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Ask HN: How to safely switch to programming?

• laughfactory 13y ago
  Your conclusion is probably true. Though I didn't go to a "top public school," I followed a similar path and had a similar concern at about the same point in my path through college. I should've chosen otherwise, but instead I chose to finish my economics degree and find a job working for a bank. I can assure you that there are plenty of good jobs working for banks all across the country. Sure, they may not be the elite positions in investment banking on Wall Street, but lets be honest, most people who work in banking and finance don't work on Wall Street. So if you continue to pursue you existing path, you'll find there is plenty of opportunity in banking. Depending on the role and the area, entry-level pay runs between $40-$50k. After a couple years experience you can generally get $60k. It's not the mountains of riches you dream of while in college, but it's a good living. That said, I've discovered on "the outside" (of college) that I don't really like being the analytics guy, the banker. I'd much rather build products, make things, have skills which enable me to do. Often, work in banking (be it sales or analytics or underwriting or finance or whatever) can feel pretty disconnected from the real world. For instance, I've worked in risk management, and now in credit administration, and while I'm very good at what I do, it doesn't excite me the way building products for the web does. The key, in your position, is to determine what drives you. Do you like being the analytics/numbers/finance guy who is a whiz with spreadsheets, analytics, finance/accounting, etc? Or deep down do you harbor the desire to make things: software, web apps, mobile apps, etc. At this point, put aside concerns about making tons of money or being "successful" after graduation. Thinking about those things will just muddy your thinking. And the truth is that there's good money to be made in either arena. Think about whether you want to analyze or build and I think you'll have the answer to your question. In my case, I've often wished I would've made the transition no matter the cost, so that I could be working in software development now. Since I didn't I now have to pursue a long-game of developing the skill-set on my own and eventually slowly working my way into the field. It sounds like you expect all banking positions to pay a ton, be on Wall Street, require 100+ hours a week (and 3 emails/cold-calls a day), etc. This is certainly not the case in any of the non-Wall Street positions I've worked. I've always worked no more than 40 hours a week, received decent benefits, good salary, paid bank holidays, competent co-workers, etc. I'm sure positions like you describe exist, I just don't think they're indicative of the vast majority of the banking and finance industry. Broaden your perspective and you might like what you find. If not then yes, commit to change gears. Particularly if you really enjoy the software development stuff (like I always have). Don't focus on whether you do well at it, but instead on whether it is rewarding to you. If it's not rewarding to you (software development related classes) then you'll hate working as a software developer. However, if you find the programming you do in those classes rewarding then definitely make the switch, because the banking/finance world can be a very frustrating place for someone who'd rather be making things with code. You have some semi-technical skill-sets which may or may not get any respect, there can be a lot of egos run rampant, and banks are notoriously slow to adapt and innovate. That said, if you can find meaning in the banking line of work, it's not a "bad" gig per se, it's just not quite as satisfying personally as programming is.
  • ac1294 13y ago
    Thanks for the advice. It seems as our paths are very similar. To be honest, my biggest interests are in statistics, programming, and finance (in that order). The most natural intersection seemed to be working at a proprietary trading firm. Unfortunately, I applied to over 25 prop shops with no success. I haven't heard of a single alumni from my school in trading; they typically only hire out of MIT, Harvard, Stanford, UPenn, etc. After no luck with trading, I figured banking would be the next best option with numbers and finance. Just out of curiosity, do you program in your free time? Do you think you'll eventually make the transition from banking to software development?
    • stephenbez 13y ago
      ac1294: Could you put your email address or some way to contact you in your profile? I want to send you a message.
      • ac1294 13y ago
        Done
    • viking1 13y ago
      The easiest way to get a prop trading job is by starting out as a programmer. Most trading systems are built in c++ (Java prob number 2 in popularity), so you'd need to master that. Once you're employed at a firm like that it is very doable to transition to a hybrid programmer/quant role. There are vey few non-programming quant roles left on Wall Street and you chances of getting one without a ph.d. are slim.
• glimcat 13y ago
  Software development jobs tend not to care what you majored in if you can demonstrate competency and experience. Your average CS senior is a VERY junior programmer. Also "math / engineering" is usually good enough to bypass the HR "must have degree" wall at companies where that pertains - at least to the point that you have the same chance anyone does to pitch them on interviewing you. Things you can do that beat "switch majors" in terms of improving employment prospects: * Summer internships * Part-time gig * Write code, publish it on Github * Write a tutorial article * Create and market a software product You also have to ask yourself, what are your goals for this? Are you looking for a comfortable W-2, or to spend some time working at startups, or to start a business of your own within a few years of graduating?
