I am a 30 year old guy who has mostly managed support for desktop machines (troubleshooting/windows/installation/pc assembly etc) I have been doing this since I was 14 , so I have fair knowledge about how a computer works. I always had an affinity towards web development but my expertise has been primitive ( have only basic knowledge of HTML & CSS ) . Never done any server side programming .
After reading Quincy’s posts and various other members who have finished the course I have mustered the courage to try my hand at full stack web development . I am strapped on cash so free course work supplemented by tutorial youtube videos along with pdf’s across the internet is all I can afford at this moment. Currently the most widely used implementation for web applications is LAMP stack and asp.net. Jobs are plenty for these technologies but pay is severely low here in India which has disillusioned me. However demand for Ruby on Rails and Mean stack based applications is gaining traction. I wish to know at my age is a career in web development feasible considering I don’t have any relevant work experience in this field.
Have a look here https://forum.freecodecamp.com/t/i-am-40-years-old-is-it-too-late-to-start-a-career-in-software-development/7271
20,30,40,50, 60 … They are just numbers that tell you when it started - the do not tell you who you are and what you can do.
The question basically is, will you be better off having gotten where you want to be than where you are now? If the answer is yes - start walking. Just go with what you want to do, read a lot (especially this post by @P1xt ) and start working towards your goal. In the meantime you will have plenty of opportunities to connect with people and create things. Just start, even if it is 20 minutes a day.
Check out The Odin Project if you are interested in the Ruby and Rails track. I started out there, it is a good program similar to FreeCodeCamp. I moved over to FCC because I think the Javascript/Node track is perhaps more employable, but that was just a personal preference, both are really good.
Thirty is absolutely not too old!
Hi vineetkdar,
I’m a 35 year old guy in a similar circumstance. Try carving out some extra time to do web development. Even if it’s just an hour, take your company’s website and see if you can tweak it a little and then show your work to someone when you’re done or make your own website and plug in Google’s AdSense and try to make some cash off of it. If you have the skills, the money will find you. If the money isn’t finding you, keep working on your skills and putting yourself out there. (That second part is super important.) Maybe one day you’ll wake up and realize maybe this isn’t what you initially wanted, but you’re comfortable, and life seems to be going pretty well, overall. Best of luck to you.
32 and started my web development career on Oct 31 2016 at the age of 31.
I love what I do. I wake up at 530 every morning to make sure I am on the bus at 6:30am to get to my job at 7:30. And work until the company opens at 9. Work till 4:37 run to catch my bus home get home around 6:15PM.
How bad do you want it? Like every job, work hard at what you have a passion for. Otherwise why bother.
30 years old is a ripe age.
I’ll let you know that i started Web Dev at this age as well (although i come from a CS background) and i’m doing fine.
Honestly, the worst mistake you can do is to question wether or not you can make it. The secret here is to think “i can make it” and moving forward.
Dedication will keep you on track, and just like any career path you chose, your success will deppend heavily on your ability to overcome the difficulties you encounter when learning the craft.
Hi Vineetkdar. I am almost 53 and brand new to coding. I am currently a teacher (my second career). I love coding and am hoping to start a 3rd career with it. Age does not matter. I say go for it!