| I'm in a similar situation. My first degree was in Finance and I'm currently getting a second degree in CS. I'll be finishing my degree this fall and will be 31. I work in Finance now in a sort of 'tech-adjacent' systems analyst and business intelligence position. If I remember, I'll follow up this post in a few months with how my job search is going. I'll begin searching around June in the Philadelphia area. I had a few interviews last year and have gone to one or two tech meet-ups, and I'm reasonably optimistic that my age won't be much of a deterrent. Most people I've spoken with like the diversity of my background and the obvious passion I have for CS. In a sense, going back to school while working full time is an "actions speak louder than words" situation. It takes a lot of effort to get through a second degree while working full-time, and I think that speaks for itself in terms of work ethic and interest in the topic (though it doesn't hurt to highlight as well). That being said, I still have the nagging fear of ageism affecting my job prospects. I think my work experience will lend itself well, but I'm going about this without ego. I know I'm trying to break into a field competing with many other people, so it's probably going to be a numbers game in terms of applying. I'm also a little concerned about the Philadelphia tech scene as it's not as robust as one would expect for a city this size. I know this isn't advice, as I can't offer much, but I can commiserate in having similar feelings and concerns. My guess is that your background will ultimately assist your search (though obviously not everywhere). The one piece of advice I can offer is to start applying early, if only to get interviewing experience and knock off the rust. You said you've been in your current role for 10 years -- has it also been 10 years since you've had a proper job interview? If you want to chat further or even just bounce ideas around, I'm happy to chat further. What city are you based out of? |
You would think that it would be more of a plus than a negative, but the stories of ageism are pretty frequent. We may not be experienced devs, but we are experienced workers. We know how to work in professional teams and deliver to deadlines. And as you said, going to school and working full time is not trivial.
Applying early and often is definitely good advice. I'm on r/cscareerquestions a lot, but it tends to be very new traditional new grad focused. We need a community for potential and current middle aged juniors!