I’m so lost. What would you do?

[Mustkeyknow]

I'm a 33 year old nobody with a degree in finance, my career so far has been shitty entry level jobs and I've been stuck with the minimum wage for 15 years. I don't even have my degree yet, I mean, I completed the courses and all but al I need is the degree. A masters degree is out of the question because my gpa is so low no self respecting institution would accept me.

I want to go to engineering for computer science, the thing is that I'll be 40 by the time I finish, and that is if I don't CTB by then. Who would hire me? A 40 yo with no prior programming experience? They say learning to code takes about ten years so my first real job in programming could be by the time I'm 50.

Self programming courses have led me nowhere because it's so fucking hard. I need teachers to explain shit to me, plus I think a degree would validate my knowledge in the field.

If I do a masters degree in CS after I finish that would be another two years so I'll be like 50 by the time I get my first real job in software development. Like I'm just being honest with myself.

I know I should've planned for this when I was younger but I didn't. I spent my golden years wasted partying not caring about a future.

This is precisely why I think CTB is my only option. I feel cornered and lost. Like this was my only chance at life and I blew it all.

I know I been constantly talking about it in here so you're all probably sick of me and I'm sick of me too. Sometimes I think about opening up a business but who am I kidding.

Just say it out loud, say it to me: YOURE SCREWED.
Please don't just react please say something to me. I need to know there's a way out I'm so desperate

 

[not-2-b-the-answer]

I'm sorry for what has happened to you. I don't have any good advice on how to fix your life ... I'm sorry. I'm not smart so I can't even code.
I don't have any way to fix my life either. I can't tell you if you should CTB or not ... it is against the rules. If you weren't asking that question, I apologize.
I hope someone smarter than me has some better advice. I've had people in the past say "Find something you like" which doesn't help at all.
I'm sure they were trying to help but when someone isn't really good at anything it doesn't help at all.
Sorry that giving hugs is all I'm good for.

 

[Mustkeyknow]

I'm sorry for what has happened to you. I don't have any good advice on how to fix your life ... I'm sorry. I'm not smart so I can't even code.
I don't have any way to fix my life either. I can't tell you if you should CTB or not ... it is against the rules. If you weren't asking that question, I apologize.
I hope someone smarter than me has some better advice. I've had people in the past say "Find something you like" which doesn't help at all.
I'm sure they were trying to help but when someone isn't really good at anything it doesn't help at all.
Sorry that giving hugs is all I'm good for.

Thank you, thank you I just so lost right now I can't sleep. Thank you for your lovely reply. *hugs back*

 

[dec132013]

Age can be completely irrelevant when it comes to opportunities. I don't know anything about this field so can't give specific advice, but I know there's several successful people who started their career later in life (e.g Stan Lee making his first comic at 40)

I'd say might as well give it a shot, could get insanely lucky in the future. Don't really have anything to lose if you already don't mind dying. Wishing you luck

 

[Thinking]

Have you considered getting trained as an electrician? An electrician once came to my school trying to get us to apply to a two year licensing program.

I'm sure there are other similar apprenticeship type programs out there.

Or , you could always finish your degree at a community college and/ or online

 

[Mustkeyknow]

Have you considered getting trained as an electrician? An electrician once came to my school trying to get us to apply to a two year licensing program.

I'm sure there are other similar apprenticeship type programs out there.

Or , you could always finish your degree at a community college and/ or online

I will look more into this, it's not a bad idea.

 

[Thinking]

I will look more into this, it's not a bad idea.

Let me know if you need more details or help going about this stuff. Best of luck Xx

 

[waterbottleman]

I'm a 33 year old nobody with a degree in finance, my career so far has been shitty entry level jobs and I've been stuck with the minimum wage for 15 years. I don't even have my degree yet, I mean, I completed the courses and all but al I need is the degree. A masters degree is out of the question because my gpa is so low no self respecting institution would accept me.

I want to go to engineering for computer science, the thing is that I'll be 40 by the time I finish, and that is if I don't CTB by then. Who would hire me? A 40 yo with no prior programming experience? They say learning to code takes about ten years so my first real job in programming could be by the time I'm 50.

Self programming courses have led me nowhere because it's so fucking hard. I need teachers to explain shit to me, plus I think a degree would validate my knowledge in the field.

If I do a masters degree in CS after I finish that would be another two years so I'll be like 50 by the time I get my first real job in software development. Like I'm just being honest with myself.

I know I should've planned for this when I was younger but I didn't. I spent my golden years wasted partying not caring about a future.

This is precisely why I think CTB is my only option. I feel cornered and lost. Like this was my only chance at life and I blew it all.

