2nd career at 41. Starting completely from scratch. Thoughts?

I'm 41, unemployed, and have no desire to return to my previous profession (I was a chef).

I am lucky enough, because of my living conditions and the manner in which my last facility closed, to have the opportunity to go back to school and pursue a new career.

Unfortunately, I was never one of those people who knew "what they wanted to do when they grew up". As such, I'm having to look at what interests me.

Simply put, computers interest me and specifically IT. That said, I have absolutely NO practical experience whatsoever. If I were to pursue this, I would literally be starting from scratch.

As I've been looking into this, I've run into everything from the Pollyanna response of "go for it! follow your dreams" to the very cynical "IT sucks, I just left my 15 year career to become a waiter".

I'm coming to you folks in the hopes of getting your best thoughts, based on your experiences.

Am I just to old? How would you advise me to proceed if I do go for it? I'm loosely looking at taking an A+ course to give me general knowledge and then pursuing a bs with WGU.

Is it possible that A+ and some combination of other certs could land me a decent entry level position while I was working on my bs?

Assuming a couple years experience while completing my degree, what do you suspect my prospects would look like upon graduating?

I realize that there are a lot of variables here. This just seems like the best community to get some solid thoughts.

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andy4tech

My advice is that follow what your mind go,you know intuition is the best way to go,people will always have negative opinion about things no matter what.I think you've decided by yourself how you want to go about it by going for A+ first,i believe that will open your eyes to know where your interest lie ,i.e maybe hardware,networking or security.Man go for it,age should not be a barrier to start a career,your life to be successful is in your own hands not in any other person's hands. Just have focus and determination.

ferris11470

Thank you for your response. In your opinion, would A+ be the best place to start as far as building a general base of knowledge?

As I mentioned, I have no practical experience whatsoever. Basically, as I sit here I'm looking at a rudimentary knowledge of common applications and only very basic hardware stuff (installing RAM, video cards, etc.).

Every time that I mention A+, I'm swamped with "A+ is worthless!!!" For some reason, I can't get it across that I'm not expecting a career out of it but instead to find something which would bring me up to speed as a new student.

Would there be any cert or course which you would suggest over A+ for a starter?

ferris11470

Thank you. That's pretty much what I figured. I can see how A+ might be of diminished value to someone well along in their career. However, for someone starting from 0 like myself, it seems that it would be vital.

I am looking into following that up by pursuing a degree. My options at the moment are a CC with and AA program or a bs with WGU. This is where I'm scared. I hear so much negative feedback from folks and I'm a bit terrified to go in debt for school, only to find myself in a situation where I'm making the same wage that I make now as a chef.

I know that with any career, there's a matter of risk. However, between my age and all of the negativity out there, it's a scary proposal.

If I had a dollar for everyone who told me to forget about IT and become an RN, I'd never have to work again. However, I just have no interest in healthcare whatsoever.

osJoe

ferris11470 wrote: »

I'm 41, unemployed, and have no desire to

As I've been looking into this, I've run into everything from the Pollyanna response of "go for it! follow your dreams" to the very cynical "IT sucks, I just left my 15 year career to become a waiter".

I would not pay those responses any attention whatsoever. I hear things like that all the time, "IT is just to hard", "Too much studying!". These are only the opinions of other individuals who may have got into the field for all the wrong reasons or it just wasn't for them from the beginning. You know what interests you.

Too old? Again, up to you, however my opinion is that you're never too old! Find what you like to do and make things happen. I think getting entry level certification(s) while getting some sort of education in the field would be a good starting point.

Most employers will be looking for experience, or hire people with experience first but I think it is definitely possible to land an entry level position with a couple certs and no experience at all because I have been in that same situation.

Good luck sir!

RockinRobin

I say go for it. Take advantage of all the free A+ videos on youtube, buy a used book, and study, study, study.

I''m 43, and I'm basically starting from scratch, education-wise (meaning zero credits). I'm now taking some straighterline gen-ed classes, then transferring to WGU around January, with about 33% of my Bachelor's degree done.

