Retraining to work in tech? any advice

[Greenfairydust]

I am thinking of doing some online courses (I am looking at things like codefirstgirls.com) to improve/get new coding skills and retrain in a more techie role and leave my marketing job.

Does anyone have any advice as to which roles would suit someone who:

-can only work part-time and prefers home working
-has experience of managing/updating and planning websites for organisations but mostly using Wordpress rather than coding
-has experience of managing social media accounts
-has experience of commissioning web agencies and web developers
-has project management experience, not all in tech though
-has basic HTML knowledge.

Basically I want to move out of communications and marketing roles and get something which is much more focused on purely the development/technical aspect.

Because at the moment I am stuck working for a charity and expecting to be everything from a graphic designer, web manager and social media expert for a crappy pay and I have had enough.

Would anyone have any advice of where my skills could fit in, what courses would help and also considering that I am a middle aged woman where I might find it easier to fit in a role?

Lots of questions I know but any feedback would be great.

So do you want to do web development or something different?

You could get a job as a content writer with your existing skill set

@DuchessOfSausage I could try that

@swanling I think I need to improve/update my skills to really be able to do proper web development. Or I am thinking more about project management in that field as I have quite a lot of experience managing teams and projects, rather than the day to day work of managing/building sites.

Not sure where the demand is right now, which is a main factor: I really want to do the type of course(s) that will make more employable and focus on the type of roles where there is a real demand for applicants and a shortage of people with these particular skills.

Give it a go. I think you could get a job, no problem. No harm in applying.

What about marketing for tech companies ?

Web development is not at the higher end of the pay range for tech roles. Content development is not well-paid either. I thought there was big £££ in marketing? Project/product managers in tech earn a lot and would use your skills, but you’d need the technical side first. Google skills bootcamps and look at the free government offerings for your area. Do you know if you’re more interested in front end, back end or full stack?

Look into becoming a Scrum Master or similar?

Good suggestion ^

If you'd potentially be interested in working in higher education you could look at tech jobs at universities (content editors, learning technologists, instructional designers, digital learning designers and so on).
These roles tend to be quite varied and there has been an increase in demand since so much teaching and assessment moved online.

Start with a course to learn Python - that is the most widely used coding language for both web development and stats / data science.

see how you get on - if you enjoy it, then look at more training in either using python for web development, or to go further in other areas.

if you want $$$, look towards data science / machine learning. you'd probably need to do an MSc or similar and you need a strong maths / stats background. but a friend who did a machine learning training course got a £100K job offer about 3 years later (she also had a PhD in physics but had been out of work for 5 years).

can only work part-time

This is where you fall down.

Nearly all tech jobs are full-time even if they are contract/freelance.

To get part-time hours people generally work full-time in a large company/organisation then go part-time. However they tend to find they get stuck not being giving interesting projects/work and promotions. (I've spoken to both women and men who have had this issue due to caring responsibilities.)

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mature_students/4523029-to-retrain-as-a-web-developer-at-50?reply=125670061

You’ll find other threads on this on the Mature Study and Retraining board.

I can't help with the career side of things but I am learning coding.

I've done 2 courses with Code First Girls, introduction to Web development and introduction to javascript. They're not for the faint hearted! They move very quickly and you need to do a lot of study in-between. 7 weeks of learning and study then a project presentation at the end.

I'm also doing a course with Codeacademy. If you pay for premium you can follow a career path for front end, back end, or full stack developer. Also have a look at Traversy media on YouTube. He's got loads of free tutorials and courses and explains things. really well.

Look into Tech Returners too.
Maybe Delivery manager or Scrum master would suit.

''@Reugny · Today 21:38
can only work part-time

This is where you fall down.Nearly all tech jobs are full-time even if they are contract/freelance. To get part-time hours people generally work full-time in a large company/organisation then go part-time. However they tend to find they get stuck not being giving interesting projects/work and promotions. (I've spoken to both women and men who have had this issue due to caring responsibilities.)''

''fall down'' is an odd way to put it...

I have a long term health condition and can only work part-time. I am not going to apologise for it and by the way it is discriminatory for companies to treat employees who work part-time less favourably than full-timers when it comes to things like promotions, training and so on.

This is definitely an issue in tech. Partly to do with it still being male-dominated (because men don’t care for children/anyone, right?). There are some things that need daily attention but no reason why it can’t be shared between people. There are excellent tools for working collaboratively and remotely, which means that ultimately it’s cultural.

by the way it is discriminatory for companies to treat employees who work part-time less favourably than full-timers when it comes to things like promotions, training and so on.

People aren't saying you'll be discriminated against because you're part time, they're saying that unfortunately the jobs are pretty much all full time so you'd struggle to get one.

Some people are always so negative.

I have worked part-time for 2 decades at senior level and managed permanent tech staff and freelancers who also worked part-time so it is not impossible to find these type of roles...

Yes, good part-time roles are more difficult to find but they do exist.

As others have said python is definitely the ‘in’ language at the moment so I’d try to learn a bit of that and some SQL.

Data science can be quite lucrative so I’d look into that rather than web development. Definitely apply for roles, you’ve got loads of transferable skills and could easily slot into a number of technical jobs already. It’s just about finding someone to give you a chance.

Ignore previous poster commenting along the lines of part time hours etc being your down fall, in my experience this isn’t the case and many companies are falling over themselves to get more women into tech roles and offering increasing flexibility and opportunities to work from home.

It is, but realistically if you're working part time hours you're usually there to deliver your core role and you often don't have time to get involved in interesting extra-curricular projects etc. I've certainly found this in my 8 years of working part time. I don't get left out of training etc and I know I'm not thought of as any 'less than' the full timers, but there are only so many working hours in the week to fit stuff in.

I did a SQL course with Code First Girls (although SQL wasn't new to me, it was more as a refresher) and am currently doing a Python one. They have web dev too but I see far more jobs advertised that are looking for either or both of the above.

Thank you everyone for the advice! it is much appreciated.

I have just signed up for one of the Code First Girl ''Intro to coding'' starter course and I will sign up for Python and SQL too and take it from there.

Even if I end up staying in marketing but moving to a tech industry it will help to understand the language/products.

Bearing in mind you'd be starting at the 25th percentile range for first roles and minimum experience these are the current 2023 salary expectations for tech roles.

You ain’t gonna find a part time job in tech. Decent part time jobs are where full timers have temporarily dropped down to part time. If you’re applying as a part timer it’s going to be a shitty job like till assistant or barista, it’s very rare that decent jobs are available as part time. This is something that needs to change! But for now it is what it is.

Your best bet is self employment, doing websites, posters, social media etc for small businesses. Set your own hours, charge affordable prices because as a part timer you aren’t going to be fast but you are cheap.

''If you’re applying as a part timer it’s going to be a shitty job like till assistant or barista''...

That's really the most ludicrous thing I have read.

I am a senior manager/Head of team, I managed my organisation's website and I am part time...

I am not interested in part-time bashing or dinosaur thinking. This topic has been covered already in the thread.

Upwork is a good site to browse for flexible / part time / short term tech jobs. you can get a feel for what is out there and what skills are in demand.

but be aware that when DH hires from there, he often ends up with employees in India / Ukraine / China or other places with a low cost of living because they are very skilled and cheaper.