I know I been constantly talking about it in here so you're all probably sick of me and I'm sick of me too. Sometimes I think about opening up a business but who am I kidding.

Just say it out loud, say it to me: YOURE SCREWED.
Please don't just react please say something to me. I need to know there's a way out I'm so desperate

Wait wait wait, it takes 10 years to learn to code? Who the hell said that? Because that person must have been on some serious dope. That doesn't even make sense since languages/stacks will change within that period of time to the point that a language that was popular 10 years ago may be irrelevant in the present.

Coding does not take 10 years to learn, maybe it takes that long to be an expert at it (although with stacks constantly changing a good programmer is one who can adapt quickly to new languages). However you can get good enough at coding to get a developer job in 6 months to a year if you're serious, plenty of people do it. There are people who do this without having a college degree, so you already have an advantage simply by having a degree.

If all you care about is getting a job ASAP, learn web development. Look up what the most popular/in demand stacks are and learn them. Figure out if you'd prefer front end (the user interface of the website, the part the user interacts with), back end (server side of the website), or maybe both in which you'd be a full stack developer.

Web development is super in demand and relative to other developer/coding jobs you don't need to know the fancy shit (understanding algorithms, O(n) notation, complicated data structures, etc). It pays well too.

Relatively speaking web development is "easier" than other kind of developer/coding jobs.

Going to college is a waste of time, you already have a bachelors degree and a lot of the crap you learn in CS courses is irrelevant when you get an actual coding job. A lot of people who code don't have computer science degrees. When you apply for a developer job what they care about is what you've actually coded/what you've actually built. So the way you get a job is to make a portfolio with various projects you've done (create fake websites with various functionalities, make them look decent, etc).

If you can't teach yourself, look into joining some coding boot camp that teaches you to be "good enough for a developer job in X months." Some are scams but some are legitimate, just gotta research it online.

Yes I agree with you, learning coding is hard. I've tried it and failed however at the end of the day there is one simple skill it takes to be a good programmer.

You have to be good at sitting at a desk, staring at the computer, and focusing on coding without getting distracted and doing this for long periods of time. That fundamentally is what separates people who become coders to those who try and fail. Motivation, dedication, an focus. You have to practice coding every day.

You don't have to be smart to be a coder, just gotta stop making fucking excuses, sit your ass at your desk and just do it. Just code.

Trust me I know it's hard, but at the end of the day getting good at coding is all motivation/hard work. If you put in the effort you can get a developer job.

 

[GoneGoneGone]

What if you move to userex jobs? It's a market on the rise and you need just some programming, not programming all the time.

Or move to the field of market research, like Ipsos, Kantar etc (don't know where you live). They do a bunch of surveys and need people with programming skills for both the surveys and automation.

Or work in academia as some Finance RA.

Hope this is helpful.

Also, your expertise IS coveted

 

[Mustkeyknow]

Wait wait wait, it takes 10 years to learn to code? Who the hell said that? Because that person must have been on some serious dope. That doesn't even make sense since languages/stacks will change within that period of time to the point that a language that was popular 10 years ago may be irrelevant in the present.

Coding does not take 10 years to learn, maybe it takes that long to be an expert at it (although with stacks constantly changing a good programmer is one who can adapt quickly to new languages). However you can get good enough at coding to get a developer job in 6 months to a year if you're serious, plenty of people do it. There are people who do this without having a college degree, so you already have an advantage simply by having a degree.

If all you care about is getting a job ASAP, learn web development. Look up what the most popular/in demand stacks are and learn them. Figure out if you'd prefer front end (the user interface of the website, the part the user interacts with), back end (server side of the website), or maybe both in which you'd be a full stack developer.

Web development is super in demand and relative to other developer/coding jobs you don't need to know the fancy shit (understanding algorithms, O(n) notation, complicated data structures, etc). It pays well too.

Relatively speaking web development is "easier" than other kind of developer/coding jobs.

Going to college is a waste of time, you already have a bachelors degree and a lot of the crap you learn in CS courses is irrelevant when you get an actual coding job. A lot of people who code don't have computer science degrees. When you apply for a developer job what they care about is what you've actually coded/what you've actually built. So the way you get a job is to make a portfolio with various projects you've done (create fake websites with various functionalities, make them look decent, etc).

If you can't teach yourself, look into joining some coding boot camp that teaches you to be "good enough for a developer job in X months." Some are scams but some are legitimate, just gotta research it online.

Yes I agree with you, learning coding is hard. I've tried it and failed however at the end of the day there is one simple skill it takes to be a good programmer.

