Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: How Do I Change Tech Careers At 30?
First time accepted submitter possiblybored writes "I'm 30, and I am a technology teacher and the school's technology coordinator. I like my job, but I have been having thoughts about switching careers and focusing more on technology in the private sector. I like Microsoft products and would head in that direction, probably. Is it too late for me to think about this? What is the best way to get started on this path? I'm not so much interested in programming (though I'd like to learn a language some day) as much as I am intrigued by topics like setting up e-mail servers, reading about cloud stuff like Office 365, and looking at information on collaborative technology. I'm a good teacher and excel at explaining things as well. Any advice the community could offer would be greatly appreciated!"
Submission is very clearly a troll. Please don't post this kind of crap.
Whatever you love doing, do more of it. Then just be sensitive, and maybe a little aggressive, about pursuing leads that naturally arise from your avocation.
You're talking about breaking into the IT industry, not politics.
Start applying for help desk jobs. Yes, it really is that simple.
Chuuch. Preach. Tabernacle.
Bwha ha ha ha ha!!!
Just how old do you think you *are*, sonny boy? 30 is just barely dry behind the ears! Truth is that there is lots of room for anybody in the tech field who is *competent*. So be competent!
It does help to be somewhat charismatic and hygienic.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
Think about the fate of dinosaurs that were replaced by smaller more agile mammals when difficult times came...
Your goal as described would indicate you want to be a teacher!
After reading your question this one came to my mind. Those who can do, those who can't teach. But it does makes me wonder what you are teaching these kids if you have to ask us how to get a job in the tech-world. I hope your pupils won't have to ask that same question.
Has the hatred of MS on /. become so acidic that even the *mention* of MS now must elicit a barrage of hateful responses?
I suspect I would see less venom wearing a "Barack 2012" t-shirt at a Tea Party rally.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
If once you start down the Microsoft path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will...
Seriously, Microsoft is in decline, and already has a bunch of people trained up in it. You should consider learning mobile development for Android, iOS, or both. If you want to learn server-side stuff I would learn the open stack: Linux, MySQL and/or Postgres, maybe Hadoop.
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
I haven't had a boss for 15 years and I'm more successful now than I ever was in a corporate job.
I also can't be fired. Know why? Because firing me requires my approval.
I'm also intelligent enough to see reality even in the face of being heckled by those who don't know any better.
You keep punching that clock, Jim.
So you talk about "the only option in 2014 America", but you haven't tried any other options in this century.
You complain about employers who "maximize your hardship", yet by being self-employed, if you screw up, you get absolutely every bit of hardship possible.
You put down those who "don't know any better" and "ignore [your] advice", to the point of stating as a foregone fact that they will be fired, and you say that your opinion is "reality".
Yeah, I'd fire you, too.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Those who know, do. Those who understand, teach.
- Aristotle
If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
Rule of 3s. If you've had 3 bosses (or clients or girlfriends etc) with the same or very similar problems, the problem is yours.
Work for yourself is good advice, for someone with a reasonably complete skill set. If you don't, you need to learn from someone.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
There goes your odds of getting much in the way of help from this crowd...
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.