code database.

it’s huge for business users and demand for skilled builders is through the roof

I am in databases @Greeboisgreat. I am not an expert but have been Database admin. Work involves resetting passwords for users, troubleshooting why they cannot see data. Why a certain value is how it is ( calculation wrong? Failure of data to update?). Moving objects (views/tables/ETL jobs) from testing environment to production. Testing upgrades, monitoring performance. Flagging failures in ETL jobs (how the data gets into the database) to the relevant dev teams. Other database jobs are data engineer (create the tables/views, ETL jobs), data analyst (use the data).

the trouble is different databases can have different ‘flavours’ of sql (relational db language) and work a bit differently. I believe the big free ones are Postgres and MySQL. The commercial ones are Microsoft sql server and maybe oracle. There are also some non relational DBs - Mongo is popular for web work. However basic sql (selecting, joining) and table creation is v helpful in many situations (eg web work, data analysis/data science). I happen to work in a less popular database - which is a bit annoying in terms of transferable skills.

@pixie5121 - I’m interested in front end or full stack web dev - what kind of interview questions would they ask?

Is "learn to code" the new MN "take in ironing"?

sql as a querying language is not v hard to learn. If you are designing how data is organised in a database or designing a backup system I think it’s a lot more complicated and involves trade offs.

The commercial ones are Microsoft sql server and maybe oracle

Not maybe, Oracle is far ahead.