  • ac1294 13y ago
    As pathetic as it sounds, I don't really know what my goal is. I guess I want to find an internship this summer that is enjoyable and offers solid exit opportunities for full-time recruiting. I know this is a lot to ask for, but I want to highlight the fact that I work very hard -- I'm not some kid that thinks he's smart and deserves a perfect job. The biggest problem is I know absolutely nothing about the recruiting process, job requirements, internship duties, etc. for programming roles. Since the start of 2013, I've worked a bit on my coding and published very small projects on GitHub, but I haven't done much else in terms of seeking an internship. I'm most worried about switching my focus entirely from banking to programming and missing out on a banking internship. If I don't do investment banking this summer, I basically have no chance at a full-time investment banking position. And although I've made it sound like I absolutely hate banking already, there is a chance I could enjoy the internship and the full-time position. I'm pretty sure I would like a programming role more, but again, I don't know where to start for recruiting. And I'm afraid that working for a small tech firm this summer may not help much when I look for a full-time job after college.
    • msutherl 13y ago
      I don't know much about banking, but what you say is definitely not true of programming. It's just not competitive like that. So, I might say it would be wise to go for the banking internship. If it doesn't work out, programming is easy to get into at any point. Also, don't forget that "working hard" is more of a signal than a legitimate ethic – a signal that you can be used. Try to take some time for yourself. Walk around and really look at the world. Think about the meaning behind things. In the time you spend doing this you'll acquire wisdom that will be essential later on.
• olegious 13y ago
  There are more jobs in tech than only software development. Have you considered other positions? Product management is one option, especially of you have both- the business background and a knowledge of development.
• deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
• RomanPushkin 13y ago
  I think there's a huge difference between programming and solving your problem. You just want to earn money, right? So just start thinking about your SaaS application. Something people may need, something easy. And try implementing it. The best for you would be using HTML + CSS + JavaScript. You can use node.js on server side, it's on JavaScript. I think in 6 months you'll be able to build things you want. If you want to switch to programming to earn money by working for someone, I'm afraid I have bad news for you. You have to spend a lot of time, cos others probably may have much better experience than you. And you will never earn enough. Salary is salary. To be short: build your simple project, start learning with practice, not theory. Don't think about being software developer for hire.
• kika 13y ago
  There's no such thing as "software development". It's like "math" - a very broad term. If you're getting good scores at engineering and math, you definitely could switch to development, you just need to ask yourself what exactly do you want to do? Code a complicated web app, write a network stack for realtime OS, implement complex 3D graphics algorithm on current 3D hardware, write embedded code for the next "Tea kettle with SNMP monitoring" project on Kickstarter or something else? These are quite different skills, these projects go at a very different paces, require different approaches and so on. You can do very well financially on each and every of them, but you need to like what you do, programmers rarely can get away with 9-to-5 thinking about code and 5-to-9 thinking about women, sports or beer. If you're a good programmer you're thinking about efficient priority queue implementation even when you watch superbowl.
• kephra 13y ago
  I would advise to bolster your banking value: Add machine learning and data mining to your skills. Play around with MQL4, and show them your chart. Get hired as a quant and earn tons of money.
  • eru 13y ago
    The road into investment banking via math and software development is probably easier than via a straight up vanilla banking job.
• adamzerner 13y ago
  I wrote these for high school students, but I think they'll be useful to you too: http://www.collegeanswerz.com/i-graduated-high-school-now-what http://www.collegeanswerz.com/i-graduated-high-school-now-wh... http://www.collegeanswerz.com/the-process-of-exploring-your-interests http://www.collegeanswerz.com/the-process-of-exploring-your-...
• patio11 13y ago
  Six months working in industry is worth approximately 10 years playing on middle school hobby projects from the perspective of calculating your worth to a potential employer. I wouldn't worry too much even if you're not #1 in your CS classes.
• shawndrost 13y ago
  http://hackreactor.com http://hackreactor.com I'm a founder -- AMA!
• akst 13y ago
  Don't worry if you haven't been programming as long as the other students, if you invest enough time you'll likely by pass the other students who have been being programming since middle school. A lot of these people are likely amateurs, and I'm willing to bet they've only done a bit of Basic programming here and there. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but that's just my experience. I switched into my degree from an arts degree with no programming experience, and a year later I'm one of the better students in my classes. Best of luck with making your decision
• rajacombinator 13y ago
  For a young college grad who doesn't know what to do with themselves, banking and consulting are great options if you can get them.
