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How to successfully transition out of IT at age 40+? (self.cs_career_questions)

submitted 3 months ago by Kyrgizion to c/[email protected]

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As stated in the title. I've worked in IT for over 15 years despite having no related degree.

I've been closing tickets nonstop at my current company for almost 10 years. After several restructurings and shuffling of higher posts, it has become clear to me that while this employer isn't the worst out there, I will never be internally promoted or have my job duties changed if I don't leave.

Worse, ever since Covid I've started falling out of love with IT and computers in general. I used to be stoked to learn about all the new developments in tech, nowadays, not so much - the only "innovation" I've seen in the last 10 years was companies trying to make absolutely everything a fucking subscription model. Now I honestly don't know nor care what's in the newest tech stack, how security has evolved,... I just want my shit to work and not having to worry about everything under the hood.

So getting another helpdesk- or related job seems out of the question for mental health reasons.

What would be another niche or industry where someone with an analytical mind and a greatly developed loathing for corporate mooching could find their spot in the coming two decades or so?

I've long since accepted that I'll never be able to climb any ladders anywhere since I never had the right contacts or stayed long enough, so it would likewise have to be something I could mentally and physically endure being in the bottom rungs of for the aforementioned duration.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

the only “innovation” I’ve seen in the last 10 years was companies trying to make absolutely everything a fucking subscription model.

True.

Also, the off-loading of mentors in the post-dot-com has left us with two generations of wild-boys developers, making it up as they go. What we lost in terms of stability and completeness to code is so depressing. We're unable as a group to argue cohesively about the curse of subscriptions because we've lost the 'why' of best practice; most of the time we don't even know the 'what'.

I'm still in love with IT . It's a long road back, with stubborn indolents left and right, but it's the job now. And I'm still hungry to learn the non-shit stuff, and proselytize that far and wide in the hopes that others will too.

I looked at management. Hell, I 'managed' an armed squad of troopies, and later, in college, 'managed' a bunch of waiters at a restaurant. It's surprising how similar they are, even if the yelling is different. But I'm so done with that. I just-don't-care what Kyle said that made you sad. I just wanna do my stuff. So no management for me, even if I'm interviewing for a lead/mentor role now. I'll mentor, but I don't want to manage princesses. And nerds? We're the worst princesses of all ! Fucking barn cats, all of us.