to retrain as a web developer at 50?

beastlyslumber · 2022-04-06T08:28:59+00:00

Inspired by another thread in which there's lots of discussion about how in-demand developers are at the moment, I started doing a little research to see if it's the sort of thing I might be interested in, and I am! But I'm 50, have worked in education for most of my career and I'm worried about how long the training might take and what my prospects might be as an older female in this field. Can anyone advise?

AnneLovesGilbert · 06/04/2022 09:30

Go for it. DH has been trying to hire a couple for months! They’re madly in demand.

Primtemps · 06/04/2022 09:32

I think it's very helpful if you have worked with young people.
My pal does this and his firm talks a lot about Gen z, millennials, gen a or whatever it is now!
Knowing a lot about target users is gold.

Sorrypup · 06/04/2022 09:32

Do you live in a big city or somewhere like that? If so go for it. I know someone who lives in the country side who's been stuck at the same low paying job for years because all the opportunities are in the cities and they don't want to move.

BarbaraofSeville · 06/04/2022 09:33

I'd assume you need a certain aptitude for the work and there's probably a period where you need to be able to train and work for a lower salary until you get experienced?

BarbaraofSeville · 06/04/2022 09:34

@Primtemps

I think it's very helpful if you have worked with young people. My pal does this and his firm talks a lot about Gen z, millennials, gen a or whatever it is now! Knowing a lot about target users is gold.

See, that's where I'd come unstuck. I look a lot at 'young people' and fashions, interests, social media etc and also all the advertising shit on the internet and just think 'surely no-one actually wants (to pay money for) that'

Original poster

beastlyslumber · 06/04/2022 09:35

@BarbaraofSeville

I'd assume you need a certain aptitude for the work and there's probably a period where you need to be able to train and work for a lower salary until you get experienced?

That's what I'm wondering about, Barbara. Could be that I don't have the aptitude, but if I do, I wonder how long it would take until I could be highly in demand, and could I afford a period of low pay...

I'm wondering if I could do some training alongside my current job and then start switching over. I do live in a city, so sounds like that helps.

OP posts:

TibetanTerrah · 06/04/2022 09:36

Following. I can code but don't have any qualifications in it. Ive built numerous complex websites but any knowledge was learned on the job! Does anyone have any recommendations for what/where I could best get a qualification?

veevee04 · 06/04/2022 09:38

My OH works in IT and he says tech is an incredibly ageist field of work you start being viewed as too old to learn new programming languages. Train up and see what happens if that's what you want to do but getting your foot in the door might be initially difficult. I would plan to look for a job around the time the graduates aren't looking.

BarbaraofSeville · 06/04/2022 09:38

Googling suggests that junior salaries are pretty much NMW and even top level experienced are still not massive for a professional salary (around £40k). I suppose you could earn more in London or if you're in management?

Original poster

beastlyslumber · 06/04/2022 09:39

@veevee04

My OH works in IT and he says tech is an incredibly ageist field of work you start being viewed as too old to learn new programming languages. Train up and see what happens if that's what you want to do but getting your foot in the door might be initially difficult. I would plan to look for a job around the time the graduates aren't looking.

That is helpful, thanks. I am also worried I'm too old to learn this!

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veevee04 · 06/04/2022 09:42

@BarbaraofSeville

Googling suggests that junior salaries are pretty much NMW and even top level experienced are still not massive for a professional salary (around £40k). I suppose you could earn more in London or if you're in management?

It depends on the language , python is the new in vogue language that pays big bucks. In IT you need to constantly be learning and training as different languages fall in and out of favour.

Datada · 06/04/2022 09:53

You are Not too old! You might live another 50 years. There are 90 year old Uni students. Go for it!

Charles11 · 06/04/2022 09:54

There are some courses on Udemy that aren’t very expensive if you just want to try it out.
Some of them seem to be old but check the reviews.
You can also try futurelearn and coursera.
I’ve looked into this myself but haven’t had the courage to try it.

ZealAndArdour · 06/04/2022 09:56

Training takes 12 weeks on a full time bootcamp. You’d need to be able to fund the course and your other outgoings during that time, but there’s not many industries where you can retrain credibly in 3 months and be employable at the end of it!

Original poster

beastlyslumber · 06/04/2022 09:57

Someone on the other thread suggested 'freecodecamp' - I'm just having a look at that now. It looks pretty comprehensive!

OP posts:

ZealAndArdour · 06/04/2022 10:02

I posted on the other thread too, but you can have a go at the Basic JavaScript course on freecodecamp and see if it’s enjoyable to you and works with your brain.

Northcoders have some deferred payment options for their course as well as some finance options, and you’d need to check up on it but they also had some fully funded places on the bootcamp for people in certain areas of the midlands and north. You can also get £500 knocked off the fees from their gender diversity fund.

Charles11 · 06/04/2022 10:02

Well, the reviews on freecodecamp are impressive! 6 figure salary in a year. Go for it
I may even join you

ZealAndArdour · 06/04/2022 10:03

Definitely don’t try and do the whole of freecodecamp though, that’s a whole careers worth of coding 😂

Deffo just stick with basic JavaScript to begin with, it’s part of the stuff you need to complete to do an entry challenge to get on a bootcamp with NC.

SparklyLeprechaun · 06/04/2022 10:04

It's not that much that you won't be able to learn it, it's really not difficult. It's more the fact that it is a young people's industry, you'd report to managers who are half your age and have less than half your world experience. Can you cope with that?

I'm a software developer by trade, not many stick to development over the age of 40, practically after a few years experience you move into a team lead/management role where your experience can make more of an impact. It's also a fairly fast moving industry and people who have done the job for a few years are the ones who have the knowledge to switch languages/frameworks and adapt quickly.

That being said, we are crying for people at the moment, so if you really want to do it, go for it.

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 06/04/2022 10:08

Strangely enough, I thought exactly the same! Going to Google freecodecamp now

Youarenothere · 06/04/2022 10:16

Following as I’ve been thinking along the same lines, need to change career and tech does seem where the moneys at.

Bellex · 06/04/2022 10:20

I work for a top 100 company, desperate for devs. Im telling all another that is openly looking, people looking for career and family members this is the sector to look at.

Mix of contractor and staff roles. There are lots of training academy’s that offer different structures.

My friend saved some money took 4 weeks out for intense training and now works at fashion company as a dev.

The field is very much in demand which is forcing companies into offering WFH roles

RaspberryChouxBuns · 06/04/2022 10:22

Saw that thread, thought the same thing Going to have a google

somethinghere · 06/04/2022 10:25

I'm 33 and also looking into this. I was looking for courses yesterday so thank you everyone for your tips!

somethinghere · 06/04/2022 10:28

@Bellex do you have any idea who they did the 4 week intensive course with?

Was it an employer or a training company?