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IT Conversion Course

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  • 13-03-2012 11:59am
    #1
    Yambo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭


    Hi,
    I am a fifty year old male looking at completing an IT conversion course to leave my dead end sales job and get involved in software development. I have a few questions I hoped you guys could help me with.............

    How possible is it to get work. If I finish the course I will be up against fresher, fitter (and probably better looking) 23 year olds.

    Also I have heard it said that programming is a young mans/woman's job !

    How do I know if I will be able for the course - I have a Masters Degree in business but couldn't hack honours maths.

    How do I know if I will like the work ?

    I know there's a lot of "if's" there - any advice would be appreciated !


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    #2
    Cuddlesworth
    Registered Users Posts: 13,995 ✭✭✭✭Cuddlesworth


    I'd sit down with a C/C++ or Java beginners book, of which there are hundreds. Because you are either going to like programming or hate it. And three to four years of something you hate is not worth it.


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    #3
    boobar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,226 ✭✭✭boobar


    Yambo wrote: »
    Hi,
    I am a fifty year old male looking at completing an IT conversion course to leave my dead end sales job and get involved in software development. I have a few questions I hoped you guys could help me with.............

    How possible is it to get work. If I finish the course I will be up against fresher, fitter (and probably better looking) 23 year olds.

    Also I have heard it said that programming is a young mans/woman's job !

    How do I know if I will be able for the course - I have a Masters Degree in business but couldn't hack honours maths.

    How do I know if I will like the work ?

    I know there's a lot of "if's" there - any advice would be appreciated !

    It is possible to get work. A lot of vacancies in many areas across IT.

    Forget about the ageist stuff. There are many young people working in the area. But there are people in their 40s, 50s, 60s doing well in this area also and their level of experience is attractive to many employers.
    Cuddlesworth wrote: »
    I'd sit down with a C/C++ or Java beginners book, of which there are hundreds. Because you are either going to like programming or hate it. And three to four years of something you hate is not worth it.

    You'll know if you like it if you can hack Cuddlesworth's suggestion. Definitely sound advice here. Get stuck in, you're better off with this approach than committing to 4 years of something and realising after 2 months you hate it.

    By the way, why 4 years, why not try a conversion postgraduate qualification?


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    #4
    Yambo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2 ✭Yambo


    Hi Guys,

    Thanks for the solid advice - It actually is a converson course I'm looking at. I would hope it would take 9-12 months.

    Thanks again


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    #5
    wandererz
    Registered Users Posts: 2,576 ✭✭✭wandererz


    I realise that this thread is a month or two old however if you have not made up your mind as yet:

    What type of sales are you in currently?

    Would you not consider something like IT security (or other) sales - it would utilise your existing business & sales skill sets and at the same time open you up to new technologies and concepts (and pitching them to customers both existing and new) whilst at the same time perhaps learning more of the technology bit on the back-end thereby developing a customer base and technical know-how if you get my point.

    A bold move to something like software development sounds good on the surface but can be a pain to start with from scratch.

    You have customer interaction and business skill sets already, if you were to bolster that with technical knowledge (be it software, networks, security etc) you could make use of your sales knowledge and and technical skills.

    Ultimately, do you want to be stuck behind a desk everyday as a developer or to have the flexibility to work from home, see a few potential customers every week; converse knowledgeably about solutions and design & sell those solutions to them.


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