You can get a job without any school at all if you’re knowledgeable enough and can prove it.
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i’m going to be 32 next year and I started learning to code in June. I’m just now making it to JavaScript because of life. I have a wife, a 5 year old, and a full time job along with everything that comes along with being an adult. All I can say is DO NOT give up. Keep going!
Dissect this larger goal of “Get a new job in coding” to smaller pieces. This will make your goal more manageable and give you a great sense of accomplishment when you finish a goal. Don’t worry about the pace you are learning compared to others, no one’s situation is exactly the same. Code EVERYDAY though. Even if only for an hour or two a day. This will keep concepts and theory in the forefront of your mind and help commit what you learn to long term memory.
Lastly, use resources like FCC community to help you stay motivated! Best of luck and I hope you stick with it!
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js-goose: I’ve got a wife and 5 year old, too. Being a Dad is the best, amIright?
OP: Don’t get discouraged because you don’t have degree. I’ve been working helpdesk for 6 years and got a bachelor degree during that time. I’m still working helpdesk. So, having a degree doesn’t mean you can get the job you want, it means you accomplished something you set out to do.
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It’s the best thing that I have ever had the privilege of doing. My daughter motivates me without even knowing it! 
I keep going with my journey of learning to code so that I can show her to not give up. I get up at 5 am every morning to have at least 2 hours of coding before anyone is awake. OP you can do this!
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@acefrontend it’s the worst seeing the stories of high school kids saying they’ve been coding since they could type lol. It’s like dude, I’ve been taking computers apart since elementary shcool - how am I not as accomplished in life?! But again, life took me away for a bit. I think the recent happenings in my life made way for me to just study, so that’s what I’m going to do.
@ksjazzguitar so basically, I’ll stay off job sites until I’m done with the projects here. I don’t want to keep feeling inadequate when I don’t need to. I just hope that the jobs out there in 1-3 years will still be open to candidates like myself. And in the meantime, I’ll try to get some volunteer and non-profit work! I think that’ll help too.
@BitsInMyBlood I will make sure to keep this in mind as I study! I told a couple of my friends what you said about the degree and they TOTALLY agreed with you.
@js-goose, yup 3 kids here, but I don’t have a paying full-time job (being mom is my full-time volunteer position currently lol) and I will not give up. I have a new confidence in myself, thanks to all of you. This isn’t the first time I’ve thought of throwing in the towel, I will admit. However, it’s something I truly enjoy doing and I feel like it will be a great career for me moving forward, which is why I’ve never totally been able to let it go. I’m going to make my first goal to finish this next project on FCC and leave the big stuff to future me 
And I will have to give getting up at 5 am a try (yikes!) - if you can, I can too!
THANK YOU EVERYONE! I appreciate the motivating words of encouragement!!! Hope you all had a good holiday as well!
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I tried coding about two years ago on Code Academy and was sort of bored and scared off. Then, I found out about FCC and other resources, and have been loving it since July of this year. Around the same time, I confirmed what my wife and a dear friend knew all along. I have Aspergers, which no professional ever caught. I got myself tested through the local vocational rehabilitation office, and qualify for services. There’s also a program through the local workforce agency called Tec-P. My point is that maybe you qualify for some sort of help and your area may have a need for technically minded people. Check it out through your employment office. I hope to come back to FCC, but need to slow down and get help through a tutor because I am not fully understanding JavaScript. Anyhow, on November 16th, 2017, I was washing the dishes. I found myself very upset and crying, thinking, “I’m David Mitchell Jacobs Schwartz. I’m 50. My Aspergers, previous careers in social services, retail, and tech support don’t matter. Family dynamics don’t matter. What kept coming back for me is to love and to serve.” That’s my bottom line and my purpose on this planet. I can’t tell you yours, but I hope you find it. Coding is one way to occupy your time and I hope it leads somewhere for all of us. I don’t diminish that it’s any easier or scary at 50 to find work, but there are ways to make it work. If I didn’t have some belief in G-d or myself, I would have withered a long time ago. I would echo what others have said: don’t give up, find projects, find people with whom to code. Start your own study group on Facebook if you haven’t found a local one. Many blessings!
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I learned to code at 33 and got all of my development gigs through Upwork, where I posted no resume and had only Free Code Camp projects as my portfolio. Almost none of my clients ever asked how much experience I had as a developer or whether I had any particular education. They just asked if I was capable of doing the work that they needed done.
Everyone’s story is different, and you might face more obstacles than I did, but this is one of very few professions where you can start opening doors for yourself without any credentials on paper. You just need to learn how to write good code and be confident enough to make potential employers believe in your skills.
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Yeah, I was watching Snowden, and was surprised to learn that he dropped out of highschool, yet still made it into NSA/CIA. Although, he did obtain a GED. Not sure if that was after, or before acquiring his positions.
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Yeah, I’m not suggesting it’s a good strategy, but if it’s the situation you’re in, there are people who’ve made it work. It’s a much steeper hill, but some people do succeed.
Undoubtedly. You’re right, it’s definitely possible with the right amount of determination.
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Sure, it’s tough but if you want it bad enough, you will get it. Instead of wondering if it’s doable, I would just try to be better today than I was yesterday. Just try to code everyday, even half an hour aside is already a step forward.
Make yourself a todolist with 5 items to do everyday and go through them.
When I was in high school, I was only able to speak my mother tongue (french) and was terrible at learning languages. Today, I can speak mandarin (which I teach), english, french, indonesian. I understand written and spoken spanish. At the moment, I am slowly picking up german. I learned a big bunch of them during my commutes. Now, I read CS books during my commutes.