You CAN do it. Just take it slow at first, and enjoy the journey. Don't try to do zero-to-Bachelor's in warp speed! You'll just get frustrated and quit.

Good luck to ya!

the_Grinch

I use to think A+ was useless and went for Security+ first (plus I was on college). I got a call one day for a job paying $11 an hour to install network cards into PCs and verify that it was working properly. I told the recruiter, no problem I can do that. He asked if I had A+ as it wasn't on my resume. I told him nope, but I had done that kind of work and had Security+ (plus 2 years of college at this point). He said nope, I'd have to get the A+ before they could hire him. I told him I couldn't see spending the money for the cert as I knew I could do the job. Long story short, A+ has some value and definitely won't hurt.

As for being too old? Never too old to learn something, plus IT people like to eat so having a Chef on hand would be awesome! If it's what you want to do and you don't mind not making a whole lot for a couple of years, I think you are making a good choice. Good luck!

Turgon

ferris11470 wrote: »

I'm 41, unemployed, and have no desire to return to my previous profession (I was a chef).

I am lucky enough, because of my living conditions and the manner in which my last facility closed, to have the opportunity to go back to school and pursue a new career.

Unfortunately, I was never one of those people who knew "what they wanted to do when they grew up". As such, I'm having to look at what interests me.

Simply put, computers interest me and specifically IT. That said, I have absolutely NO practical experience whatsoever. If I were to pursue this, I would literally be starting from scratch.

As I've been looking into this, I've run into everything from the Pollyanna response of "go for it! follow your dreams" to the very cynical "IT sucks, I just left my 15 year career to become a waiter".

I'm coming to you folks in the hopes of getting your best thoughts, based on your experiences.

Am I just to old? How would you advise me to proceed if I do go for it? I'm loosely looking at taking an A+ course to give me general knowledge and then pursuing a bs with WGU.

Is it possible that A+ and some combination of other certs could land me a decent entry level position while I was working on my bs?

Assuming a couple years experience while completing my degree, what do you suspect my prospects would look like upon graduating?

I realize that there are a lot of variables here. This just seems like the best community to get some solid thoughts.

Ok. You are about my age then, but I do have over 14 years experience in, plenty of certifications and a Masters degree in IT completed 16 years ago..

If I was in your shoes I would leverage my age and position myself well. Your experience of being a chef should lend itself well to passing yourself off as a guy who can handle pressure, is organised, can manage teams and get stuff done to meet deadlines. So definately get that across when you knock on doors looking for an opportunity. I think the next 12 months you really need to look as a foundation year to make you credible as a fledgling IT professional. For that I recommend you get some varied experience and exposure in the workplace. See if you can get taken on parttime by different shops in different capacities and do contact the agencies for contract work. Certainly look at some L1S opportunities in helpdesk, but also help out work in PC shops, particularly ones that deliver things to sites to install. You could also look at some late night shifts in local DCs and NOCs. The hours are unsocial but you maybe able to talk yourself into some menial tasks there. The main thing is to get some credible hours working in the industry paid or unpaid on your CV and at the same time start to appreciate for yourself what IT work *actually* involves. You may not be doing it yourself, but working in an organisation is the only way to get a feel for what the various types of roles and responsibilities involve. You will see this for yourself as you follow the email trails sent out by all sorts of people working all sorts of IT jobs. Similarly you follow discussions in the office and observe. I think with your background and maturity some kind of field installation work might be a good direction for you to try and get into as the clients you visit will see you as timeserved because of your maturity. By the same token, consider working towards some sort of supervisory capacity where you can leverage your maturity and life experience. Working a helpdesk job will give you a feel for what supporting infrastructure involves but at 41 I wouldn't stick around there. Helpdesk goes through a lot of churn and you are up against a small army of young newbies straight out of college.

jonrage

Abraham Lincoln didn't get into politics until he was 47.

there are a lot of people who are experts in everything that can't be done. they know every reason why you shouldn't do something and exactly how not to do it. they're basically expressing their own disbelief and doubt in themselves.

