# Changing careers?? Too late??



## New2Tech

Hello everyone! I just became a member today and I already like what I see on this forum. I have a question that I would like some advice on. I am 35 yrs old and want to change careers. I have been working in the social work field for the past 10 years. I am burnt out and absolutely hate my field of work at this time. I have always been fascinated by computers and enjoy learning about them. I decided this year to enter an A+ certification class in my local community college. My question is the following: Is it too late for me to change careers? Is IT a career which I can begin at my age? Also I have a family, wife and one son (13 months). Any advice or suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance.


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## Basementgeek

Hi and welcome to TSF :wave:

Just from my stand point, no you are not to old, but you are pushing it.
Do you want to work forever? 

Get the cert you want and then look for a job, in the IT field, before you quit your old job. One thing that you must consider, besides pay, are the benefits.
You have a family now , maybe more kids on the way and you have to think of them.

BG


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## New2Tech

Thanks for the welcome and reply. Yeah I am going for it, but like you said I am going to hurry up and waste no time. Definitely keep my family in mind as I start this new path in life.


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## Basementgeek

Good luck to you.

BG


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## DarrilGibson

I think you have your answer but for a little reinforcement....

Absolutely not - it's not too late to change careers. I've been teaching IT classes for about 10 years now and have had a lot of people changing careers, some older than 35. A lot of times, people with more maturity have a higher motivation than younger people.

I was involved with social work for a short period of time and did an appenticeship in California. While I saw is that social workers were often very dedicated, but the pay wasn't commensurate with the requirements and demands of the job. I would expect that with a couple of certifications under your belt you could easily get an entry level job that is close to social work pay and move yourself up from there. 

Good luck.

Darril Gibson



New2Tech said:


> Hello everyone! I just became a member today and I already like what I see on this forum. I have a question that I would like some advice on. I am 35 yrs old and want to change careers. I have been working in the social work field for the past 10 years. I am burnt out and absolutely hate my field of work at this time. I have always been fascinated by computers and enjoy learning about them. I decided this year to enter an A+ certification class in my local community college. My question is the following: Is it too late for me to change careers? Is IT a career which I can begin at my age? Also I have a family, wife and one son (13 months). Any advice or suggestions would be welcome. Thanks in advance.


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## New2Tech

Appreciate the reply and advice, Darril.


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## BigJoeRice

I'm in the same boat; but I'm sixty! After 40 years in airline maintenance, I've now joined so many of my airline technical colleagues on the unemployment line. I have a wealth of training and experience in the troubleshooting and repair of electrical and electronic systems though schematic analysis and systems knowledge. I like playing with computers which is how I found this site - and I wonder if there's any career path that can quickly create transferrable skills from aviation into IT. I'm not looking degrees or anything long term - just credible skills that can keep me gainfully employed for a few more years - and can be gained through swift but intense study.


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## blackbeagle

I work at a tech college so here's my 2 cents. 

You're definitely not too old for the field. But you are behind. With that said, what you can learn in IT, you can learn in a few years. Being that you came from a career that's totally different from IT, it would be beneficial for you to get a DEGREE rather than just an A+ certification. 

Certification is cheaper and less time consuming but it doesn't really prove your skill level. It proves you passed two tests. 

I would suggest AT LEAST an associates degree in a computer related field (networking, IT, computer science, etc.).

Being that you're 35, you come to the table with advantages and disadvantage. I've listed the more common ones below.

Adv:

1. You're more responsible than a 21 year old
2. You're more likely to have more commitment
3. You're likely to be more reliable (showing up on time)


Disadv:

1. Older workers tends to have more needs
2. Older workers tend to expect more in terms of salary and benefits
3. Older workers sometimes take a job because for a short time before moving on to something better. 


Good luck. I'm sure you can do it. Just don't have any high expectations coming in and you'll do fine. :smile:


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## testengeer

I know I'm late to reply to this thread, but it hits so close to home. I had worked in my old job (far removed from IT work) for 28 years. I had come to hate my job. I was 48 years old when I made the move. I had a couple of friends who were very positive. Several others told me I was too old to "learn new tricks." Long story short, I made the transition and I am happier than I've ever been. That was 8 years ago and I am going strong. I agree with blackbeagle above except for one thing. I don't think an associates degree carries any weight. And although the A+ certification is the first one I would get, there are many, many more to earn after that. Micorosft has MCP, MCSE, etc. These carry a lot of weight. Hard times now though. Employers know they can hold out for the best and pay less. I found a medium sized business to work for. They could give a hoot about degrees or certifications. As long as you can do the job, they are happy. Let me know if I can help you in any way.

Good Luck to you!


