Is the tech industry welcoming to people over 30?

Posted by Oharalibrarian@reddit | talesfromtechsupport | View on Reddit | 2 comments

Hello, community,

First of all, I’m not a programmer. I’m 32 years old and defended my PhD in Literature a few months ago. I wanted to continue in academia as a professor, but competition in my field is extremely tough and discouraging, with very few job openings. Faced with this discouragement, I’ve been thinking about switching to the tech field and truly starting from scratch.

I’ve always liked technology and games—I’ve been a gamer since I was 12 years old, and I learned to speak and read English by playing RPGs. I think I could do well in the tech industry. The problem is that I feel too old to start over. On top of that, I don’t have any financial support to help me through the first few years of college.

Do you think it’s worth switching to tech? Or is age really a barrier? Please be honest. Also, which area is the most promising? Where should I start studying?

Thanks in advance—this old guy appreciates it.

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elgrn1@reddit

What do you mean by "working in tech"? There are hundreds if not thousands of roles ranging from niche and incredibly specialist to generalist requiring little technical knowledge.

You will definitely need to narrow this down considerably as not all require the same skills or experience and there is no single training course that covers all roles or areas of technology.

Completing a coding boot camp or other generic development course, assuming that's the route you want to take, will not make you stand out from all the thousands of other people doing the same. The more you can narrow your focus the better to tailor any training, work experience, and/or CV/LinkedIn profile to better your chances of changing industries.

Taking on an entry level position on the service desk is a common way into a job in technology but it's usually a minimum wage role, with unsociable hours. But it isn't the only route into a role in tech and for some will make it harder to transition.

All of this will impact the reception you receive from people moreso than your age.

QuestioningEnby@reddit

If you can't read the rules of a subreddit and follow them, your reading comprehension probably isn't good enough to get into tech...