You may be asking yourself, “Am I too old to learn to code?”. The tech industry depicted in movies and tech blogs is that of young 20 or even 17 year olds who started coding at 6 years old and are now doing cool startups, raising MILLIONS, and getting sold to Yahoo or Google or Facebook for BILLIONS!
A middle aged programmer may not be depicted in the movies,but it’s a lot more realistic. Ageism does exist in the industry but if you’re letting your age stop you from learning and making the career switch, think again. Here are 3 reasons you should learn to code regardless of the year you were born.
If You Can Read You Can Code:
Coding is very similar to reading, just a bit more technical. Jobs that were unrelated to coding, such as marketing, are now including new titles such as “growth hacker”. Companies are looking for someone who can market and code. When you combine coding skills (even if they’re new) with your current job and expertise, the sky is the limit.
Relatable Perspective
As an “older” person with more life experience and friends in your own age group, you have a unique perspective into what your age group needs and will pay for. This demographic is one of the largest consumer generations with over 74 million “Baby Boomer” citizens in the US. Understanding those needs can put you ahead of the curve.
You’re Not Dead
If you’re over 40, you still likely have at least half of your life to live. You can stay in the same path or expand your horizon by going after something you’re curious to try. Looking to avoid the next round of layoffs? Coding skills could be something that keeps your job.Think of what skills your company will need before you retire, and make sure you’re learning them.
It’s Exciting!
Worst case scenario is you’ve learned a new skill and gain a new accomplishment, even if you don’t “get the job. Learning to code could be a fun way to expand your knowledge base.Learning to code and build websites, is a great skill to learn. Coding is both a creative and logical endeavor.
