Hi guys. So I was wondering if anybody had experience or advice on this. I’ve been trying on and off to study software development but for many reasons it just hasn’t worked out. I’m really wanting to get back into studying it now to get out of the kinds of jobs that don’t go anywhere. So I’m working full time at the moment…8 hours a day, 5 days a week. The job is shift work so sometimes I can work from 8:00-16:30 or from 12:30-21:00 and generally am beyond exhausted afterwards. The two days a week I do have off are generally for everything I cant get done in the week. I’m playing with the idea of quitting my job and studying full time while using my savings for the bills etc. Has anybody done this and what was your experience?
on this forum, i must have seen at least 200 stories that did exactly this, and got a job. Now, there are probably more that did the same and didnt get a job, but they dont post.
As for you, its not even new but “getting back into it”, meaning you had a programming job before. So, it should be pretty easy for you. you have exp already, you boot the hours a bit and get a programming job again.
As for me, it be scary to quit the job, i had no programming exp, i just worked 8h and studied 4-6h every day. worked out well.
Thanks for replying. I haven’t had a job in programming before, just in and off been studying it. But I can see that it’d be scary to just quit work to study but I think if I didn’t quit I’d at most get about 3 hours a week of proper study in, if even that amount
can you study before going to work?
if you start at 12:30, can’t you put a few hours in the morning to studying?
If i do start at that time yes. But its different every week, only one week a month do I get the late shift like that one
I’m currently working on the Ethereum Developer course with B9Labs, as well as acompaning course work to supplment it, such as, a React course with Udemy. I also work full time as a sever at night and workout/run everyday with my dog. It’s a very busy day, everyday, but boy do I love it. Some days I definitely just feel like doing nothing. It’s a marathon, not a race. We do a little bit everyday and at the end of the year you’ve done a whole lot.
can you wake up earlier and put an hour of studing in even on other days?
if later you are too tired, do it before work
My answer may seem a little strange or maybe stupid … resign from your job!
You cannot work and study (too much) at the same time.
If you’re still young, dedicate your time to learning or if you want to make some money, find a freelance or part-time job.
Don’t forget there is always time to work, but there is little time to learn!
I hope you make the best decision.
I’m at the same conclusion. Id like to finally get to the point of actually getting a job in a field i tried to study many years ago and on and off since then.
You mention freelance work, do you mean in the software development field? If so, would anyone (company or the like) even consider someone so junior?
Yes I mean freelance job in software development.
I got my first freelance job (from online jobs) after 5/6 months of work in programming.
After a white I got programming projects from places such as university and educational institutes (I was an Android developer at that time).
I suggest promote your work, print business cards, introduce yourself to others…
I received a SEO project a few days ago, just with introducing myself to someone!
It might not be bad to start from a freelance site.
Believe in yourself… Don’t be afraid of challenge and make mistakes.
Sometimes your passion is very important to the employers.
Prove to them that you are the best person for that job.
Thank you so much! I’m ready for the challenge! I’ll definitely get out there and start getting my name out there
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I don’t know what decision was taken, but to my mind, I would peek to take a risk. I suppose if you’ll decide to return your present job, you could do it if something will go wrong with SW development. But I think it could work, especially if you have savings. Good luck, any way!
Hello Jinx, I was in a somehow similar situation, and to help me taking a decision I evaluated: what is the more risky?
- staying in my job, getting bored and not studying what I wish in order to be able to move on?
- quitting my job and perhaps having difficulties finding a new one, but in the meantime I am learning new stuff, which at the end, might lead to a new job?
I chose 2). Of course it helps if you can be economically independent for a long enough period of time, and it’s not easy to know how long this will be.
I’d say that if you are on your own (no kids, etc), you are only putting yourself at risk, so then it’s only your problem if it does not work. Go for it, at least you’ll have no regrets later for having tried 
Hello, Jinx. I have read your post. Seemed not easy to learn after working. If I were you I would stay in your job because you don’t have income after you quit yours for learning. But you should go forward to make yourself better like getting a better career. But you are exhausted after working. I would say you can invest for studying with your income or deposit because you have surplus income for boosting yourself. I am running our my deposit and am learning for a better job without any income for now. I would be happy with some financial helping for studying. Having much times is helpful for learning but enough time isn’t all for learning too.
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Hello Jinx,
I know what your living, I started FCC 10 month ago, I’m still in my job who has nothing to do with code, but I think I’ll be ready to quite this year
I decided to study in the morning, because at the start of the day your mind is ready to study and not full of other things
So I study just 1 hour and half a day, but every day (well almost 
), exactly between 6:20 am and 7:50 am, after that I take notes of what I’ve done and what I have to do the next day
Then I can go to work and when I finish, I can do something else like enjoy time with my girlfriend, friends, or workout, without being worry of nothing, or feeling guilty about being tired
This type of routine make the bet of getting result on long terms, I really think it will works
Maybe it can for you too, I hope it will inspire you and maybe you or someone will have some feedback to improve it
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Jinx,
I’m glad to see you have aspirations to pick up a new skill to improve your life. It can be daunting for people who have financial commitments such as family or bills to dedicate the time it takes to study and make significant progress.
My personal opinion (and I’ve been learning new tech since '98) is that to make the progress you’re looking for you’d need to dedicate at LEAST 20 hours a week, and that’s like a bare minimum. Something that I learned early on in is that if you’re enrolled in a community college you can take borrow more in student loans than the cost per credit. I’m not suggesting that you HAVE to go to college to make it work, but you can borrow quite a bit, even if you’re just taking part time classes. Consider the debt an investment in your career. It would allow you to just work part time, or maybe not at all give you the time to fully dedicate yourself to your studies and accelerate your development.
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Nah… don’t quit your job
I work from 9am to 6pm…get home by 7:30pm…spend time with the wife till 9pm…then off to bed…then I’m up at 3:30am and I’m coding untill it’s time to go to work(about 4 hours)…and I do alil coding at work ( I’m a network engineer so I’m already by a computer all day)
This is about 6-7 days a week.
It’s difficult to do in the beginning, but it’s 
% doable!
It’s a big commitment. You have to eat right, excercise and condition your body to sleep early and wake up early.
Give that a shot, see if it works
I’m on day 9 after quitting a support job to focus on studying full-time. I was spending 1-2 hours per weekday on programming study before I quit (6ish hours on Saturday and Sunday).
I spend 6 hours per day studying now (I treat it like my day job). I spend 40% of that time working towards a degree and the other 60% is working on personal projects/FreeCodeCamp. The degree is useless, but I’m hoping it will make my job search slightly easier.
I have 12 months’ worth of living expenses saved. My goal is to start applying for developer jobs in the next 30 days. It’s probably worth noting that I’ve been coding in my spare time for the last few years and have previously worked with developers in logistical/project related roles.
I would only suggest doing this if you can afford a long runway or have plenty of jobs available as a fallback.
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A lot of good advice from people in the know already. But perhaps you could consider finding a part time job first (nothing fancy), and working that to pay the bills while you study? Less effective than leaving work altogether while you study, but also less scary.
I imagine having a job you want to leave is good motivation to keep learning as well
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