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Find myself unemployed at 53

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Hello and thank you for your attention to my post.

I was recently laid off my work in Logistics and am thinking of returning to school to finish my IT related degree even at my advanced age (53).

Here is my plan (and we all know what they say about the best laid plans…:))
Finish IT degree, gain experience, become specialized, learn to be good at something in IT that I can do from home so I can semi-retire in Myrtle Beach somewhere by the ocean.

Timeline: 10 years.

I have dabbled in programming, database, web development and networking. I find there isnt much in IT I dont enjoy.

I need help figuring out where to go as I likely have one shot at getting it right.

So my question is this: if you had 10 years to get to a affordable wage in IT (say 65K+) with a desire to work mostly from home; where would you specialize your training and expertise in IT assuming starting from mostly scratch.

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In reply to Find myself unemployed at 53

I’m sure you’ll find something great ahead. Stay positive😊.

Reply To: Find myself unemployed at 53

In reply to Find myself unemployed at 53

People like you are real motivation. I hope you will have a great future ahead. Keep up the good work.

Reply To: Find myself unemployed at 53

In reply to Find myself unemployed at 53

You’ve got this! Focus on cloud computing or cybersecurity, both are in-demand, remote-friendly, and can help you hit that salary target.

Reply To: Find myself unemployed at 53

In reply to Find myself unemployed at 53

Cloud Computing (AWS, Azure, DevOps) – High demand, $70K+ jobs.Cybersecurity (CompTIA Security+, CISSP) – Stable, recession-proof.Data Analytics (SQL, Python, BI tools) – Uses logistics skills, remote options.
Software Development (Python, JavaScript) – Always in demand, flexible.
Path:

Finish IT degree + get entry-level certs (CompTIA, AWS).

Specialize in cloud, security, or data analytics.
Faster job entry! Pick a focus & start ASAP.

About 30 years ago I started my own company

In reply to Find myself unemployed at 53

So I could work a couple of days a week and have time to indulge myself with my Play toys.

That didn’t even last a day as most of the people I used to have working for me when I was in the company culture came knocking on my door with a list of clients a mile long and asking for a job. So instead of working 2 days a week and having the rest of the time to do as I please I am now working well in excess of 70 hours per week and have no time to spend with my play toys. I have 1 RC Model Aircraft that has been sitting waiting to be sanded back and covered for 5 years now and needs 2 more servos installed that I just do not have time to do.

Worse still the clients are getting bigger which is why I quite all those years ago as I never knew where I would be the same night as I went to the office that morning or what I would be facing as a job. The idea was simple work for SME’s and now I find I’m working for banks as Senior Security Guy who is called in when everyone else fails and I now still have a couple of bags packed in the back of my office so I always have clothes with me when I get called away.

If you want an easy life with not a lot of responsibility find something simple that doesn’t involve security in any way shape or form and you’ll be right. However if you want a stressful life where you are expected to know everything that there is to know get into IT Security and with the advent of Cloud and AI’s it’s getting far more difictult to secure the data that you are there to look after.

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