this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2024
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How to successfully transition out of IT at age 40+? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/cs_career_questions
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As stated in the title. I've worked in IT for over 15 years despite having no related degree.

I've been closing tickets nonstop at my current company for almost 10 years. After several restructurings and shuffling of higher posts, it has become clear to me that while this employer isn't the worst out there, I will never be internally promoted or have my job duties changed if I don't leave.

Worse, ever since Covid I've started falling out of love with IT and computers in general. I used to be stoked to learn about all the new developments in tech, nowadays, not so much - the only "innovation" I've seen in the last 10 years was companies trying to make absolutely everything a fucking subscription model. Now I honestly don't know nor care what's in the newest tech stack, how security has evolved,... I just want my shit to work and not having to worry about everything under the hood.

So getting another helpdesk- or related job seems out of the question for mental health reasons.

What would be another niche or industry where someone with an analytical mind and a greatly developed loathing for corporate mooching could find their spot in the coming two decades or so?

I've long since accepted that I'll never be able to climb any ladders anywhere since I never had the right contacts or stayed long enough, so it would likewise have to be something I could mentally and physically endure being in the bottom rungs of for the aforementioned duration.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm on a similar boat. I've worked in IT programming for almost 10 yrs, and I also got no related degree (I once started a graduation but I didn't finish due to moving, disillusionment and COVID as well).

I've been unemployed for 4 months, and I kind of gave up trying to find a new IT job, switching to seek non-IT jobs. However, I found a hilarious situation where my CV "is too good" to fit non-IT jobs. I had to come up with a new, simpler CV where I omitted most of my past IT experiences, as well as omitting my incomplete graduation. So far, I couldn't find a job. To make matters worse, I'm facing depression and I had to stop my treatment (both the therapies and the medications) because it's a non-free thing, so I'm dealing with untreated depression while unemployment can be potentially worsening for my mental health. It's a fire and gasoline combination waiting to boom as I can't find something to find myself worthy to continue living.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

IT programming

As in, software development? Because if you see any kind of needs gap out there, you have the opportunity to fill that gap. It may take some time, but plenty of people make a modest living out of personally-constructed SAAS.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As in, software development?

That's right. Software and web development.

Because if you see any kind of needs gap out there, you have the opportunity to fill that gap.

The thing is that I'm not really sure if I still want to proceed with an IT career. I mean, I'm a developer since my 8s (i'm now 30), but it became tiresome to me after dealing with systems carrying lots of technical debts from past developers. I got burnout in the past, depression came from anxiety which, in turn, came from that very burnout. Furthermore, for IT positions, professional networking is a must, something that, as an introvert, I didn't really build. So when I apply for a job vacancy, I'm just another "anybody" in the eyes of that business.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

it became tiresome to me after dealing with systems carrying lots of technical debts from past developers. I got burnout in the past, depression came from anxiety which, in turn, came from that very burnout.

I have much the same problem, however,

it became tiresome to me after dealing with systems carrying lots of technical debts from past developers.

This could be your opportunity to build a SAAS product the way you want, such that you can fully minimize that technical debt. I don’t know about you, but I get energized by the idea of doing things “the right way”, and in ways that benefit my own workflows and ideals.

Furthermore, for IT positions, professional networking is a must, something that, as an introvert, I didn't really build. So when I apply for a job vacancy, I'm just another "anybody" in the eyes of that business.

This is where building your own product allows you to bypass all this. Granted, once you crank out your absolute Minimum Viable Product and throw it against the wall to see if it’ll stick long enough for world+dog to begin eating it, you will need to start marketing the product, which - at that stage - is simply yeeting it at the appropriate community and employing Observability to see how they use the product.

There are a ton of details that do matter very much, but a lot of SAAS products can be bootstrapped through the MVC stage on a literal shoestring. Like, even on your own iron if you’re willing to host at home on a strong symmetrical SOHO (business-class) fibre Internet connection.

[–] fuzzzerd 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm curious about this, because I have always found every niche I thought I had occupied already, and the idea of trying to start up and beat someone else out felt like a lot difficult proposition for a solo developer without marketing budget or experience.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Honestly, being the first to market simply means you are shouldering the majority of the risk, and taking the majority of the blind leaps into the abyss.

The old adage,

“The early bird might get the worm, but it is the second mouse which gets the cheese.”

can be very true in business more often than not. As a second-entrant, you can leverage - or avoid - what the first did to prevent yourself from falling into the same potholes they did. Plus, much of what they did - from a tech perspective - may have constrained their later decisions due to tech debt and the need to move fast. You have the ability to maximize similar decisions by building your product with those more advanced options in mind, or at the very least to have the flexibility to add options like that at a later time.