I am a novice programmer and coder. I have little experience in the Dev world.
I am currently working in IT Operations or Support. I am a fully qualified Tier 2 Support engineer, by industry standards, and have worked with loads of resources and platforms exposing me to the worst and the best and gaining significant experience.
I am in my mid 20s and I seriously want to make the switch to Dev. Whether it be Web or Software. I am realitively concerned about starting over because I have become dependent on the salary that I am earning at the moment, and starting over means … starting over.
I am in conversations to do a dev internship on the side of my regular job just to sort of get a foot in the door of Dev careers. Working two jobs might kill me but I am determined to do it if it means that it might lead to a full time career in Development.
Could your current employer, or someone else, consider hiring you part-time for your current role so you can pursue learning web development? Lots of people learn part-time, so is not considered a barrier to learning.
Could you start saving money now, by making sacrifices so that you have a cushion to fall on when you decide to fully switch over?
It’s up to you if working two jobs is worth it. Most employers forbid working other jobs as it can affect their employees ability to do their primary job to their fullest.
Even spending your lunch breaks learning web development can help without affecting your current job. You also have evenings and weekends available, just make sure you can maintain a balance with work, family, and looking after yourself.
Have you considered to combine your current experience with Dev by going into DevOps?
Especially security (DevSecOps) and implementing AI into the current infrastructure (AiOps) are options.
What happened at PocketOS that got their database deletet by an agent (The AI-agent was given too many priviledges) shows how essential theses roles are becoming.
There are several DevOps engineer roadmaps that can give you a first look at this career path and its branches.