starting over late in life isn't as glamorous as having an established career but that doesn't mean it can't be done. there are elderly people packing bags at grocery stores not because their board and need something to do, but because they need the extra money to survive. i'm sure that's not what they wanted out of life. there are people in their thirties and forties stuck in dead jobs that don't push themselves to learn something new and accomplish more. age isn't the problem, its fear.

just keep learning as much as you can and start stacking your certs while you get your degree. but more importantly learn and master the technology. if you become the best at doing something, nothing else matters. you'll get the job.

never2late

Turgon wrote: »

Ok. You are about my age then, but I do have over 14 years experience in, plenty of certifications and a Masters degree in IT completed 16 years ago..

Your experience of being a chef should lend itself well to passing yourself off as a guy who can handle pressure, is organised, can manage teams and get stuff done to meet deadlines.

I agree that your past work history will lend itself to the IT field. Age should never be a hindrance, as seen by my TE name. I started my IT career at 40 as a entry level field engineer. A lot of onsite service calls and travel and the pay was low. But it gave me the experience and confidence I needed to excel. I now run the entire IT department and wear a lot of hats but enjoy the challenge. There is stress, deadlines, and definitely pressure, none of which has anything to do with age. In fact, I believe my age has helped because I can see problems with a mature eye and understand the underlying situation better than many of my peers who are still in their 20's.
The CompTIA A+ is an excellent start and it will give you some idea where in the IT field you feel most compelled to follow. Plus, we IT people love to eat good food!
Good Luck.

kiki162

I guess the bigger question to ask is what to you really want to do in IT. You say you want to get into entry level work, but do you have a path as to what you really want to get in to? Do you want to get into System Administration, Network Admin, or Security...just some things to think about.

As far as starting out, A+ is a good starting point, but you will need to get a little more than just that to secure yourself a job. The point being is that you never stop learning. Don't think that A+ and working towards a degree is gonna land you something. Going beyond and getting like your MCP, Sec+, MCTS and so on, will help you even more...while going to school.

For Microsoft certifications, I would personally get familiar with products like Virtual Box, or VMWare Server and install it on your machine at home. You can play with Windows 7 or 2008 server trial versions, and understand how it works. Also investing in good certification books is a good start. Go to sites like Amazon, and look at the feedback of some of the books and go from there. Once you get pass one certification, make a plan on the next one like Security+.

Once you start getting into the Microsoft certifications is where it will be a little more difficult, but not too bad. Take a look at some of the links below for books.

Amazon.com: CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide: Exams 220-701 (Essentials) and 220-702 (Practical Application) (978047048649

: Quentin Docter, Emmett Dulaney, Toby Skandier: Books

http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Security-Certified-Ahead-SY0-201/dp/1439236364/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312547643&sr=1-1#_

Turgon

never2late wrote: »

I agree that your past work history will lend itself to the IT field. Age should never be a hindrance, as seen by my TE name. I started my IT career at 40 as a entry level field engineer. A lot of onsite service calls and travel and the pay was low. But it gave me the experience and confidence I needed to excel. I now run the entire IT department and wear a lot of hats but enjoy the challenge. There is stress, deadlines, and definitely pressure, none of which has anything to do with age. In fact, I believe my age has helped because I can see problems with a mature eye and understand the underlying situation better than many of my peers who are still in their 20's.
Good Luck.

Yeah I think theres a lot in that. You get older and some older people can handle things a little differently and sometimes for the better than many younger people who are less schooled in life. Thats why I think the OP should get a year of varied experience in the field and pitch himself at a possible supervisor role to lead a small but capable team of younger engineers and shield them from the management side of the shop. It may be that out and out technicalities are what he wants but later in life its hard to keep up relentless long hours keeping up with the studies and what have you. You just have too much going on at home.

ferris11470

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and detailed responses. This is a great community.

@Turgon: I'm glad that you mentioned that. While culinary is certainly worlds different, I figured that my chef experience might still be useful down the road. Contrary to popular belief, chefs spend very little time cooking and are basically managers in tall, white hats.