I also thought that CS was not for me and that I was not patient enough. But today at 32 yo with a wife, a 2 years old and second child on the way, I am here studying CS and maths through online learning for free to make a career switch.
The fact of the matter is that you do not take any risk to learn CS online, since it’s free and programming is in my opinion a life skill. Just enjoy learning and computer science.
Set up a regular study plan everyday, if life kicks in and you find yourself having less time and energy, it’s all right, wake up half an hour earlier or read during your commutes or take half an hour on your lunch break to study.
Make a life habit to study, just focus on improving yourself and you will soon realize that you can get what you want to achieve.
All the best!
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Getting up at 5 am to code is no small feat, especially with children (being a parent is hard). I won’t lie it took me about a month to get used to it enough so that I could at least hold my eyes open. But after that first month I started to realize that my brain was making connections that were not previously there. Ideas, concepts, and theory started to make sense to me and the code stuck in my mind. I feel that I get more out of learning early than I do laying in bed with my laptop at midnight trying to debug my code.
I’m not saying it will work for you, but it is worth a shot. This is the method I use because I found out how I learn best. If it works for you then I will be thrilled 
Find out how you learn best and apply that.
Don’t give up, you got this!
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I too get bitter about all the years of experience required for even entry level jobs. And I almost have an Msc in engineering (had to drop out while doing my thesis due to health issues). But remember, you don’t need all the jobs, you need a single one. As others have suggested, maybe you should try setting up a local freecodecamp study group or find people to code with. Sometimes you learn a lot faster if you work together with other people. The one who knows more get to solidify their knowledge by explaining it to someone else, and the one who doesn’t know as much can ask questions in real time.
Still looking for that job? My company has opened hiring for Entry level Technical support.
I’m 28 and have just landed a job as an apprentice software developer through showcasing my portfolio which mainly consisted of projects from FCC… I start on Tuesday!
This is just one of many routes in to the industry and it’s one I have chosen to go down.
For the past year I have been teaching myself and studying around my full time job as well as all the other commitments life has to offer. With determination comes success… here’s a quote generator that may help improve your positive outlook 
http://jncwebdev.co.uk/quotegenerator/
thats not how the elephant metaphor works lol
Brah, Ive been in the music industry all my life, work as an audio engineer, programmer and musician. and im hitting the 50’s now.
and im just starting to learn how to code. I WILL NOT let anyone stop me or tell me that I cant change my path a little.
Maybe, just maybe companies might not hire me because im older, I dont look older but I am older.
Yes I have those types of genes in my body where my body looks younger than my age, and im happy about that.
But if a company doesnt hire me, there is always freelance as well as I can use these same type of skills to build my own application software and put it up on the market. such as android games or software if I choose to.
I love learning and coding is a path I am taking now because I want to build things in the future, while I work in the music industry.
will it take me a few years to get where I want to go, yes… but I will get there.
Age is just a number… and people need to stop thinking that just because you are older that you dont deserve
to have things like the younger people. WE ARE HUMAN, and people need to understand that EVERYONE
at ANY age can do ANYTHING if you apply yourself and do it.
You’re only 30… a I am hitting 50 and ive just started. I also am a sound designer and freelance studio musician
so I will also have that as my fall back along with my new skills in coding.
In the news there was a group of miners in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s that couldnt find any more work as miners.
They started to learn how to code at those ages and now they run a milti million dollar company as software developers… how about that, huh …??
Dont let anyone stop you, no matter what age you are.
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im close to your age. im a full time student at 42 Silicon Valley. I recently got a 2 month internship (probably extending) and I also use FCC to learn full stack web dev. I also won a scholarship from google/udacity for android basics recently. I didn’t know how to code 1.5 years ago (maybe like an intro to computer science / intro to java course in college, but forgot everything / didn’t really understand. YOU CAN DO THIS =D. eat. sleep. code. repeat. your age is not an issue. and you don’t really need a degree to get a job in software dev/web dev/ etc (a lot of the students at 42 SV get internships/full time jobs, and most are under 30). you just need to keep working on your craft/skillset and develop a portfolio. using the FCC forums is a good way to find help. don’t be afraid to just ask your peers!
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Hi there,
Please don’t feel discouraged. It’s ok to feel that sometimes but don’t let it control you.
Here’s my story:
I studied Software Engineer. Absolutely hated it and decided not to pursue any carer in this path. As a result, the next two years of my life I was going from one part-time job to another in Customer Service positions. I was rejected alot of times and when I do get a job it was completely unsatisfying and you have no way of growing. I am diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety and not having a steady job with a joke of a salary really made me more depressed. After reaching rock bottom, I finally thought to myself “This is ENOUGH” I went online and studied Web Development. I studied for 6 months. Did a couple of projects just to test my skills. Then I started to apply for jobs (junior positions)
I had two interviews this week alone and couple coming up. Even thu I did horribly in the first interview but I was still asked to come and work for 3 days trial just because I had projects to showcase my skills.
The point of this long story is, no body cared what my degree was. I was never asked that in any interview so far. What they cared about is that I’m passionate (which is something I never thought I would say about myself) and had projects to prove that I did work hard on myself.
I didn’t study everyday like some people did. Life does happen and with my depression, it’s honestly hell to learn something new. But I didn’t give up. I always came back and learned some more. I had a goal in my mind which is to have a full time job as a developer by the end of 2018 and have a good salary and not just minimum wage for the rest of mylife in a dead end job. That goal was my only motivation. I wanted to give up so so many times. But I always told myself “Are you happy with your current situation?” and as long the answer was no, I should move my ass and change it!
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