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Am I late for career change?

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I am 33 year old guy who has been in IT industry since 2004, work as technician then studied software development (vb.net) around 2007 after I was an intern at some company in Google division but it was only for six months only and moved to network security operation center (NSOC) and this was fun hectic but still wanting a programming job, Since 2011 I’ve been working part time and studying BSc IT will I have a good chance of working as a programmer cause age, am over 30? Help with ideas please I love programming and currently doing C++, JAVA and Perl and Qt3 on my own with knowledge of vb.net, asp.net, html5, css3, JavaScript and xhtml still adding cause I love learning new things.

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In reply to Am I late for career change?

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You’re never too late

In reply to Am I late for career change?

but you’ll probably find it takes a lot longer to convince employers you are worth hiring and to find someone willing to take you on. If you’re looking for programming jobs I’d start by looking for a non-profit volunteer project, that way you can get some real life experience and have something to talk about at an interview. You could also get involved in the open-source area, get looking for the communities on the net and get involved in some those projects (I’m not a programmer or involved in open-source so I have no links to suggest but they should be easy to find if you look).

I am thinking about a career change myself and I’m a decade or so older than you – you just have to get going and make it happen. Also recognize that you will almost certainly have to start again at the bottom of the ladder to prove yourself.

Online portfolio

In reply to Am I late for career change?

This might be a few years old but I think the logic applies to you wanting to show what you’re capable of doing. You should give this a read: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/10/a-programmers-portfolio.html

Here’s another: http://www.lessannoyingcrm.com/articles/209/How_to_build_a_great_programmer_portfolio_site

Having an online portfolio gives IT recruiters and employers immediate view of what you’ve been working on and are capable of adapting to different languages. Having an understanding of multiple programming languages and showing your understanding by creating your own concepts/projects is only going to help you in the long run. Also, I agree with everything OutITLady suggested.

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