@kiki162: That's a good question and one that I'll have to figure out along the journey. I wanted to follow a path that I was interested in and while this is something that I have always been interested in, I'm still largely ignorant about individual career paths.

Thank you all again for your help.

Michael.J.Palmer

The A+'s value lies soley in landing you an entry-level job. Most entry-level jobs require at a minimum an A+ certification so it's always not a bad place to start because of that.

It is very possible to get an entry-level position with an A+ and a few other certifications (maybe some MS OS certs for example to try and get a help desk job) while you work on your degree.

As far as being "too old" well, you're never too old to make a difference in your life. 40 is the new 20 these days right? So you've got plenty of years to enjoy in your new career so why not go for it? Just to give you a heads up in case you were wondering, according to WGU the average age of a student there is 36, so you're not the only one.

IT may be the young man's game for the most part, but it's all about energy and ability to learn and keep learning, if you have that spark then it doesn't matter how old you are, you can accomplish it.

Anonymouse

A+ helped me land my first computer repair gig from which I moved to some desktop support afterwards. I don't think it really helped me in my current position but it did help a bit at my first two IT jobs.

varelg

Pursuing the ... A+ cert?! Let's face the fact: PC is a dying breed, in desktop, laptop and all-in-one incarnations. Tablets and other mobile devices are taking over. So if you are really looking towards future and planning for it, you would set your compass towards the trend of mobile computing and what makes it working.
The real question you have to ask yourself Ferris is what do you really want from IT. Are you doing the switch just for the sake of loans available to study it?

Armymanis

varelg wrote: »

Pursuing the ... A+ cert?! Let's face the fact: PC is a dying breed, in desktop, laptop and all-in-one incarnations. Tablets and other mobile devices are taking over. So if you are really looking towards future and planning for it, you would set your compass towards the trend of mobile computing and what makes it working.
The real question you have to ask yourself Ferris is what do you really want from IT. Are you doing the switch just for the sake of loans available to study it?

Ferris, I think this guy has a good point. Find out why you want to be in IT and stick with that reason don't let anyone else change your mind. User's are always going to need desktops and laptops as well as servers to keep their information on. Tablets and mobile devices are the new thing right now, but lets face it, they are still not as powerful as desktops, laptops, and servers. The industry will only switch over when the guy's at apple/microsoft have come up with a way to put 2tb hard drives in a tablet PC, along with an intense video card, and more then 16gb of ram. So far they have not yet.

Until that happens, start studying the A+, get a contract gig and find out if you really want to be in IT before taking out loans for more certifications. That's what I am doing. I started going to school for my AA, then got my A+ and got a contract job and found out that I still loved IT. The main reason I love IT is seeing all the users getting their computer problems solved. Whether it's from the desktop side or the networking side. That's the main reason I am sticking with it. Some people call me insane for loving to see users happy, but that is what IT is all about to me. Solving Users problems, and learning as much as you can while making a decent amount of money. Note: I said decent amount and not tons of money. It's going to take awhile to get to the $50,000 mark, but I believe if professionals can get there, so can we.

My point is in all of this is you have to find out why you like IT. Just like the previous user posted.

NOC-Ninja

Go for CCNA. Don't waste your time on A+.

N2IT

varelg wrote: »

Pursuing the ... A+ cert?! Let's face the fact: PC is a dying breed, in desktop, laptop and all-in-one incarnations. Tablets and other mobile devices are taking over. So if you are really looking towards future and planning for it, you would set your compass towards the trend of mobile computing and what makes it working.
The real question you have to ask yourself Ferris is what do you really want from IT. Are you doing the switch just for the sake of loans available to study it?

I agree the day of the PC is coming to an end.

It's all coming into one device. Virtualization, server back ups, 20 mins image installs. Add that with an all in one device. Future is bleak, the days of PC technicians are going to be like TV repair men.

If you enjoy technology I might try to getting into IPhone/Ipad support or maybe Blackberries. From there you could leverage into other technologies like the server side technology.