You have to be good at sitting at a desk, staring at the computer, and focusing on coding without getting distracted and doing this for long periods of time. That fundamentally is what separates people who become coders to those who try and fail. Motivation, dedication, an focus. You have to practice coding every day.

You don't have to be smart to be a coder, just gotta stop making fucking excuses, sit your ass at your desk and just do it. Just code.

Trust me I know it's hard, but at the end of the day getting good at coding is all motivation/hard work. If you put in the effort you can get a developer job.

Some of the jobs posted I seen require minimum a CS degree, some even requiring a masters. At least where I live. I'm sure in the US they're a little more relaxed on those requirements.

 

[waterbottleman]

Some of the jobs posted I seen require minimum a CS degree, some even requiring a masters. At least where I live. I'm sure in the US they're a little more relaxed on those requirements.

Ahh you're in a different country.

Well unfortunately I can't comment on that then.

Yeah here in the US you don't need a degree in CS to get a coding job, some people get coding jobs without a college degree.

Nevertheless if web developer positions are in demand where you live that may be the easiest route to go.

 

[Mustkeyknow]

Ahh you're in a different country.

Well unfortunately I can't comment on that then.

Yeah here in the US you don't need a degree in CS to get a coding job, some people get coding jobs without a college degree.

Nevertheless if web developer positions are in demand where you live that may be the easiest route to go.

I don't discard that, but one of my main goals, even if it looks impossible due to my age, is to move out of my country and into the US and for foreigners they do ask for a degree in CS. Idk, idk. I'm already considering suicide so what more can I lose. Idk

 

[waterbottleman]

I don't discard that, but one of my main goals, even if it looks impossible due to my age, is to move out of my country and into the US and for foreigners they do ask for a degree in CS. Idk, idk. I'm already considering suicide so what more can I lose. Idk

Yeahhh life sucks.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

Yeahhh life sucks.

You're back!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[waterbottleman]

You're back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I am =)

Idk for how long though, I'm in worse mental condition than when I left so I'm really close to ending it at all.

How have you been during this time? I certainly hope you have been doing better than I have.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

Yes I am =)

Idk for how long though, I'm in worse mental condition than when I left so I'm really close to ending it at all.

How have you been during this time? I certainly hope you have been doing better than I have.

I figured you probably hadn't returned for a happy reason, but I was happy to see you.

For me, things are still shit with some moments of okay. I attempted with the ReBreather and it didn't work, and with CO but it failed because I didn't have a good location. So I'm still here posting away.

Sorry to highjack your thread, @Mustkeyknow!

 

[waterbottleman]

I figured you probably hadn't returned for a happy reason, but I was happy to see you.

For me, things are still shit with some moments of okay. I attempted with the ReBreather and it didn't work, and with CO but it failed because I didn't have a good location. So I'm still here posting away.

Sorry to highjack your thread, @Mustkeyknow!

=O

You attempted twice since I've been gone!

Damn idk how that makes me feel, sad but I'm glad you're still alive with the rest of us. Life is rough and coronavirus has made it way worse than it already was. I hope there is some light in your life despite the absolute enveloping darkness.

Since I've been gone I've taken up some new things, I smoke/vape weed every day now. Drink alcohol here and there which I didn't do throughout my 20s. So yeah I'm starting to become the stereotypical weed smoking unemployed loser lol.

I guess the only positive that has happened in my life since I've been gone is I finally figured out what I'm going to try to do to get out of the mess I'm in. I'm taking my savings and making super risky option trades with big risk/return ratios, ignoring stereotypical investment strategies that involve spreading risk/diversification. My plan is to try and take the 100k I have right now and turn it into 1 million so I can move to Thailand and live off of my investments. If I fail and lose my all my savings that's when I'll kill myself.

In the past 3 months since I've been gone I've taken that 100k and changed it to.......90k lol! But that also includes all my living expenses/rent/car insurance/etc so I haven't lost much so far by trading (also the gains I've gotten from the big tech stocks rallying during the summer has certainly helped).

I'm still trying and have a lot of motivation despite the trading not working so far. Oh yeah I also work out now. I like to smoke weed and lift weights. If I do end up not killing myself I wanna get big and muscly, I wanna feel more manly and secure with myself.

So yeah I guess the 3 months haven't been all bad for me, I at least have a direction/goal in my life I'm striving for even though it's an insanely risky path. My thinking is that I'm this depressed, this unmotivated, so I might as well take big risks and try to achieve my dreams (my literal dream job is to own my own hedge fund, never had the balls to try and achieve it until now).

Anyways don't mean to talk about myself too much, but I thought I'd give you an idea of what I have been doing while absent.