Is it too late to learn programming at age 30?

[cebugdev]

---

Hehehe.. mao bah..? Actually I'm computer science graduate almost 9 yrs ago na panahon pa to sa cobol ug turbo c pero wala nko ma practice co'z I've been working in a non-IT related jobs that's why na biyaan jud nko ang programming. Plano unta ko mo balik sa programming in today's world & tech pero i have doubts coz feeling nko its already too late.

Honestly? a big NO chance in hell;
consider these points and scenarios;

1. Company hired employee for specific and active project, wlay company na basta lang mo hire kay gusto cla mo hire (we are talking for IT-software companies here not callcenter). By that fact, weighing in a 30 year old applicant with virtually no experience in the field comparing to a early to mid 20 guy with enough experience, will always be a no contest. There are field that are NEVER learned overnight (or weeks) such as
system programming, Driver development, Firmware development, Game development, and other low-level development stuff.

Only basic webdevelopment and simple Information system based softwares such as POS, accounting system, etc. can be learned in weeks. Pero sa kasayun nya, daghan kamao mobuhat ani.

Architecture design, concepts such as Design patterns and OOP are learned from experienced and not books.

practicality and cost wise, company will always hire young fresh graduate once (if no experience) compare to expensive old ones (without experience), Expensive salaries are for those with ample of experience in the filed.

2. If you are indeed hired, by 30 years old dawaton pa ba kaha nmo ang Junior Position? most of them will aim for that 'senior' or that higher position like team lead, chief, etc.
Ofcourse they cant offer you that 'senior' position because of lack of experience.
Most of the 'older' guys cannot TAKE it if a mid 20s-experience-young-guy is their team leader, and EVEN
their software architect. Dawaton ba kaha nmo kng ang sugoon ka ug buhat sa 24 years old nmo na leader to follow the design planned? Or if motoo man gani ka then maglalis mo, will you respect and consider to concieve because he is your leader or architect (or at the least try his approach)?
Or if naa kay lakaw or date ba ron sa imo uyab then ingnon ra ka sa 24 years old nmo na leader na mag OT hangtud dli mahuman, motoo ba kaha ka? Kaya ba nmo magpa-hiubos in action and not in words?

3. Whether we liked it or not; theres always the AGE factor, stamina, agility, attitude, etc. are indirectly considered. Theres also the factor of TRAINABILITY, this is the factor that says "unsa kasayon i trained ang bago employee". Since fresh grad is 'fresh' and eager to learn, they learn fast, old ones has this tendencies to argue things before accepting(sometimnes neve accept it).
I learned this on the field training new hirees (both fresh grad and not).

These points are considered greatly by the company before they invest in you.

"its not too late".. phrase is very idealistic.

Its harsh but its the sad reality today,
Year after year there are thousands of BSCS/BSIT/BSCOMPE or even BSMAth of BSPhysics graduates, mao na imo kompetensya. counting also are the ART people that can do Web projects.
People on the field are learning new stuff (from experience) every day.

My advice is to use your funds and start a businessv(in IT if you like)
Or if you really want to enter the IT field, then apply as QA then from their you can gain experience and when the right time comes, you can transfer to Dev

::all of the points i pointed above were experienced from actual event. Thus proving my point

[moodsey211]

Mao sad na reasons why most sa dev mu change to management when it comes to 30+ years old.

[salbahis]

my web designer friend is learning basic php, at a age 50... is that old enough?

[moodsey211]

my web designer friend is learning basic php, at a age 50... is that old enough?

it's not too late as long as you are learning it not for the sake of being employed in a company. I'm assuming that your friend doesn't have a programming experience.

[salbahis]

it's not too late as long as you are learning it not for the sake of being employed in a company. I'm assuming that your friend doesn't have a programming experience.

he got curious! hes a successful web designer from US...

[dekarcane]

he got curious! hes a successful web designer from US...

I think jobs your friend will get or having right now are still web design. Probably nidako gamay iya scope but still i think it will still take some time before he can have projects nga siya gyud mag code sa php rather than mag web design lang. Its possible though.

Pro compare nimo kay TS i will have to agree kay cebugdev. Too late sya in a sense nga mobalik na pud si TS sa pinaka ubos if ganahan sya mo work but always not too late to learn. Sa imo friend kay its like a sort of upgrade but kay TS its like shifting careers.

So TS if willing ka nga mag start na pud ka balik sa junior level and work your way up then depende ra nimo hehe. But being a programmer is never really easy so good luck hehe.

[Klave]

I would heavily agree with cebugdev,
especially when you have mentioned that you were working on non-IT related jobs.
Sa among case, when hiring for actual development positions,
dili gani namo i-consider basta dugay na nag project-management (IT gihapon management pa gyud).
In that case, we would routinely make sure that the percentage of him programming is above 50%.

But assuming naa ka backer, naa gyud gamay chance.
Sa akong case, maski kumare nako ang nagpatabang nako, ni-decline gyud ko,
kay grabe ka potential liability, unya dili ko kafocus og mentor og tawo ato nga time.
Then you will have to consider, you will have to rely on the young ones to even try and catch up.
Imagina to ang time nga ga-thesis mo pag-college, we thought nga kapoy na kaayo to.
But the challenges in the industry will easily surpass that, it will be physically and mentally stressful.

But then to quantify pros and cons, a career in programming will definitely be rewarding compared to others.
Maski i-compare nimo og business, delikado pa ka malubong og utang,
For programming, you just need a PC and an internet connection for research.
It is usually stable and hard work/output is very visible. Compensation is very nice too.
And if you are consistently enchancing and improving your skills, career-wise the only way is up.

[softtouch]

Its never too late to learn something.
Almost all replies here are related to "hiring" etc., but who said that a programmer must be hired by some company? You can make a lot of money as freelancer.

[salbahis]

I think jobs your friend will get or having right now are still web design. Probably nidako gamay iya scope but still i think it will still take some time before he can have projects nga siya gyud mag code sa php rather than mag web design lang. Its possible though.

Pro compare nimo kay TS i will have to agree kay cebugdev. Too late sya in a sense nga mobalik na pud si TS sa pinaka ubos if ganahan sya mo work but always not too late to learn. Sa imo friend kay its like a sort of upgrade but kay TS its like shifting careers.

So TS if willing ka nga mag start na pud ka balik sa junior level and work your way up then depende ra nimo hehe. But being a programmer is never really easy so good luck hehe.

nah... hes having nosebleed on PHP.... i used to teach her wife though!!, a sure hottie distraction kaayo !!

[prettylicious]

there is no age limit in learning...