Career Change Advice: Software Engineer/Coding

[quote] Any wisdom you can share

Learn how to code.

Make sure the boot camp teaches you something useful. Check their ability to place their graduates. Virtually every company/corporation needs software developers in some capacity since everything is computerized these days. You will not be able to compete with people with college degrees in computer science for jobs at the high tech companies like Facebook, Google, etc. but there are plenty of jobs at less sexy corporations (food chains, banks, hotels, etc.) that require basic computer programming skills, and there are a lot of middle aged people who switch to IT after spending their early years doing something else.

Coding is not necessarily a skill if it's not tied to a specific platform, so rather than investing in a coding bootcamp, I would look into mastering the basics of a mainline CRM or ERP system, and then get their basic certification and go from there.

Salesforce is actually well known for this sort of thing. The path there would be to complete their Trailhead training modules for the administrator path, and then sit for their Administrator and Advanced Administrator certifications. Once you have those, you would be well positioned to secure a job working for a Salesforce customer as a Salesforce admin. They command anywhere from $90,000 to $125,000 per year depending on where you live. But if you don't have Salesforce working experience, you WILL need to pass those certification exams in order to be viable.

Once you are in at the ground level doing work for a platform like Salesforce (which does not strictly require coding abilities to be successful as an administrator), then you can focus on the sorts of custom development that require coding in one of the object oriented program languages.

R3 are these usually remote positions?

Things are evolving very quickly on that question as most companies that have completed their digital transformations are realizing during the pandemic that most IT jobs can be done remotely.

The answer to your question is, some jobs are, and some are not. But if you want to work remotely then it will almost always be a point of negotiation, except at smaller companies that likely never really fully committed to any sort of digital transformation during the last decade.

Speaking personally, I work for Salesforce itself (I am in the consulting group) and I am 100% remote with periodic travel to client sites.

Thanks r3/r5 I never would have considered Salesforce certification. I was in e-commerce for 10 years (non-technical side) so this may make more sense than being a coder.

You should be looking into how your previous work experience can differentiate you as a developer. If you're pitching yourself as a 50 yo right out of bootcamp, you'll have even more trouble getting hired than the young energetic kids who will work for nothing

Ugh. And I'm too old for OnlyFans.

What r7 said, what is your career history? Can it be leveraged into making you an attractive candidate?

At your age if you have no relevant background other than a programming boot camp it could tough.

R9 I was e-commerce and digital marketing manager for a couple small brands. It was more sales and marketing oriented, no technical, back end stuff. But I often see job posting for E-commerce Directors with coding and technical experience.

I'm just getting depressed because I've gotten THIS close to getting a job, but lose out to someone with technical or operations experience.

Sounds like you're going to need your own projects to work on after the bootcamp is over. Make sure you're working on the kinds of things you'd need to do at your job

I agree with the previous reply. Coding, like all skills, becomes better with practice and, starting over at 50, means that you will not have the experience or skills of a younger coder, who's been working at it since his or her teens. And the tech industry is pretty ageist. Your age is already a strike against you when you apply to jobs. Best to work on some of personal (or voluntary) projects before actually applying to jobs.

One of my many fears is that if my Datalounge becomes an App, part of my user-provided content will be coding.

“My ThreAd WaTCher DoeSn’T LoAd!”

“Then Fixit, Cunt Henry!”

Maybe Muriel will hire you, she sure needs the help around here!

OP, check out IBM's apprenticeship program. Sure, it's IBM's way to get lower skilled and lower cost employees in the door so they can push out the expensive IBMers eventually. You can look at it as a way to get your foot in the door, get paid while learning. If you graduate from apprenticeship into a permanent position with IBM, take advantage of their massive learning curriculum. Work, upskill, and go elsewhere for better money.

OP, instead of spending the money on a bootcamp, there are several great free online resources that will allow you to see if coding is right for you, and if so, allow you to teach yourself enough to put together a portfolio of various projects. My personal faves are Free Code Camp and the Odin Project.

R5 which, in your opinion, would be better: Salesforce Administrator or Salesforce Developer?

R6, yup, and it sounds like Salesforce Commerce Cloud is right inside your wheelhouse!

Good luck!

Also, don’t listen to the people telling you how difficult it is going to be based on your age, etc. This is purely a question of supply and demand. And trust me, there is a shortage of qualified Salesforce technical talent right now. And there has been for years.

If you can clear your certifications you will be able to get a job in Salesforce, particularly if you focus on the product verticals within Salesforce that fit your area of business expertise (e.g eCommerce).

I think you will be fine. But you wil need those certifications to overcome your lack of admin/developer experience.

R17, start with administrator and work your way to developer.

The path is basically admin > developer > architect. I took me about 7 years to get from admin to architect and now I actually work for Salesforce itself. It can be done!

Don't try to do everything.

Stick with something until you master it and then branch out.

Don't be "okay" in C# / C++ and "okay" in Java etc. Pick one, get really good at it and then it becomes easier for you to pick up other languages and it's also easier to get a job.

Have you ever done anything at all similar, OP?

Have you ever built a blog page and changed the CSS/HTML code?

Just wondering what level you'd be starting at here.

I'm already taking the Salesforce training (Trailhead), and I think I'm going to really enjoy it! Thanks to the DLer who suggested it, I'm hoping I can fast track to a new career in a couple of months.

You're welcome, OP!

Salesforce is a great career path, and a great company.

I will keep this thread in my thread watch in case you have more questions.

Don't bother with coding, it is the blue collar job in IT, and it's mostly outsourced to Indian firms. If the work requires them to be physically in the US, the firm will just bring H1B visa workers here. There is no clear career path for the coders, the best you can hope is to find another coding job with slightly better pay.