Women returners in tech

[MotherOffCod]

Is anyone else noticing a trend for women returning to work after child-rearing years getting into deep geek tech?

I’m my area of the UK it’s a big thing, and seems to be escalating.

Bloody brilliant area to get skilled up in once your kids are older and you’re ready to dig in again.

Anyone else in this sphere? My feeling is that it’s a major opportunity for smart women who’ve been out or the workplace for a while, but have time and opportunity to re-train in exciting new fields with high demand and low supply.

Men and women are in many ways similar, however the differences become most apparent at the extremes.

One of the biggest differences between men and women is the interest in things (mainly men) vs interest in people (mainly women).

To be an engineer of computer scientist you have to be very interested in "things" so they tend to be more common male choices. Where as to be a nurse or a teacher you need to be a lot more interested in people.

That's not to say women don't do engineering, I've worked with some fantastic female engineers. They're just not that common.

You are at a big advantage as a women in a stem field as discrimination means you're twice as likely to be successful in a job interview as a male counterpart with equal qualifications.

@wincarwoo

I got my Salesforce admin certification on Monday. Dead chuffed!

Salesforce supermums run training courses from admin to developer and consultant - I didn't use them for my cert but I'm considering the consultancy course.

Hiya I know this is an old post but wondering if I could contact you about the Salesforce admin qualification I’m thinking of doing it.

@MotherOffCod

I just wanted to let you know as a direct result of reading this thread, I am starting a tech course later this year. I am so happy, especially as I managed to snag a Women in Tech Scholarship. It's a new start for me at 50 years of age and if I can do it, so can anyone else. I can't wait!

Thank you for starting this thread.

Following with interest.

Bunty I love this! Congratulations!

@bunty can i ask what field are you in and how you managed to get the scholarship. Am of a similar age and in healthcare but considering retraining

[quote BuntyAurBabli]@MotherOffCod

I just wanted to let you know as a direct result of reading this thread, I am starting a tech course later this year. I am so happy, especially as I managed to snag a Women in Tech Scholarship. It's a new start for me at 50 years of age and if I can do it, so can anyone else. I can't wait!

Thank you for starting this thread. [/quote]
That's fantastic news. Congratulations!

Thanks NonnyMouse and Slothtoes

@Flapjak I will dm you later as I don't want to broadcast the details to the whole world, if that is okay.

Thank you Bunty

Really interesting thread. I’ve name changed, but have been lurking a while, but I’m wondering whether any women on this board do the technical side of SEO? I’ve been a copywriter for several years and worked for SEO agencies, so I have picked up a decent understanding of how it works. But I’d be interested to know how people got into technical focused roles. Course recommendations in particular would be helpful, as there seem to be so many scammy, expensive courses out there.

Another area that interest me is UX. I know UX copywriters are in demand, but again, it’s hard to find where to start with this. I have worked with UX teams and web designers and I think my background would lend myself well to this kind of work.

Would any of you recommend going back to uni for computer science? I do branding and design, I'm interested in ui design and front end, I taught myself css and learning javascipt now but I'm worried I won't be able to build a good portfolio without studying at university level.

Just wishing @BuntyAurBabli all the best on her course!

@lapasion

Really interesting thread. I’ve name changed, but have been lurking a while, but I’m wondering whether any women on this board do the technical side of SEO? I’ve been a copywriter for several years and worked for SEO agencies, so I have picked up a decent understanding of how it works. But I’d be interested to know how people got into technical focused roles. Course recommendations in particular would be helpful, as there seem to be so many scammy, expensive courses out there.

Another area that interest me is UX. I know UX copywriters are in demand, but again, it’s hard to find where to start with this. I have worked with UX teams and web designers and I think my background would lend myself well to this kind of work.

Join Mums in Marketing on Facebook

Not a returner, just a woman developer of 30 years. Here’s my advice for women who want to get into tech. Around here, Software Project Managers are always in demand, especially with Agile Development teams, Scrum Masters can be self-taught or take an online crash course for certification. If you just want to start slowly teachibg yourself to code, learning WordPress is a good way, and it’s a skill valued by Digital Marketing agencies.

Just to resurrect this gem of a thread, I am considering trying to get into tech at 40.

The Women in Tech website has training via Learning People, has anyone done this and can feedback if they found it useful etc?

Ok I've found an old thread in here which the majority say to avoid TLP like the plague!

Any other course recommendations out there?

Hi @Supersee do you have an idea of which tech area you'd like to move into?

There's a lot of free info online so it's always good to do some self-learning first instead of paying for expensive courses.

Code First Girls have some free webinars.
codefirstgirls.com/

I only attended one a few months ago as a refresher but I prefer to learn at my own pace.

Free Code Camp is very good. I've been learning Python when I can using their site.

www.freecodecamp.org/

The Scientific Computing with Python course is really good - explains all the basics of coding. I'm already familiar with the introductory concepts because of nearly two decades of being in computing, but it was nice to go through it all again after so many years.

W3 Schools is also good - www.w3schools.com/

I've been using the site since I was in high school learning to make my very first web page.

There is much geeky joy to be had in coding, but as mentioned by others above, you don't have to get deep into the techie side if it's not your thing - as long as you understand the fundamentals of software development, you can move into project management / business analyst / agile workflow roles.

I'm thinking of changing fields, I'm not super-techy and am nearly 50 :-/ but would love to feel I have more job options available and preferably to WFH. Cyber security is obviously an area of a lot of demand. Does anyone have any opinions on whether that CAPSLOCK programme is worthwhile? www.capslock.ac/

Hello everyone, I'm in my early 40s and am hoping for a complete career change (but am also worried that I'm far too long in the tooth). I've been thinking about getting into some kind of tech role, but don't have a clue where to start and came across this extremely informative thread via Google! I've just read it from beginning to end and have found some really helpful advice.

@BuntyAurBabli I found your post very inspiring and would love to hear your experiences - if you wouldn't mind sharing via DM I would be so grateful!

@peasandketchup What is your background to date? What are your strengths in that background do you think? Happy to help you consider different roles.

@MrsJamin thank you! I was previously a freelance writer, but gave it up to start a family and am struggling to get back into it. It’s quite a precarious career and I’m really looking for something more stable with more opportunities to progress. I’d say my biggest strength is that I’m very much a detail person and also have decent listening and communication skills. I did a maths GCSE (got an A) but didn’t take it further than that. My worry is that I have no direct relevant experience - is a career in tech just a pipe dream for someone like me?

@BuntyAurBabli congratulations!!

Definitely not a pipe dream. I started at past 45 with zero experience.

Check out some of the links from this thread.

There is lots of demand for copy writing for marketing, and combined with tech aptitude and attention to detail you could be in demand fairly quickly.

Email marketing is a big fast-growing space with lots of room for new joiners.

It’s hard to find people who can write copy but also work the tech well, so maybe that’s a niche you could look into.

(PS… It is I, MotherOffCod…. And I’m so totally stoked that this thread had such an impact, and is still going)

Those of you in the field, do you think there's scope for a returning project manager who can only work part time right now? Or wishful thinking?

It is worth asking. There were some people who were 32 hours per week or 4 days per week (higher management, product owner/business analyst and developer). Sometime it is easier to ask for this once you are working at a company. But worth asking. It may be easier for some roles than others. From my experience project managers have many meetings with people - which I guess might make it hard to schedule (but it’s worth asking). There may be roles that are associated (eg analyst who gathers metrics and makes dashboards) that could be easier to timetable but also be good to have on cv?