Hi all, I’m 36 years old and a business management graduate. however i haven’t been able to achieve much after graduating and now after 5 years, I am thinking of getting into web development and I am at the beginner level. I’m quite a fast learner and willing to put in the effort. I have an idea what web development is already but I would appreciate any advice. Is it worth it to change my career at this age? Is it a job that I will be able to have an income fast enough after finishing my courses, considering that I’ll have no experience while applying for jobs?
Wow! Big life decisions and changes on the horizon. Disclaimer: I am not a developer, but I work with a large number of them.
I think the answer to all of these things is “it depends!”
Web development is a big, big, big industry with lots of different areas of specialisation. Different parts of the industry are exploding in growth and other areas are slowing down. It’s an industry that also constantly changes, so your journey is unlikely to be a straight line to wealth and a corner office 
Becoming a developer is a career with some very strong employment prospects if you get into the right area, it can also be pretty lucrative. It’s worth doing some research around what those areas are.
Depending on where you want to work, I would also question whether or not you need a degree. Some of the best developers that I know of are self-educated.
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Thank you for the precious advice, I’m really grateful for that.
Based on my research, I kind of felt that some areas of web development were experiencing growth while others were slowing down, hence, my reason for posting this thread. I don’t want to jump into unknown waters without proper advice and guidance, just to find out later on that it was not the right choice.
Do you have any idea what areas/modules are in demand?
I was planning to start with HTML, CSS and Java-script to get my feet wet and then take it from there!!
Hint : I have started teaching myself HTML (code) and I see myself progressing beyond my expectations.
Thanks
I would strongly strongly advise building your experience and portfolio at every opportunity as you go.
No amount of courses substitute practical application and while you meet/see people who have a slight sense of entitlement because they have a degree in web design or similar. I guarantee any decent organisation, agency or brand will hire the person who can prove their skills over those with the chat or certificates.
Mobile is a good space to still get into, as is AI application, cyber security (drifting away from creative design) but none are basic and you need to fine tune your grasp of the fundamentals first. Code Academy have a great intensive course that gets you stuck in very quickly.
Years ago employers would look search for HTML/CSS expert or a Java expert or when it was around Flash etc. Now it’s much more common for them to expect someone to have capabilities in the range of areas, but it’s still useful to refine skills in select areas.
Hi,
Thank you for your valuable advice.
I’ll make sure to have a good portfolio handy as soon as I start working on projects.
I perfectly understand your point here.
On the other hand, thanks for pointing out mobile and AI apps. I honestly did not have a clue about AI apps, except for regular phone apps that I know already. Might peep into cyber security afterwards,just to see if it could be an area of interest to specialize in??
I have started practicing HTML on Code academy and I seem to like what I’m doing…well…for the time being at least…< I’m a total newbie>
Great advice from you,Cheers!!
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To be fair AI and cyber security are a way off from traditional web development but any area that focuses on data and dynamic behaviour or security is likely to continue to grow in the meantime
Ok, I now get an even clearer picture why you mentioned AI and Cyber security in the first place.
so…huge potential for growth.
I might go for the intensive Code Academy course soon. For the time being, I 'm trying their free practice lessons out, and I seem to like it
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your advice and it gives me even more motivation to move forward.
Hey,
You must go for it, age don’t matters when you have a passion to do something big for yourself & family. Just don’t focus on the money you are going to earn after learning these skills. What you gonna earn after learning this would be the self-in-dependency, as you won’t be bound to limited boundaries, you can explore yourself all around the world. So don’t get yourself confuse that what you should need to learn, just jump into this industry & keep exploring it.