• slosh 13y ago
  get http://teamtreehouse.com http://teamtreehouse.com few months of learning and you'll be able to make more money than a lot of 40 - 50 year old regional presidents at most companies.
• pranavpiyush 13y ago
  Consider dropbox.com/bizops :) get in touch if interested...
• umren 13y ago
  Just start to write code. Alot.
• ktran03 13y ago
  Based on my experience, and now putting myself in your position, I would just finish the engineering/business/math degree, and then pursue a career in software when you graduate. I did my degree in mechanical engineer (mechatronics), and didn't have too much trouble finding employment in software. I graduated with no internship or professional experience. My graduating semester, I realized software 'was it', so I just strapped down and built a product (made no money) and released it (ios/rails/AWS). A few more months studying mobile development obsessively, I landed my first paying gig. It's been about a year since, and I couldn't be happier with my decision and progression. But to be fair, my major heavily involved programming various robots/devices/languages since 1st year, so I had lots of programming experience upon graduation. But I imagine you are in a similar situation, or could be if you wanted to. Since this is HN, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a curiosity/enthusiasm with trying your hand at the startup lottery. There's no better background to have than CS/Engineering for this. So my advice is: find a sector from software you find interesting, build something and ship it.
• seferphier 13y ago
  I hope you would seriously think hard about what you want in life. You sound to me that you are a smart, bright and hardworking person. But for once in your life, you found yourself out-competed and out-networked and you are trying to "pivot" to another career. There is nothing wrong with that. Think hard about what you want. Are you switching to another career because it is prestigious?
• erikb 13y ago
  I think if you can work your ass off you already have an edge compared to most software guys. Not everybody needs to work at Facebook.
• dav-id 13y ago
  Perhaps you should look into the investment banking divisions who are more algo focussed or those companies who provide services to those firms. That way you will have the best of both worlds
• smegel 13y ago
  So why not go into EE? Its one of your majors after all, and less likely to be outsourced to India.
• hf653 13y ago
  Most "prestige" is just recruitment marketing. Bankers may still be well paid, but prestigious they are not.
• w_t_payne 13y ago
  Don't focus on the competition. Finding your first job is always super tough. I know it seemed impossible when I was in your situation. (I felt so desperate!), but somehow things work out in the end. In the current economic climate, it might take a while, though: don't be upset if you don't get a career job immediately; it can take a year or two sometimes. You have the grades, so stick with your current course. You do not need a computer science degree to build a career as a software developer. Practical hands-on experience counts more than qualifications. I believe that a multi-skilled / cross-disciplinary software engineer can expect to earn more money over the course of their career than a straight-up developer. The skills shortage (and therefore the demand) always seems to lie in-between disciplines. Software development skills + math + business gives you a possible (eventual) avenue into quantitative development in the financial industry, which can be a lucrative career path should you chose to pursue it. (Be prepared to spend a significant amount of time (10 years?) building up skills prior to making the move, though). Once you have finished your degree, you might consider doing a software-oriented masters degree, or spend 2-3 years with a small company picking up the basics. Your multi-disciplinary skill-set should stand you in good stead. If you cannot find a company willing to hire you, start one! Even if it does not work out, that experience will be golden. If you don't have any ideas, ask in this thread. I have a ton that I am never going to pursue. I am sure that others will pitch in as well.
• dasil003 13y ago
  Let me give you a bit of tangential advice that I don't see anyone else mentioning. You're on a good track. Stick it out. It's hard to get into banking/finance, so do that first while you have the chance just to see if you find something you like there. The software / product development world doesn't give a shit about credentials, so if that's where your passion lies you can also go there later. But here's the advice: don't let them put the golden handcuffs on you. If you get out of school making $100k it's real easy to start wearing Armani and lease a BMW, and before you know it there's no job outside of finance that will pay your bills. Instead: buy off the discount rack, get a Honda, and save like crazy. If you end up hating your job, 5 years could be enough to build a nest egg to allow you to bootstrap your own startup.
