I am a 40-year-old teacher who wants to supplement his income by learning programming. Is it the right thing for me? Will I be more introverted?
Posted by True_Economist6174@reddit | learnprogramming | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Let me give you some context so you can help me better. I live in Saudi Arabia and it is evolving in many industries. I have been teaching for 15 years now and started to improve my English five years ago. Being a teacher is a great profession and it gives me fulfillment when it comes to a purposeful job and having an impact and a contribution to this world. I always love the interaction with my younger students and I feel my impact on them and I just started to love it the last 7 years. The problem as I assume in many countries is that the income does not cut it. I do believe in my ability to learn and to change my situation financially for the better so I took some time to consider what I am passionate about or what should I be considering to make this change and found a lot of recommendations towards the IT industry. I always liked computers and have gaming PC but I rarely play video games and never felt comfortable playing for hours. I remember liking the idea of just solving some problems if a cracked game wouldn't work for whatever reason and starting the search for a solution over the internet. It made me feel better and still remember those moments. So, it comes to my mind that being a programmer might be something I could go for and find success in. I started a year ago by following a road map and things were somewhat hard at first as I have almost zero background in computer science but things started to get better with time. I am not learning daily but I managed to finish a good amount of courses in problem-solving and algorithms by the same instructor. I started learning C++ and OOP then shifted to Windows forms and C# and SQL Database, and still learning of course because I am still in the beginning.
My Goal is I want to freelance as a mobile developer and as you know I have a full-time job as a teacher and I don't want to quit it as I have family responsibilities. My first concern is:
1) juggling teaching and freelancing is it workable and can I have a life too? is the heavy learning only at first and then things don't need so much time and two or three hours of my day would be sufficient for freelancing?
2) Learning programming and working as a freelancer part-time is showing that I will be more likely less social and giving me the vibes of being a loner which is something I might not want especially as I am getting older.
I don't know I am just afraid it is gonna make me more introverted in the future trading it for the extra money that I need to make my life better.
I think I like programming but those are my concerns and they always discourage me from continuing so please from your experience could you tell me what I am going to face and what it looks like to be in my situation, what would you suggest in my case?
FYI I am a single dad with two kids they are not living with me now but I might get their custody this year. I am an introvert but do love the social aspect of my teaching career.
tkevolution@reddit
Chance of you being successful spending 2-3 hours per day as freelancer is near 0. Development is not something you learn once and use it forever. Stacks change change so rapidlt that you will not be abke to keep up with updating trends. Do you think you will be able to compete with someone who is working FT in Software Engineering? You can ask yourself, what makes you stand out and why someone will pay you instead of someone else
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
That is a good point. I might not be able to compete with full-time freelancers at first but I will be patient about getting paid at first. My idea is that I will be building projects and developing them with my time limitations currently and see how things are going from there.
lelboylel@reddit
No, this is delusional. Don't waste your time.
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
With all due respect, maybe you know more about me in tech, but I believe there is always a place for everyone. I want you to enlighten me here if you will. There is something that a full-time developer will NOT do because as people mentioned above the amount of learning is ridiculously huge and rapidly changing. Nobody will be an expert in everything. In addition, I found a lot of developers working on their projects at their own pace in the free time they have left from their so-called repetitive work tasks. So, why I can't do it too? You know this field is a broad one and you can do a lot of different things.
Aglet_Green@reddit
If you are looking to supplement your income rapidly and easily, and you are good sitting at a computer for a few hours a day, why not just become a freelance writer or reporter? Whether you do fiction or non-fiction, you should be able to pivot easily since that uses all the same skills as preparing a lesson plan and then lecturing to students. You can do online reviews, blogs, or even have your own webpage where you discuss events around the world.
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
Thanks for your comment. The equation here is not that easy though. I am hitting mid-age and trying for some time to find a way to better my finances (something that has leverage). Something that helps me give back to my family and the community by delivering a valuable service that can pay better than a teaching career or aligned with it cause I still love teaching and I don't plan on quitting it due to my responsibilities. On the other hand, I don't mind sitting on my computer for hours every day cause I am doing it anyway, and I always find myself hooked on the recent advancements in IT and AI. This made me drift to programming. I don't think Writing as a career is something that I would do to make money. I might write to vent from time to time, but not for money and I think it is not going to work cause I am not a good reader. I will be back to square one as you can see. How can I compete with passionate writers who do this as a full-time job? I don't believe you can make easy money as they advertise on social media. They have to sell you something so they can get views and engagement in every field. You know how it works there. Although my teaching career is paying the bills and making ends meet, I feel I can do a lot more. However, starting a new marriage and helping my kids while growing up is getting hard with today's economy. I don't know whether I will like programming and you can see my question derives to whether it's worth it now! You know this time will pass and a couple of years from now what I will be doing anyway rather than scrolling on social media and searching for: What are the best ways to make money in that year?
