Anybody in their 30's trying to get in to the IT Field?

Hi everyone,

Was just wondering if any of you are in your 30's and looking to change jobs and get in to IT?

If you are in the IT field at this time in your life did you find it easy or hard to get your first IT job?

Is is too late or is there still time?

Any insight's would be welcome

Regards

Eamonn

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Plantwiz

eamo20 wrote:

Hi everyone,

Was just wondering if any of you are in your 30's and looking to change jobs and get in to IT?

If you are in the IT field at this time in your life did you find it easy or hard to get your first IT job?

Is is too late or is there still time?

Any insight's would be welcome

Regards

Eamonn

Age is merely a number.

What you know and how efficiently you work, as well as your people skills is what matters.

You'll probably already seeing people treating you a little better then they did when you were 18-24ish...just because you are likely more mature.

Now, if you act like a know-it-all you'll not get real far and this is where a number of younger people fail....eventually most figure it out.

I see no reason why you cannot begin making some progress in this field. What were you doing prior to this change? 30's pretty young yet, but still a little old to make a career change at that point with a good reason? Just curious

PremierCisco

Hi Plantwiz,

Thanks for your reply.

At the moment i still have not entered IT but not giving up yet as i enjoy learning new tecnologies etc....

At present i work in Warehousing and Logistics but do not see any future in it for myself where as IT i like computer's - building,repairing computer's and computer networking,network security.

And i would like to do something that i enjoy if you know what i mean turn it into a career.

Regards

Eamonn

sprkymrk

I think a similar topic was posted a while ago, if I find it I'l post the link. I was an electrician for 12 years before entering the IT field, and it has worked out great for me. Incidentally, in the last couple years of my electrical career I began by volunteering at various IT projects and also got a couple of certifications, that way when I made the jump I had a couple of things on my side.

I got my MCP and became really familiar with networks and the ins and outs of Microsoft OS's. I set up a network for an art lab at a high school, did hardware work out of my garage for friends and word-of-mouth referrals, frequented the local computer club (over 100 members) regularly, and other kinds of free services to get experience and gain contacts. The last thing I did was to teach a beginners computer class for the community education program for several months. Eventually I got a great job at the company I currently still work for, now several years and promotions later.

RussS

Yup - I was 40 something when I decided I needed a change in job and I guess life in general. Went to a training establishment and did A+, Net+ and a couple MS exams and then went looking for a job. Started at $27K and 3 years later am 10K better up the food chain.
I could earn a heck of a lot more in my old profession as a chef but that is nights and weekends with 70 hr weeks the norm, where here I am Monday to Friday 8.30 - 5 and actually have the time to live a life.

Trailerisf

I switched careers @ 32.... My age gives me credibility. For some reason a client doesn't want to believe a kid that they need to drop 80k on new servers.

:P

mike cook

Hi,
I worked in a warehouse for 18 years they closed it. I decided to change fields. I started when I was 42 making 33k, I am 47 and am making 39k now. I wish I would have started when I was in my 30's.

hiepdng

Age means nothing in IT field. But make sure you are willing to learn and have to learn all the time; otherwise you will behind the technology and won't be able to handle your job well.

PremierCisco

Thanks for your insights everyone.

At least i know that their is light at the end of the tunnel.

Just have to get my first break i think and it will all be worth the effort in the end.

Thanks again for the replies.

Eamonn

deneb829

hiepdng wrote:

Age means nothing in IT field. But make sure you are willing to learn and have to learn all the time; otherwise you will behind the technology and won't be able to handle your job well.

A willingness to learn is one of my mantras to my students. I have one student over 30 and his problem is that he want to start right away ... in fact, almost all of my students are guilty of this.

You'll never know what you don't know until you learn it. I know that doesn't sound like it makes any sense (you may have to read it another time or two - lol). The best thing that the entire certification process has done for me is to show me what I don't know.

Make certification part of your career, even if just for yourself. It's a great way to keep your skills fresh and know what you need to know for you specific field of choice.

sprkymrk

deneb829 wrote:

You'll never know what you don't know until you learn it. I know that doesn't sound like it makes any sense (you may have to read it another time or two - lol). The best thing that the entire certification process has done for me is to show me what I don't know.

Hey, I DO know what I don't know. It's a simple mathematical formula that looks like this:

What I don't know = Everything - What I do know

:P

Vogon Poet

Learn what you can from your present job. Use that knowledge and experience to get a better job with more responsibilities. Keep doing this throughout your career. At age 40, I switched to the IT field, but have a lot of management experience. Don't worry about age. It's all about what you can bring to the table. Good luck with your future IT career.

jetdynamics

wow a lot of encouraging advice here...I am not alone on changing career by 30's...ive been to a lot of different career field from sales, trade analyst and now into manufacturing but I decided to go for IT at the age of 30 bec. Id love the feeling of trying to solve some computer problems and networking now since i got my certification still trying to look for my entry level job in IT field. Hopefully I can start and find one soon..

Paddington

Im 35 here took 1,5 years of school where we went thru the MCSE and CCNA im not certified , managed to land a one month job rolling out windows XP for a big hospital and then from there i got a job running servers in Norways biggest IT company thru a recruiting agency, actually both my jobs came thru agencys.
making $41k now, one month expirience.
Lots of jobs in IT in Noway now.

Trailerisf

No Certs. No Exp... Just effort...awesome to see.