• losethos 13y ago
  Atheist niggers, still in denial. I made God's Temple. I am the best programmer on the planet. I have divine intellect. God says... I_don't_care Oh_Hell_No wont_you_be_my_neighbor do_it so_let_it_be_written so_let_it_be_written that's_much_better I'll_think_about_it that's_all_folks dance ouch so_let_it_be_written quit_it unemployment be_quiet_bird thats_laughable fabulous
• gohwell 13y ago
  Investment banks rely heavily on technology. That said, there's a lot roles in their tech department that are not programming positions. There's business analyst who interface with the business gathering requirements, project managers who guide the dev team and make sure they don't go off track, and functional analysts who convert business requirements into use cases. Theres QA engineers that manage the testing and releases of these systems. These are all technical jobs, that require candidates to who can learn and understand how large systems operate but don't necessarily need to program. It helps but not necessary.
• Bahamut 13y ago
  Software development is a pretty safe job these days - I would even dare say more attractive IMO. I would even say that getting a good software engineering job isn't all that difficult - getting a first position in anything is difficult anywhere regardless, and software development doesn't care about your degrees. The only thing employers really care about is whether you can write code with the capacity of improving to the point where you can write good code. I've been in a somewhat similar situation, although later in my life (left a top 15 math grad program, unsure about what to transition into). If you want to get into software development, just start learning it! It doesn't matter if you're not initially at the top - you should have confidence in your ability to learn quick, and your solid logic/problem solving skills, which are musts in software engineering. You have a massive advantage over me - I deferred answering this question until I left my PhD program, and took about 1 1/2 years to answer it fully. Less than a year of working in web development, I transitioned from being a junior dev to a senior dev. You can easily set yourself on a faster path since you have time on your side. Also, keep in mind that there are many companies out there that you likely don't know about. Most companies that recruit from colleges are big. That's not the case most of the time in the real world though - the big companies are just the ones who have the resources to recruit from colleges themselves. The majority are looking locally for talent. Networking is the name of the game, so going to meetup groups (especially meetup.com) for what you're interested in is an easy way to net a payoff in getting interviews, especially if you can sell your credentials to people - if you have to fly to cities & have the $ to do so, it would be well worth the investment. Just my two cents anyhow.
• dkersten 13y ago
  Just a few observations (without ever having experienced this - didn't go to business school and was never interested in investment banking, so don't know the industry): just because I'm not emailing/cold-calling 3 investment bankers a day Then email 3 investment bankers a day. You should be able to do this without spending more than a few minutes on each one. Create a template once and then personalise it as needed. In my current startup, we've emailed many hundreds of people over the past four weeks. It doesn't have to take a lot of time. It absolutely can be done without being such a chore to eat too much into your other time. Also, if you cannot do three a day then do two or even one. Or even one every two days. Anything is better than none a day. I feel like I'm better suited for <..snip..> a startup, but I'm afraid of risking a safe / prestigious job ... Unfortunately, in my opinion, startup and risk aversion do not mix well. Startups are risky - that's simply the reality of it. If you are risk averse, then startups absolutely are not for you. Founding a startup is a hell of a lot of risk (its still worth it IMHO though) and being one of the first few employees, while not quite as risky, is still a lot of risk because you don't know if your job will still be there in a few months or a year. Personally, I think the startup experience is worth it. I can't see myself working anywhere else now. But its definitely not for everyone, so consider it carefully. --- Having said that, you can absolutely get into software development, but if you want to have lots of options you will want to build a network here too. Life is all about networking. I don't think its quite as drastic as having to email three people a day though - I'd start by attending lots of programming user group meetups and conferences - that's where a large portion of my network came from. I know people who have never studied at all who are doing great - the key to their success is that they have good strong github profiles: you will have a degree from a good school, if you can also create a portfolio of projects (personal or open source) then you will be in a really good place. Its not necessary, but its very helpful. If you can get a summer internship, that also helps a lot. Basically, anything that demonstrates experience writing code (outside of uni projects...) is a very good thing.
