Are you thinking about a career switch to IT but don’t have a computer science degree? Don’t despair. I went through it successfully myself in my mid-30s and prepared this complete and affordable plan on how you can switch to tech even in your mature years.
Let’s start your IT career switch now
When I stood in your shoes, I had a lot of questions which you might have as well. So let us start with those.
Is career switch to IT in your 30s or 40s too late?
“It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”
― George Elliot
If you type this question into a browser search, you will find out that there are a lot of pessimists who will tell you that it is too late. However, I believe that if you choose the right strategy you might achieve your dream position in tech at any age.
It was not too late for me
When I started this journey in my mid-30s, I was also scared that I was too old for IT. On top of it, I regretted that I did not get into tech right after high school. I could have been all set in my adult life. I would have been probably owning one of those big tech companies because of course, I would have come up with that idea first, right? Well, I probably would not be there since I am quite impulsive and prefer only calculated risk :-). Even there were a lot of naysayers, I went for it.
It all started to make sense to me when I saw some of the older programmers in my first tech job. These people were either so inflexible that they did not want to learn anything new or already very tired of sitting at a computer last 10+ years. They were not excited about their jobs at all. At that moment I realized that it was not too late for a career change to tech at 30.
And you know why?
Because I was full of energy. I was super excited about IT. I was full of enthusiasm to start this new chapter of my life which would give me the job stability and freedom to choose my workplace around the world. Sure enough, I knew that tech jobs paid well but it was not the main reason why I was thinking about working in IT. It was mainly my fascination with technology and the idea of changing the world through it was very enticing. I wanted to be at the cutting edge. I wanted to be part of the creation not part of the regulation like I was in law.
Now looking back all those naysayers and pessimists who believed your 30s and 40s were too late for changing career into tech were those old programmers in my first tech job. Tired people with no enthusiasm for their job.
It won’t be too late for you
So why I am saying this. I think the most important secret sauce for a career change at 30 or 40 is your enthusiasm. Being excited and intrigued about tech and its possibilities for innovation is what counts. Passion shows and will give you the strength to achieve your career change at 30 or 40. In my opinion, it will also open the doors to potential job interviews.
So please pause here and think whether you are really excited about tech or whether you were thinking about this kind of career only because of the nice salary. Are you more of a conservative person who does not like innovation? Then moving to tech might not be for you. Do you enjoy learning and bettering yourself? If not then you might suffer in tech. I am creating an IT career switch roadmap and workbook you can download for free to help you find out if a software tester career is good for you and how you can achieve it. It is in the making right now, so stay tuned! 🙂
Where are you right now?
“You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”
― Maya Angelou
Changing your career is a big step and it is always a good idea to realize where you are now. It will help you to decide if you are ready to change your career to tech.
How do you feel about your current career?
- You feel stuck in a dead-end job that you have been dreading for a while. Hating Monday mornings, suffering through the week, and waiting for the weekend have become your main hobbies. All your friends know how much you hate your job.
- You loath your boss and feel beyond bored with your work assignments. It seems like your superior never gives you a challenging responsibility. You have already learned everything you need for your job so you just pretend you are working hard.
- You think all your colleagues are morons, negativity and anger are your fuel, and you are starting to get physically ill from all the stress.
Does this ring a bell for you? It did for me. When I started my IT career switch, my immigration consultancy business was overwhelming me. I had to constantly think were could I find new clients that could qualify to apply for their residency in Canada. I ran my own marketing, sales, consultation and immigration applications forms filling. Yes, I could have hired somebody to help me out but I did not have the money for that. I was dreaming about stabile job where I do my work while I learn something new everyday and get a steady paycheque at the end of couple weeks.
What are you responsibilities?
Being in your 30s or 40s also means that you already have some duties. That usually includes feeding your family and paying a mortgage. This might be hard to find free time to work on your IT career switch. You might need to become a ninja in your time management. Thankfully, there are a lot of tools you could use to achieve that.
What is your why for your IT career switch?
“You don’t hire for skills, you hire for attitude. You can always teach skills.”
― Simon Sinek
As I mentioned above, your attitude will decide whether you will be successful in your IT career switch (or any career switch for that matter). Learning tech skills is not that hard.
Wrong reasons for IT career switch
If you want a career change just because of the money, you might burn out pretty quickly. If an IT career switch interests you only because there are and will be a lot of jobs available in the future that might not be enough either. So try to find your “why”.
Right reasons for IT career switch
Go in nature, meditate, and think about what excites you about technology? How are you using technology nowadays and how is it making your life better? What would you improve about the technology you use every day. Imagine creating new technology – how does that feel? Or how about you are making sure that technology works well for any user and is accessible for anybody – would that make you feel good to know that you are making a difference in the lives of disabled people? Or maybe you prefer helping people to do their jobs right. You are a great communicator and you can aid tech teams to work well together.
