IT/Software career thread: Invert binary trees for dollars.

Yeah I was beating around the bush

That seems like a terrible line of thought. So he should "tough it out" and be miserable making good money during the tail end of his prime years so he can live it up when he's old?

Cad said:

Live really small while you are making good dough, save a couple million over 10-12 years (invest it each year and it'll grow itself too) and get financially independent. Having fuck-you money is so important to quality of life, I can't stress this enough. Work that job and save your shekels, son.

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Tenks said:

That seems like a terrible line of thought. So he should "tough it out" and be miserable making good money during the tail end of his prime years so he can live it up when he's old?

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Unfortunately, I came across MMM / and Reddit FI late in the game. That said, I did bank considerable bucks over the years. My 401k doesn't really need any further contributions and I can retire comfortably at 60. Plus I have another nice stack of cash for house / whatever put away on top of that. Not quite full on "fuck-you money", but enough that I don't have to stress about things most people do.

This is why I said I need something that pays a reasonable salary, but allows a quality of life that I currently don't have. (shiftwork and deployed locations)

Soon to be fiancée has a lucrative career too, so I have this opportunity to pivot in career and look for something else. I know there's a lot of opportunities stateside, but the reality of my situation is I have an 8 year old son and my GF is in London. I need something marketable anywhere. I am seriously considering giving up my golden ticket SCI clearance just to get into something else. I've had the last 15 years of soulless work chasing money. I just need change.

I'm an outlier probably but if you're "skilled"/motivated you can get into programming easily even for the olds, especially if you stick to web. At age 35 I was a college dropout with no recent work experience (poker player for previous 8 years..), knew barely anything about programming, now at 41 I'm a lead engineer for a fortune 50. I taught myself html/css/js, made some products, did contracting, took a senior role, went from there. Helps that I know react really well and its super in demand.

Software Defined Networking. Get a CCNA/CCNP to build a base, then learn python/powershell. You will be good till retirement.

ex-genj said:

I'm an outlier probably but if you're "skilled"/motivated you can get into programming easily even for the olds, especially if you stick to web. At age 35 I was a college dropout with no recent work experience (poker player for previous 8 years..), knew barely anything about programming, now at 41 I'm a lead engineer for a fortune 50. I taught myself html/css/js, made some products, did contracting, took a senior role, went from there. Helps that I know react really well and its super in demand.

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I did go back to school later in life and started my first job when I was 30. Depending on the company it isn't going to matter I think. Top4? Probably looking at standout college grads.

I don't have an "education" section on my resume and 2/3 times no one asks.

Shall we re-initiate the "should I go to school or not for tech field work" discussion? I think it's time.

Jysin said:

After reading T Tenks post, I blew through a load of articles about programming & age. Pretty disappointing to read, honestly.

Software Developers Are Terrified Of What Happens When They Hit 30
Silicon Valley's obsession with youth, summed up in one chart

Don't think I want to pivot in that direction if it's such a young guns game. I had no idea.

I'm just sick to death of this career. Crazy thing is, I make silly money here. I am up to about $190k. I just hate this mind numbing job and am sick to death of the Middle East. I desperately need a new career and have some semblance of a quality of life balance. I honestly don't really care much about the pay at this point.

*Ranting here now more than anything.

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Have you seen any data on these claims? Like cognitive decline over time? They complain about needing to "relearn" things every 10 years. Is that more difficult due to cognition? Or just priorities have shifted due to kids, etc?

It likely has more to do with younger people being eager to learn and wanting to work with new/emerging technologies while older developers have fallen into "I'm an expert" territory and stop wanting to learn new shit because they feel they've paid their dues.

You see a lot of guys on the operations side with that same attitude. That was a big reason I wanted to shift to the red team side of things, everyone I met doing that was super humble and talking about how they were constantly having to learn new technologies and loving it.

I'm sure there are a lot of factors, but if you really want to be a dev I bet you could overcome a lot of it just through sheer will.

Definitely not saying my way is best but I'd assume most people on this board are late 30s to early 40s and I certainly don't think you should go to a 4 year university if you want to get a coding job.

I don't do coding, but I finished my MS this year, and I'm 37. I've been on a lot of interviews and it hasn't come up once. Once you have enough experience, no one cares.

Khane said:

Shall we re-initiate the "should I go to school or not for tech field work" discussion? I think it's time.

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All pizza tastes the Wendy's varies by coding camps are worthless

Noodleface said:

All pizza tastes the Wendy's varies by coding camps are worthless

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Yes, all pizza tastes the Wendy's indeed.

If you want to do it right, get a Comp Sci degree. If not, then just go to an accredited online college with the cheapest tuition possible and get an IT degree.