Necessary_Weight@reddit
Juggling two jobs like teaching and programming and have a life. I would love to see how you would achieve this. For context I program for a living and have a side hustle. And a family to look after. Basically that is my life, nothing else outside - no trips but family holiday, no outings, no go out to eat or late sleep ins. If that is what you want - sure. Programming anything for money is rarely a two hour a day job.
That pretty much addresses your second point as well. Two jobs, even with one part time, that involve serious time commitment and are cerebral - yeah, not much time left for other things.
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
Thanks for sharing your situation with me. TBH, I started learning a little over a year ago and giving it up would leave me with free time that I could use to learn a skill that can work in my favor in the next few years. Especially, for my full-time job I still have many hours of my day that I can raise the time to 4 and 5 hours while holding my teaching job. Is it still not working this way? So, you don't suggest I go down this route if I don't take it as a full-time job.
Necessary_Weight@reddit
I think people can do whatever they put their mind to, within reason. If you are passionate about it, go for it. 4-5 hours a day is solid starting point for this type of approach. If you want to do mobile development - focus on road map for that area, it is almost impossible to learn everything in the programming space. Get some projects out of the door, bulld a portfolio. You will find it difficult convincing people to give you job/hire you on project part time if you have nothing to show and no work experience in the area. Approach start ups, be ready to work for little cash but get flexibility in return. It will take you longer than full time worker, but with 4-5 hours a day and a disciplined approach, you will get there.
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
Thank you so much. At least you are the only one here who says I can make it work. I am single at this point, focusing on myself, and believing in opportunities. I do think that things shouldn't go as I plan and they won't, but if I keep grinding I will find a way to make it work InshaAllah. I am glad I didn't ask this question before I started, I wouldn't be even talking to you now. The amount of discouragement in this field is unbelievable. I will keep learning the road map and the technologies. we will see what is next when I finish what is in front of me right now.
g13n4@reddit
As you have already said you have no plans quitting your jobs so yes you will have freelance. In that case your working hours will depend exclusively on you so turning into an introvert is probably not going to happen.
If you want to become a mobile developer the languages I would recommend are swift (for ios) and java/cotlin (for android) because they are the industry standards.
Freelancing is over saturated for obvious reason and being a person with little to no work experience in the field you may be in a situation where nobody wants to give you any work. If you are serious about it I would try making a small apps for someone you know to polish your skills and maybe ask little money for it. Then you can move to something else and go from there
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
Thanks so much. This is what I am trying to do and I do believe I need to learn a lot of things and be patient with the process. I don't mind that at all as long it is going to reward me financially later on
lelboylel@reddit
It won't reward your financially because no one is gonna hire you.
ConfidentCollege5653@reddit
Very few people are going to hire a freelancer that doesn't have industry experience, especially one that only has limited availability.
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
You are right. I am aware of this fact and I am not quitting my job. What I am asking for is not a lot in terms of money as I know it is somewhat like a part-time job and I know my learning curve now will be extended for my time limitations.
hitanthrope@reddit
I don't think programming "makes you more introverted" though it might be true that introverts are more often drawn to programming. At least it certainly was the case in the earlier years of the profession but I think less so today.
The relevant question really is can you find the work. It's fairly hard for a very experienced programmer to find part-time programming work at the moment. If you are not naturally an introvert, that might help, but I think your entire plan depends on this question. It's hard to answer because I would need to know what that market looks like in Saudi Arabia. In the UK, where I am based, I would say you stand very little chance but things may be different where you are.
True_Economist6174@reddit (OP)
We have a 2030 vision for incorporating more investments and projects from outside and inside our economy and to start relying on other resources rather than oil. So, I do believe this field is going to grow even more. I believe not learning programming is the new literacy too so you would be able to find more flexible and rewarding jobs. I know I sound overly optimistic cause I didn't get into the market yet