You can ask your friends or colleagues for their opinion on what makes you unique and then you can try to combine it together with your tech career dream. In my case, I like helping and inspiring people and I believe that my friends like that about me. In my career change, I wanted to find a position and industry where I can help and inspire people. I had a quick stint as a front-end developer but found it too tedious. I am more of a big-picture person, so a software testing job sounded better for me. Thanks to my job, I am helping people to enjoy tech products fully. And by writing this blog, I am inspiring you to maybe do the same.
If you are still struggling to find your “why” maybe watch this video and try to find it. I promise it will give you the energy and enthusiasm you will need to succeed in your career change.
What kind of career suits your personality?
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”
Understanding myself
It took me a long time to figure out what type of career would suit me. I grew up as an introvert. Then I went to high school and uni and found out that extroverts are celebrated. So I forced myself to become an extrovert. I went to the parties and festivals but the only thing I really enjoyed there was finding one or couple of people to have a deep conversation with. Entering my 30s, I no longer felt the need to pretend I was more of an introvert and a nerd. I fully embraced it. That allowed me to seek a suitable career. Coupled with my need for a low-stress job (working in law was causing my belly to hurt) and my need for excitement and constant learning, I realized that IT is my next and hopefully last career change.
Understanding yourself
Here again, you need to be honest with yourself. Do you prefer working on your own or with people? Do other people charge you up or rather deflate you? When you find out your strengths and weaknesses you will know whether you will enjoy the tech industry. You will also know what kind of position you might enjoy within the tech industry. Your strengths will aline with your “why” and you will discover your passion that will make you successful in your career change.
Finding help
At this point, you should already know or at least have an idea what position you would enjoy in the tech industry. If you are still not sure, then it is time to talk to a career counselor. A career counselor can help you to get to know yourself, find your strengths, values, interests, and skills. I did the same when I was doing my IT career switch and it proved to be very helpful. Sometimes, when we spend a lot of time thinking about ourselves we might get lost in ourselves and stop seeing outside the box. You could also speak to a friend but people project their opinions on others, subconsciously. If you are friends are scared to take risks, then they might stop you from making the decision that is the best for you. A career counselor will be more impartial.
The easiest position to get into tech – software tester
When I decided to do a career change at 30, I went originally for a coder. I kind of did not do much research on other possible positions in tech and I felt like being a coder is the bread and butter of tech. So I dove into learning html, css, javascript, react. I even took a coding bootcamp that was expensive and not that good.
Well, I got my first job as a coder right after the boot camp in Prague. But let me tell you, I hated it from the start. The code was messy, old and there was no senior frontend developer to help me out. It was very stressful for me and I felt like I am not going anywhere. After couple of months I left the job and started an internship as a frontend developer and automated QA for a small startup in Vancouver. This internship was not paid and again was super hard. The only part I really loved was to make the product look and work well. Therefore my next choice was to become a software tester.
Why to start as a software tester
Unless you are a coding whiz kid, it might be hard for you to get great at coding in your 30s or 40s. Let’s be honest we did not grow up with technology as the younger generations did. However, coding as any other skill can be learned over time and I feel like the best way to get great in coding is doing so on a paid job. Of course, you need to have some basic knowledge of computers and coding when applying for your first software tester job but you don’t need to be a pro. And you don’t certainly need to pay for an expensive coding boot camp like I did to learn enough.
I am still working on my coding skills and I found ways to learn better and cheaper. I will share all those ways to learn in this blog. However, if you are keen to know how to kickstart your career change at 30 or 40 as a software tester, check out my post here.
Starting your career in tech should not mean that you will consider software testing as a plain between step. To be successful in getting a job as a software tester you need to be passionate about doing it. There is a big competition for this job too.
The complete and affordable plan for your IT career switch – starting as a software tester
If you got here, you must be pretty certain that a career change to software tester will work for you. Congratulations!! This will be the beginning of a new era, a new you!!
To make this process easier for you, I have prepared an IT career switch roadmap and workbook that you can receive to your email when you subscribe with your email on top of this page. It will help you to prepare your plan for your career change.
If you already have the roadmap downloaded, let’s start filling it out.
How much time can you spare to prepare for your IT career switch?
First of all, you need to know how much spare time you can dedicate to your career change. Are you a full-time worker? Then you should work on this at least two evenings during the workweek and a block of time on your weekend. If you set a special time to work on your IT career switch and stick to it then you will see results in no time. If you are a mom on maternity leave then try to see when your baby is sleeping and use that time to study. Note the times you will study in your workbook and stick with them.
Where do you see yourself in a year?
Do not worry, this is not a job interview yet :-). But it is important to set goals and celebrate your achievements. By setting your goals, you can watch your progress. That will allow you to see where you are reaching your goals and where you need to work harder.
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