Another 'retraining into tech' questions....

[solosunflower]

Hello...

Not a AIBU as such, just need some traffic.

I'm looking at retraining into tech, but I've read so much now that my head is a shed! Basically, what is the most suitable route in for a beginner, please? I would ideally like to find a niche area to specialise in and hopefully one day I'll be able to do some freelance work. For reference I have no coding experience. But I am determined and willing to work hard! Can anyone please point me in the right direction. I see there are hundreds of bootcamps, although I don't know which one to choose or where to start. Once I have some direction, I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you in advance!

You could retrain in data, learn Power BI and SQL and you can't go wrong. I've done it and now in a senior role with 2 years SQL experience. Most of it is analytical skill, a bit of creativity, willingness to learn and common sense. Loads of jobs around from junior to senior. If you put power bi on LinkedIn you'd get plenty of interest.

I totally agree was Yazo, that's the exact route I took , I'm about to step into a senior role and I tripled my salary in 18 months

I'd recommend starting with a Code First Girls intro course, they are free and just one night a week for 8 weeks, this will give you enough of a taste to see if coding is something you enjoy and have an aptitude for - and help you decide which direction to go next.

codefirstgirls.com/courses/classes/coding-kickstarter/

Thank you for the responses. Very much appreciated!

Can I ask the courses you took to retrain into data, please?

I will also look at codefirstgirls. I've been looking at freecodecamp....little unsure which course to start first, though

I did some courses on udemy and used ww3 schools website to learn the basics of sql

Bootcamp style stuff doesn't suit me, I perfer flexibility around how I learn, but they do se to work for some people.

Honestly the best thing for me was downloading Microsoft sql server and getting access to power BI, getting some free datasets online and just playing around with them and googling things

I work adjacent to someone who is employed by Merkle. They wanted a career change and so found an apprenticeship for people with no background in tech or coding and now are earning twice what they were and are a lot happier.

Take a look at their website, they specifically say that people with no experience and wanting a career change are right for them.
Merkle

I feel that I need to follow a structured course, otherwise I end up overwhelmed. Surely I need come type of certification to seek employment?

I will do some goggling. Thank you for the points of reference everyone.

If you are interested in data, I recommend the CFG Data and SQL course as a starting point. You could then progress to their intensive bootcamp specialising in data. I took this route and am starting a new role in data in January.

How good do you need to be at maths for this would you say?

No.

You just need to be logical and analytical in how you approach things.

Oh and you need soft skills.

I still count on my fingers 🤣🤣

Depends which data job to be honest.

Data engineering, usually not maths heavy, very logical, lots of coding
Data analyst, good excel skills, a fair bit of maths, some presentations skills
BI developer, some coding, some maths, very visual based, good presentation skills
Data scientist, lots of maths quite complex maths, very coding heavy

This is a wild generalisation and varies from one job to another tbf

Look up the Skills Bootcamps in Digital sponsored by the government.

As part of the process, you are exposed to loads of tech organisations looking to hire entry level tech people.

sprint.firebrand.training/w/courses/1111-an-overview-of-skills-bootcamps-in-digital

What kind of area interests you? And what skills/experience do you already have?

are you thinking about becoming a developer? A data scientist? A project manager? A UX designer? Going into cybersecurity? One of the many other possibilities?

There are lots of good, government funded boot camps you could go into.

Are the data courses full time or something that can be done in spare time?

@basilpesto thank you for the link. How annoying my area isn't covers and you can't apply unless you live in the area! I think they are remote courses so doesn't make sense

There are skills boot camp courses all over England. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-skills-bootcamp

it's to do with the funding.

Ah that's a shame - they do add new courses every month so worth subscribing to their newsletter to see when they are running ones for your area. Or sometimes they are UK wide.

That's what I'm trying to get my head around. Whatever is best for a newbie.

They’re all very different, and the technical
skills required can be very different indeed. There are different kinds of jobs within different areas too. tech is pretty varied.

If you’re interested in learning more
about security, for example, (ISC)2 have an entry level qualification you can study for free: https://www.isc2.org/certified-in-cybersecurity. it includes some support about the different career paths in security. It’s online. And the exam
can be sat in centres all over the country.

what kinds of work/things do you like doing? That would help with suggesting areas you might be interested in. If you hate talking to people, for example, project management or UX would be a horrible idea (for example). Or, if that’s what you think you’re best at, something like that could be the niche to aim for.

I'm in my mid-thirties and have just started working as a software developer after a couple of decades in retail. I have a degree, but not in computer science, and never did a bootcamp; I did do a six-month online course in web development a few years ago, though (to be honest, I'm not sure how similar that is to a bootcamp), and taught myself Python and working with databases last year.

I may have been lucky, but it seemed that there was plenty of opportunities for a self-taught programmer; and for the job I got, my skills in thinking logically, problem solving and team work (from all the years of retail!) were just as important as my technical skills (if not more so!).

If you're interested in development, trying to teach yourself online can be a bit overwhelming; my advice would be to think of a website/webapp/etc that you would like to build and then focus on the skills that will help you achieve that, whether that's through tutorials, documentation or online courses, and don't worry about what you think you 'should' know if it's not necessary for what you're doing. Being familiar with every single technical term and process isn't vital for starting your career, but the skills you pick up through continuously writing and debugging code are.

In my head I've narrowed it down to data or security. I'm currently looking at udemy, Purplebeard and the (ISC)2 entry level certificate. I'm hoping I'll be able to get myself into a position where I'm suitable for some entry level work. I go off on maternity in April.

What do you currently do OP? that might help pinpoint where your skills lie

For example there are non techy tech jobs that pay well. Things like scrum master, delivery manager, product owner, project manager etc

A lot of non tech skills are highly transferable to those roles

Not that I am implying you shouldn't go into data or security, just that its useful to map your transferable skills

Don't forget that there's a lot of "tech" that doesn't involve writing code. There's also systems support, networking, server management, DBA stuff etc. Handily, knowing those things will also give you a serious leg up when it comes to moving into the world of coding - that's the foundation that a lot of coders are completely missing.

My personal advice would be...build yourself a cheap, but well-specced computer from scratch. You can do that with very little outlay and an hour or two's research on YouTube (Linus Tech Tips is a great channel for that - they have a series of videos on building PCs, as well as a yearly "build a computer for three budgets" video which guides you through choosing components and putting them together).

Then get yourself a cheap switch and a Raspberry Pi, get them onto a network together, and get the Pi to do cool stuff like being a media centre server streaming to your TV and PCs (for example).

Getting that far will put you a fair way ahead in terms of required systems knowledge than a lot of junior- and mid-tier devs I've come across.