***These are just my opinions.

CCNA is another good one as well. Networking is strong.

andy4tech

ferris,
As i said the last time if you believe you want to start from A+ go for it,i dont think it will hinder you from getting any other certs .Just go with your heart,you know people are of different opinions but you know better what you can do and what you want for yourself.

Turgon

N2IT wrote: »

I agree the day of the PC is coming to an end.

It's all coming into one device. Virtualization, server back ups, 20 mins image installs. Add that with an all in one device. Future is bleak, the days of PC technicians are going to be like TV repair men.

If you enjoy technology I might try to getting into IPhone/Ipad support or maybe Blackberries. From there you could leverage into other technologies like the server side of technology.

***These are just my opinions.

CCNA is another good one as well. Networking is strong.

I think we will see increasing opportunities for the gadget people in the years ahead. The PC real estate will start to shrink.

Turgon

Armymanis wrote: »

The industry will only switch over when the guy's at apple/microsoft have come up with a way to put 2tb hard drives in a tablet PC, along with an intense video card, and more then 16gb of ram. So far they have not yet.

Watch. They will either come up with the technology to do it, or leverage a paradigm shift where it is no longer a requirement to have it to deliver the experience the enduser wants. I remember installing 8M of RAM into a PC. Things change.

WiseWun

Ferris, I highly recommend going for CCENT/CCNA, see if theirs a Cisco Network Academy out their. Get a copy of Todd Lammle official guide to CCNA - 7th edition. You will do just fine, just believe in yourself.

This may seem like a crazy idea but I know a few friends around your age that got laid off and went to India for IT training. Packages typically include flight, accommodation, and training.

instant000

Whether or not you like your previous profession, your contacts there might be invaluable in finding your first IT gig, starting out.

I disagree with the people saying to get a CCNA first, particularly because you don't know what you want to be doing in the first place. Besides, a switch/router is still basically a computer (ram, OS, BIOS, etc.), and you get to use those A+ level skills when you look at issues like swapping out cards or modules in your network equipment, if you did go that route.

If you want to pursue WGU, then you may as well get ready to start applying now. If you're hard working and focused, you can finish as fast as you're willing to work on it. Depending upon how much aid you receive, you may be able to attend there up even through the Master's level. (though I would hope that you had a couple years of professional experience before you went for the Master's, which you hopefully received while pursuing the bachelor's).

Don't let anyone hold you back, or tell you what can or cannot be done. Until convinced otherwise, believe in yourself that you can do it.

At 41, you have enough time left to work 20+ years before you think of retiring.

Being a chef, you understand that it takes a lot of planning and organization to keep a smooth running operation. When preparing dishes for lots of customers, you probably juggle lots of responsibilities at once. You probably had people underneath you, that you had to give orders to, and they got things accomplished for you.You had to work with a lot of different personalities. You had to have strong customer service skills.

I see a lot of those skills as positives.

We have a very supportive forum here, so get to it!

You should be posting in the A+ forums soon! But if you decide for CCNA instead (decide you like networking), then see you there!

Wherever your passion is, that is where you will be most successful!

apexgtp

You people telling him to get CCNA are missing the point. The guy said he has zero experience. CCNA study confuses the best of us. Start with A+ for sure.

someuser23

the_Grinch wrote: »

I use to think A+ was useless and went for Security+ first (plus I was on college). I got a call one day for a job paying $11 an hour to install network cards into PCs and verify that it was working properly. I told the recruiter, no problem I can do that. He asked if I had A+ as it wasn't on my resume. I told him nope, but I had done that kind of work and had Security+ (plus 2 years of college at this point). He said nope, I'd have to get the A+ before they could hire him. I told him I couldn't see spending the money for the cert as I knew I could do the job. Long story short, A+ has some value and definitely won't hurt.

As for being too old? Never too old to learn something, plus IT people like to eat so having a Chef on hand would be awesome! If it's what you want to do and you don't mind not making a whole lot for a couple of years, I think you are making a good choice. Good luck!

That's pretty true, since I got mine I've had mostly temp jobs (no permanent position) yet but the A+ does add some value. I get called for some temporary assignments still and I haven't touch my resume in about 8 months of working somewhere else.