Too Old For Software Development

So are you too old to get into software development?

I can’t tell you the number of times I get asked this question.

People are asking all the time.

I’m 30 years old is it too late for me to get into software development?

I mean come on!

Age is not a limit

If you’re 30 years old, or 40, or even 50 years old you’ve got another 30 to 40 years ahead in your career, to do productive work. So it’s never too late to get into the tech industry. And if you’re in your 20s, I mean come on. You’re probably thinking of the examples of kids that were in their teens and they built a startup or an app and they got rich from it. That’s so rare!
By the way, you shouldn’t be comparing yourself with other people, anyway!

Advantages in learning to code (later in the career)

Now, you might think the existence of such young software developers is bad news for career changers, but that’s not necessarily true. It’s possible to learn to code and have a successful career change to software development after your current age. And there are several advantages to learning to code later in life that will give you an edge over your younger peers.

Career change in tech is quick

When other professions require a lengthy training period or complicated certifications or even years spent at school, you can learn software development within months in the comfort of your home. But, it’s not easy at the same time. Because, learning to code is a lonely journey, although if you kind of enjoy coding and building software, you can get good at it fast and you will be able to work in this industry for the next 30 to 40 years.

You will have experience

Whatever role you have taken up and worked on till now, you have been gaining skills from it. Whether it is customer interactions, managing teams, or any other type of technical skill. They don’t go to waste. Because the new kids in the tech industry don’t have this knowledge. Sure, they may be advanced programmers, but they lack the type of skills you have gained through your maturity and experience.

Maybe you have domain knowledge in Law, Finance, Science, or even real estate. That’s good news. Because in today’s world, there’s a startup building a tech product for almost every industry out there. And companies like these will like to hire someone like you who has both domain knowledge and coding skills.

You have developed soft skills

Software Engineers in the tech industry succeed when they have more than just technical ability. Because, if you have experience in navigating complex business problems, building consensus in teams, public speaking, or knowing how to prioritize work to complete a project on time, these skills will put you ahead of many engineers in the tech industry.

More life experience implies more unique projects

One thing any programmer requires to get hired is a way to showcase that they can code. This is often possible through projects. You see, companies love to see when you can take a real-world problem and build a piece of software to solve that problem. Now, your advantage here is that you’ve encountered more life situations than a 20-year-old. Maybe you could build a web page to promote an event in your industry for work. Perhaps you’re a new parent and could build an app to record your baby’s sleeping patterns and visualize the data.

The point is, that you can use your unique life experiences to create distinct projects that employers won’t see from their average entry-level applicant. If you have design or project management skills, that’s even better. You’ll get bonus points for talking about how you planned and executed the project, and efficiently solved the problem without just building features just for the sake of it.

So it’s all about if you enjoy it. If you’re in your 30s, 40s, or even 50s and you like coding, then trust me it won’t take very long for you to be very successful in a career. And you still got another 30 years ahead of you where you can excel and get into management if you want.

If you’re in your 20s or 30s you have no excuse. You’re still very young. You know, you shouldn’t be thinking that you’re too old. So, keep coding.

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