Retrain at 40

[anonymous-user]

Not much of a career currently and looking to retrain. Either get a HND in computing or try to get a job, or maybe professional qualification, HGV driver, etc

Any suggestions, just want a career next 20 years, don't fancy teaching, is IT worth it?

[conanius]

I'll risk saying this is an almost impossible question to answer as IT has such broad reaches and interpretations how can we possibly know what you'd get from it. What I can say is, I'm a firm believer you're never too old to pick up something new, and apprentice schemes often don't have an upper age limit. In my last role we actively requested the apprentice scheme partner we had (QA) to try and find us as diverse set of candidates as possible because unsurprisingly getting just 18-21 year old guys is quite a flat office dynamic. We got loads of benefit on the occasions we got people of a different dynamic.

[BoRED S2upid]

You won’t be out of work with a HGVlicence. The industry is crapping itself over Brexit. I don’t think it’s that expensive to get your licence either, a lot quicker than a HND.

[A500leroy]

BoRED S2upid said:

You won’t be out of work with a HGVlicence. The industry is crapping itself over Brexit. I don’t think it’s that expensive to get your licence either, a lot quicker than a HND.

About 3k with training.

[Oggs]

I would look to be a train driver (hard to get into but training all paid for) than a HGV driver.
Work is plentiful as a HGV driver but you'll be starting at the bottom with crap wages and long hrs to make up the wages.

I had 20yrs as a HGV driver and it's getting worse on the roads.... now a train driver.

[anonymous-user]

i worked in the train industry and train drivers were a very difficult role to get into, from my experience, but it was virgin trains with there 100% pension..

I think i will do the HND in computing see what happens.

[CzechItOut]

I'd say IT is worth it - I've spent just under 20 years in the industry and earn low 6-figures.

As above, IT offers a vast set of opportunities, so I'd suggest trying to be a bit more specific with what you're looking to get into - programming, architecture, infrastructure/cloud, business/technical analysis, project management etc.

I studied for four years at university to gain a degree in Computing which opened up a world of junior and entry level positions. However what I studied was very broad and included multiple programming languages, hardware, networking and even a semester of marketing.

This is my completely unproven opinion, but I think you could take a far more specialised approach and over the course of six months to a year study four or five online courses which start with a general introduction and then get gradually more specialised in order to lead to an entry level role similar to the below:

https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/search-jobs-in-Sout...

Now, as I said, I have no data points to support my position and it certainly wouldn't be easy for someone with no industry knowledge to put together the appropriate materials. I would start by mapping out a syllabus, something like:

CS50's Introduction to Computer Science

Introduction to Python: Absolute Beginner

Introduction to Python: Fundamentals

Programming for the Web with JavaScript

AWS Developer: Building on AWS

I would then take the above to some companies advertising roles and ask if they would be even remotely interested in someone with that background.

Personally, I think that most companies would. Remember the most important attribute companies want from entry level people is a willingness to learn. Therefore there is less onus on what tangible skills and knowledge you bring to the table on day one and more on how open you are to develop skills. Spending six months or more of your spare time working on your personal development shows you have this.

[anonymous-user]

its a part time course 2 days a week, just allows me to carry on working and only 2 years.

[CzechItOut]

Would an HND get your foot in the door to the kind of entry level job I posted above?

Not wanting to snuff out your enthusiasm, but I would confirm that whatever you're planning to study is actually the kind of thing employers are looking for.

[anonymous-user]

Just give me a broad knowledge really. Maybe not professional qualification but I can carry on working.

[walamai]

CzechItOut said:

[.. other stuff..]
This is my completely unproven opinion, but I think you could take a far more specialised approach and over the course of six months to a year study four or five online courses which start with a general introduction and then get gradually more specialised in order to lead to an entry level role similar to the below:

https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/search-jobs-in-Sout...

Now, as I said, I have no data points to support my position and it certainly wouldn't be easy for someone with no industry knowledge to put together the appropriate materials. I would start by mapping out a syllabus, something like:

[.. good examples of courses..]

I would then take the above to some companies advertising roles and ask if they would be even remotely interested in someone with that background.

Personally, I think that most companies would. Remember the most important attribute companies want from entry level people is a willingness to learn. Therefore there is less onus on what tangible skills and knowledge you bring to the table on day one and more on how open you are to develop skills. Spending six months or more of your spare time working on your personal development shows you have this.

This is much better advice than getting a diploma. I have a fairly senior role in IT and recruit a lot due to the nature of the projects I'm on (I've probably hired around 100 people over the last 5 years). I only care about relevant qualifications/training, a generic computer diploma would be fairly worthless for most roles I think. (Happy to be told I'm wrong though!).

You would likely start in a fairly junior role whatever the specialisation, but tech is easy to move around and 'move up the ranks'. Even 12 months experience if you are capable and motivated would allow you to step up to a better role.

[CzechItOut]

Thesprucegoose said:

Just give me a broad knowledge really. Maybe not professional qualification but I can carry on working.

Do you have any ideas around what area of IT you're interested in for a career?

[Bebop Beru]

CzechItOut said:

I'd say IT is worth it - I've spent just under 20 years in the industry and earn low 6-figures.

As above, IT offers a vast set of opportunities, so I'd suggest trying to be a bit more specific with what you're looking to get into - programming, architecture, infrastructure/cloud, business/technical analysis, project management etc.

I studied for four years at university to gain a degree in Computing which opened up a world of junior and entry level positions. However what I studied was very broad and included multiple programming languages, hardware, networking and even a semester of marketing.

This is my completely unproven opinion, but I think you could take a far more specialised approach and over the course of six months to a year study four or five online courses which start with a general introduction and then get gradually more specialised in order to lead to an entry level role similar to the below:

https://www.jobserve.com/gb/en/search-jobs-in-Sout...

Now, as I said, I have no data points to support my position and it certainly wouldn't be easy for someone with no industry knowledge to put together the appropriate materials. I would start by mapping out a syllabus, something like:

CS50's Introduction to Computer Science

Introduction to Python: Absolute Beginner

Introduction to Python: Fundamentals

Programming for the Web with JavaScript

AWS Developer: Building on AWS

I would then take the above to some companies advertising roles and ask if they would be even remotely interested in someone with that background.

Personally, I think that most companies would. Remember the most important attribute companies want from entry level people is a willingness to learn. Therefore there is less onus on what tangible skills and knowledge you bring to the table on day one and more on how open you are to develop skills. Spending six months or more of your spare time working on your personal development shows you have this.

This is a brilliant post.

I’m 38 and changed career last year. Currently in a junior role in a Site Reliability Engineering team.

There also the advantage in leaning more towards the infrastructure side that the technology hasn’t been around for that long. No one has 15 years worth of experience in deploying and managing kubernetes clusters.

[vindaloo79]

Thesprucegoose said:

Not much of a career currently and looking to retrain. Either get a HND in computing or try to get a job, or maybe professional qualification, HGV driver, etc

Any suggestions, just want a career next 20 years, don't fancy teaching, is IT worth it?

What is you current experience, I think I read you worked in train industry earlier. Have you any transferable skills for IT?

I would have imagined testing would be a fairly easy starting point compared with learning to program.

I think that IT will always be worth it if your happy to start on £20-23k*(just a guess). Once you get a break then you could be on £30k in 3-5 years I would expect. But could very easily be on significantly more if you have aptitude for it and make the right moves or find the right employer.

*I would say that if your not desperate for short term earnings then you can use early positions as a training camp and the pay is a bonus.