How to start an IT career, even if you feel…
1. You’re too old for tech
As per Google, the average age of career changers is 39 years, and if you consider the success story of James - a truck driver for 15 years - who switched to IT at 56 years young, So there is really no age or skill bar which stops an average person from making their debut into the field of information technology because technology levels the playing field for everyone.
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"I used to be a truck driver before, DevXschool helped me find my IT career potential and improved my quality of life. DevXschool gives students hands-on experience in coding, soft skills, and technical knowledge which helps them succeed as IT professionals.”
- James
2. You’ll be seen as a fresher & start from scratch
The tech industry offers rewarding career perks like six-figure salaries and lifelong opportunities to upgrade your skills by learning new tools and be in touch with innovations at your company's expense.
Even the entry-level jobs in tech range from $84,000/yr, which goes up to $111,832/yr(in the US), moreover you get the added advantage of not having to hit the floor running because your company would be expecting you to be learning on the job in your initial few months.
If you still have some doubts, here you can read about Tim - went from being a Customer Support Manager to getting his first promotion within a month of joining his new job in tech and is now making 10 times more than he did before…
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I got 3 job offers from different companies after completing my course from DevX and accepted the one which was interesting in terms of salary and terms of the project.
The 6 months at DevX passed by very quickly. And I do not regret any minute of it
?- Tim Sears
3. You don’t have time to make a career change
“I’m so busy! I have too many responsibilities! I don’t have anytime for myself! Look how busy I am!”, is what we’re programmed to say in our defence, but with each repetition, instead of prioritising and becoming more productive, we fall into(& reinforce) a victim mentality:?
“I have no control over my time - I don’t get to choose what I do”
You can prioritise the rest of your life(job, family, entertainment, etc.) in healthy ways and easily adapt to your new schedule. Moreover, bootcamps are offering recorded online classes which help you to learn in your own time.
All you need is to take the first step, just like Negus who got placed in Amazon after completing his course side-by-side working a fulltime job, here’s what he said:
“The course being online was a really really good help?because I could do it anywhere or watch the recordings in my free time”
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- Negus
4. You’ve already sunk your time & money in the present career
“Have you ever sat through a terrible movie just because you have paid a lot of money on the ticket, not to mention the coke, popcorn & hotdog…” unfortunately we don’t understand that watching the movie won’t get us our money back, moreover it will waste our precious time.
And this is what we call as sunk cost fallacy, a dilemma which affects many career changers and it's even more true for people considering switching to IT from a seemingly unrelated field.
However, softskills are one of the most commonly known transferable & sought out supplementary skillset as they take a considerable amount of time to develop.?
So, no matter if you have worked in hospitality, transportation, engineering, content writing, sales, or human resource - your real work experience will always be invaluable in your tech career.
5. You feel there’s too much uncertainty in starting new
Will you succeed? Will you enjoy your new work??
Do you have anything to offer? Will people take you seriously??
Will companies be willing to hire you??
Is it right time? Will it ever be? Are you biting off more than you can chew?
Honestly, these questions are largely your brain’s natural reaction before diving into something unknown…
Why? Well because we’re all control freaks at heart!
Always trying to exert as much control as possible on our immediate environment to avoid the feeling of disappointment?
So, the best way is to approach it step-by-step; Firstly, analyse how will you manage your resources, mainly your time and money for the duration of your transition period
Secondly, find yourself an institute, mentor or a bootcamp to help speed up your learning process?
Thirdly, to buildup positive thinking and motivation look at other people's journey who have already accomplished it before you on platforms such as; Youtube(TedX talks), Quora, Google etc.
And remember;
“Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams?than you are to your comfort zone.”
- Albert Einstein