• nolite 13y ago
  No job or career is safe. Stop clinging to this antiquated notion that you can get somewhere and chill for the rest of your life. It sounds like you want money. Whatever you do, you're going to have to hustle for it. So stop following the crowds (meaning, whatever you're not personally driven by - be it IB, Consulting, or even startups) and jump in and make your own direction. If you fall and screw up, its ok.. get up and do it again. Time to grow up
• vijucat 13y ago
  Software development is not an easy gig, either: a) those of us who are good at it have spent years and years at it b)the field keeps evolving at a rapid pace. Yesterday, it was Java and XML and SQL. Today, it's Ruby, cloud, and Docker. It's a pain in the ass to keep up unless you are genuinely interested, or carefully find an evergreen niche, or a gig at Google which will compensate for not staying sharp. c) remote jobs are on the increase. I am the happy employer of an IT person in India who wants a non-traditional job (he wants to work only half a day), but has 10+ years of experience, is fairly intelligent (has a mathematical conjecture to his name), has worked in Lisp, has a degree in AI, and works for $833 per month. All the brouhaha about the H-1B visa is direly misplaced; the tournament is on the other court : outsourcing via remote employment. There are a ridiculous number of job sites that advertise remote jobs, and a good number of employers are able to get themselves to trust remote employees enough to reap the cost benefits. In IT, you compete with the world, literally. In traditional banking and other "locale specific" / seat-warmer-is-a-must jobs, you probably only compete with the rest of the folks in your city. d) The barriers to entry to a programming job are falling every single day. Previously, having a degree was a must. Now, you could be a dropout with great self-taught Ruby on Rails skills, and you're in. This is a positive IMHO; people in programming are much more ready to break convention and I'm proud to be part of such an industry. I have tried to help a couple of waiters and electronics salesmen transition to a programming career, too. But it means that the field is that much more competitive, too. Sorry to sound negative; I really don't want to encourage you to get into this field unless you are genuinely passionate about it.
• michaelochurch 13y ago
  My advice: learn programming but stay the course. I'm passionate about technology, I love the work, and I love what we can do with our abilities, even if not what most engineers actually do. I'm 30 years old and now at the point where quality projects are the norm rather than the exception. But it is a hard road, and if you can stomach finance's long hours and get the credibility that way, it might be easier. Look at the people tapped for important roles in serious startups, and those who get funded. At least in New York, most come from finance. Tech has as much prestige-whoring as finance (see: Clinkle, which is Stanford Welfare at its worst). The difference is that tech denies it. There's a lot of passive-aggressive cattiness in the hot startups and credibility really matters, despite what people say. The claimed meritocracy is code for "don't question my decisions" (whereas bankers will, at least, admit that they screen on pedigree because there are just so many applicants and it is impossible to evaluate them on deeper criteria). Finance, if you can get in, is a great way to get that credibility. Remember that the people who actually matter in Silicon Valley are the VCs, most of whom did the IBD -> B-school route. It shouldn't be this way, but people who got into VC from technology are extremely rare-- they're only let in after winning the startup lottery, in which case their VC jobs are victory laps to give them something to do, rather than jobs they actually need. Also, the bubble world that the VCs have created will have dissipated by the time you are in position to take advantage of it. There will still be a lot of work in true technology; there's perennial demand for smart, passionate people who can work hard. Real technology isn't "cool" but it is always real. But the VC darlings-- the hypersocial anal vibrator app companies whose pimple-faced executives get profiled on TechCrunch and Valleywag-- and the "scene" surrounding them will probably be well into decline by mid-2015. In short, I think you might have "grass is greener" syndrome. That said, investment banking hours (for IBD analysts) are truly horrible, so I sympathize. Having hyper-networking douchebag co-workers ("those who synergize") is not enviable either. There are plenty of sane, 10-7 financial jobs where you'll have decent co-workers, even in the front office, but the IBD track is not going to lead that way, and those are not the prestigious or high-paying routes. There's somewhat of a silver lining, which is why the hours in IBD are so bad: the structure of the workflow during the day. People delegate out the door, and everything has a tight deadline, so analysts are getting their work (due next morning) around 4-6pm. Analysts are shift-workers who have to show up 7 hours early, but there is a lot of down time during that period that people spend avoiding additional work so they are ready to play from 4pm to 2am. If you have the energy, you can learn programming in that down time. This does mean that you're actually working 2 jobs as opposed to working one but the hours of 2 (like most analysts). Of course, anything you plan on actually using must be on your own time and resources; but most of your projects in the first year or two you are just for learning. You should learn programming. Like they say about trading, if you get the opportunity when you're young, you should take it because (a) you'll learn a lot, (b) you might be really good, and (c) if you are good, it's a lot of fun and (sometimes) handsomely rewarded. Still, I'm not sure that giving up the insta-credibility that comes with banking pedigree is worth it. The software industry