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## 8G1014

Hello Testengeer and all readers of this thread.
I stumbled onto this forum while searching "Getting started in IT".
At the relatively small but quickly growing company I work for I have developed a reputation as the "Computer Guy".
I do enjoy working with computers very much and can usually answer basic questions from coworkers about computers but I know I am no expert.
As a result of having this this reputation I was recently aked by my employer if I would be interested in filling the soon to be created position of IT manager. By soon I mean in the next year or two.
I said yes I would be very interested.
The next question was do you think you are qualified for the position? I had to be honest and say not at this time but I am willing to learn.
So my question to you is where do you recommend that I begin in terms of books to read, online resources, DVD's etc. 
I travel extensively for work so a brick and mortar school is out of the question for now. Also out of the question would be any online course that requires me to be online at any specific time since my work schedule is unpredictable.
Again this is a small company so I would imagine the IT needs would be simple at first. There is a website with links to various videos, articles etc. There is nothing to purchase from the site, information only.
I know future plans are to have online forms that field employees can use to submit forms that are currently either done on paper or MS Excel.
I watched a preview of one course that is available either online or on DVD. When the instructor, talking about basic electricity said " A miliamp is one millionth of an amp" I knew this wasn't the course for me. If they can get something so basic and simple wrong I have little confidence in the more advanced material. I want to get my information from a reliable, competent source.
So the current picture at the company is a dozen or so XP computers, a small website with a single rack with a few servers. I know they do some sort of backup routine at the end of each day but I don't really know how that works.
They have an Access Database but currenly incoming data from paper or Excel forms are manually entered and they want to automate this through the use of web forms and or syncing with a remote mobile device.
I am already working on the remote device solution via FileMaker Pro and FM Touch on the iPhone.

I have about one year to go from a somewhat advanced computer user to being at least minimally qualified to be the IT person at a small to mid sized company. Once I begin in the new position I will be home all or most of the time and continuing my education at a local school will become more feasible and possibly even be paid for by the company in full or partially. One advantage I will have is that I know all the ins and outs of of this unique company in the very narrow field/industry in which it operates.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.


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## testengeer

Hello 8G8014,

First of all, I don't think there is any better teacher than experience. Thinking through problems, research and hands-on experience will teach you more than anything.

But to get a foundation to build on, I think most people will agree Comptia's A+ certification is a great start. Go to Comptia's web site and check it out. Private classes are available around the country (They are expensive), some colleges offer the classes necessary, or you can buy the books and study at home. When you are ready, you go to a testing center, pay your money and take the tests. There are two, one is on hardware and the other is on software. You can take both at once or take them separately. I studied on my own and had my certification within 6 months. After that, there are many, many other certifications you could work toward. Just depends on your interest or what your company expects you to support. 

Congratulations and good luck.


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## 8G1014

Thanks for your prompt reply Testengeer.
I went to the Comp TIA site as you suggested and found that they offer a self paced e-learning course called Strata. It starts at the beginner level and prepares one for the A+ certification test. At $359.00 I do not see it as expensive at all given that it will open up an entirely new carreer path for me. I am assuming that price was for the entire course. Even if it is only the first of several modules leading to A+ certification it will still be worth it.

This is exactly what I was looking for. 

Thanks again.

8G1014


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## Davidpracsmith

A+ is just a entry level certification.If you want to get a executive post,then you have to carry on other related certifications,like :- N+, MCP, MCSE, CISCO CCNA, etc.
You can not earn much after A+,but if you would go for other certifications,it will generates a sound career for you.You can learn A+ or other certifications,with the help of audio,video tutorials,study guides,available at different sites.Like :- http://Microsoft.com/
http://Examsking.com/

Selftest Engine is a beneficial tool to boost your any exam's score,as it provides a chance of practice exam,before the real one.


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## 8G1014

Thanks for the additional info Davidpracsmith. I do plan to continue my education beyond the A+ level and will look into your recommendations. I hadn't thought about microsoft.com but I bet they have some great resources there, perhaps some even for free.
I am more interested in real world practical knowledge than cramming for any particular exam as some of the sites seem to be geared towards.
I work for a small company that is just coming to the realization that they need a full time IT person. As someone here said "They don't give a hoot about certifications".
My main concern is that I have the ability to solve any problems as they arrise. I know how to do the hardware stuff. I have replaced HDDs, upgaded memory, added optical drives etc. I don't have any experience with servers. There is a guy there now, (the Company Controller I think) who is handling the servers and website. I will learn what he knows and contiue to expand my knowledge from there. There are no direct purchases or orders placed on our website so it should be fairly simple.
One of my favorite ways to learn is to read the manual. I have found that virtually every manufacturer of computer related gear and software has some kind of online documentation. Often it is freely available and in the form of a downloadable PDF.
It now appears that they want to create the IT position much sooner than originally discussed. Perhaps within the next two weeks or so.
I will be under qualified but highly motivated.
As far as entry level pay goes, I don't think I will be asked to take a pay cut. I will lose out on some perks of working in the field such as prevailing wage on some jobs, and perdiem. But the tradeoff is I get to be home everynight.
So I will at first be an overpayed entry level IT Manager.
I will only be in charge of 3 people. ME, Myself, and I. :laugh:
So when I start I will go to the people who are currently handling the IT tasks and learn from them. There is one person handling mobile phones. Some employees have iPhones through ATT and others have Droids through Verizon. I know email goes through MS Exchange but I don't know how to set that up yet. But someone there does so I will learn what she knows.
I will learn the servers from the guy currently handling that.
They don't currently have anyone that knows about databases but luckily I have some experience in this area. I have used SmartList togo, HanDBase, on mobile devices and FilMaker Pro. Of course they use MS Access which has been set up by an outside contractor. I will need to learn Access. From what I have seen so far it is not that different from FileMaker Pro. Just different terminology. A Found Set in FileMaker is a Query in Access etc.
I just realized I'm rambling on. Sorry about that. I guess I'm just excited about my upcoming new position in IT. :grin:

Thanks for all the advice.

8


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## Davidpracsmith

Its fine friend.You just have to carry on your job with the related certifications.
warm regards,


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