has no safety net at all (and don't get some macho delusion; that's not a good thing). Software companies fire good engineers for political reasons that would never fly in banking or law (rule 1: don't fuck with a lawyer, not even a 26-year-old junior) with zero severance and often not even a good reference. Why do startups get away with that nonsense? Because a lot of software engineers are pussies who won't fight for themselves. When banks lay people off, they announce that they are cutting personnel and that protects the reputation of those let go, and they offer severance. When tech companies have layoffs, they usually pretend it's a "low performer initiative" and humiliate people with PIPs (which means there will be no severance, and usually not the guaranteed good reference either) instead of just admitting that business is rough. Again, they get away with that because most engineers are pussies who don't fight for themselves. Good software engineers (top 3-5%) are treated well after a while, but you have to get high-quality work to get good and it takes years. Average software engineers get no respect, mediocre pay, and no investment by management in their career advancement or opportunities to get better. Getting high-quality work in software is a crapshoot-- for every one working on compiler architecture or machine learning or R&D, there are 10 in this industry working on line-of-business apps with minimal autonomy. You have to fight for yourself to get good projects and when you're young, usually this means changing jobs a lot (but after you've had 7 jobs in 6 years, getting back into finance is extremely challenging, because banks don't like "job hoppers"). What might be a good option for you, if you can get it, is a position in venture capital, given your interests in finance and technology. Unfortunately, most Sand Hill Road VCs are dickheads so getting a VC job out of college, even if you're brilliant, is impossible unless you're coming from Stanford. But you might be able to learn the ropes in less of a brand-name firm, or outside of SV, and then get an MBA. People rip on MBAs here, and that's mostly because we get stuck with the bad ones in startupland. Good MBAs (who are actually intelligent) end up working on billion-dollar deals or at statistical arbitrage desks, while the VP/HR who tries to institute stack ranking in a 77-person startup was at the taint-bottom of his class and is almost certainly a complete failure at life who cries while he masturbates (but, sadly, still has power over you if you are an employee of that 77-person startup). I don't want to turn you off from technology. Becoming adept at it is an investment that, over time, pays off handsomely. And the work can be extremely rewarding. And it's one of the few domains in which one can make use of very high (140+ IQ) intelligence. But the road to get credibility is hard as hell and (to be blunt) you probably won't get good projects in Silicon Valley given that you come from a public school-- except possibly Berkeley, but even that's a stretch. (If you can find a job locally, or in a talent-hungry emerging tech hub like Austin, Portland or Baltimore, your odds are much better.) Keep learning and investing into your technical knowledge. Okay, that's a huge brain dump, and not even 1/10th of what I could say on this, but I sincerely hope this helps. Technology is a good field, but I want to make it clear that, for most people, the grass isn't greener than it will be if you can get a good job in finance. If you're going to do tech, you better be laser-focused on becoming extremely good at it, and you'll probably face managerial headwinds to your career advancement and learning in your first 5 years because even though the best tech companies are probably the best overall companies, most tech companies are crap. Banking is the safer route that confers credibility even if you are average in success level, which most people are.
• michaelochurch 13y ago
  Why was this thread deleted?
  • jk4930 13y ago
    I assume your post got killed for the more explicit words you used. There were some of them. Anyway, I enjoy your writings. :)
• GrinningFool 13y ago
  Well, that depends. Can you visualize the storage of an array? Can you look at this basic construct and build its state in your mind? for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) print i (I'm assuming you have some familiarity with the structure based on your statements.) Can you walk through it in your head, and understand what it will print, when, and why? Not because you were told what it would do at some point, or because you ran it - but because because you can 'see' it? Do you take some amount of pleasure in doing the above? If the honest answer is "no" then you'll never be more than a mediocre programmer. There is a lot of work for such programmers out there, and I'm sure you'll find employment - but I suspect the only thing you'll be happy with is the paycheck. You'll also never progress beyond mid-level at best, unless at a large corporation where seniority counts more than ability. If the answer is "yes", then I think changing over has a very good chance of leading you to an enjoyable, lucrative career path. And you're starting off far ahead of most of the 'coders' entering the work force since the late 90s and early 00s.
• dorfuss 13y ago
  Hey, I'm 27, some time ago graduaded in cultural anthropology and 2 months ago started studying CS :) It's never too late to get involved into someting you feel passionate about. Good luck!
• bereft_orange 13y ago
  If you don't have an idea for a project (I totally didn't), find an open source project that you like, start contributing to it and get to the point where you can get accepted as a core developer / maintainer. It can be a great way to show that you have chops (and you end up doing many things that are important dev skills, like code reviews, API design, handling a legacy codebase, etc.). Plus, it's fun and can be a good way to meet people.
• adultSwim 13y ago
  Talk to a professor.