Too Old To Start Career In IT?

Hi community, I was wondering what ages people started their IT careers? According to what I read about the instructors here on Cybrary and from coursebooks I purchase most people seem to start early within IT ( 20-26). I am definately not within that age bracket through I am under 40. I did meet a guy who got into IT in his early 40's and who now close to retirement age has worked for the MOD and GCHQ in the UK. Any thoughts or comments?? Regards Hi Sephiroth, I worked in Accounts for more than 10 years before getting into IT at the tender age of 29 (which was thought to be late at that time). Did 2 years software support then 2 years mobile hardware then became an IT Manager. Still doing that job at 46 - and, thanks to sites like Cybrary, am keeping up with changes in Security etc. Just absorb everything, become obsessed by it for 2 years and you'll be fine :-) Hi Sephiroth, it's never too late to start a new career! A lot of people change their career multiple times throughout their life. While I always was interested in IT and studied it, I didn't start my IT career until I was almost 28 and had my first internship with NASA :) Thanks for your replies. I did manage a website for a few years back but that was with a view to building up experience within digital media, though I had to learn all the website maintenance side of things. I now consider IT and Cyber security especially to be my main interest/passion alongside fitness and outdoor pursuits. Regards That's true... There is no set age to start any carrier, I know quiet a few friends who are very successful in there IT fields though started late in their 40s... All the best Thank you for your reply. Regards Never, EVER to late to start something new. Just know, that as much as you don't want to think it exists, ageism does exist. So make sure that you are getting into and placing yourself in something that the skill and experience matter more than what you are paid (this is sort of tied to ageism in that as people get older and more experienced, they tend to be paid more and are then seen as a liability in favor or someone younger and less experienced, try to deny it all you want). Set yourself up with a niche, things like Security are NEVER going to go away. I think that the main reason you tend to see people who are younger who get into IT is because of the time commitment (on call hours, change windows, fixing something that breaks right at the end of the day and being there for the next 12 hours) that it sometimes requires, and as we get older, we have more responsibilities outside of work that can make getting into IT hard. If you have been doing this for a while then everyone in your life just expects it and will probably understand when you have to do something outside of the 9-5. you are not old I agree with most of the people here. I didn't get my IT career started until I was 28, after getting my AS degree in network system administration. Before that I worked in construction for almost 10 years. So yes it is possible to get into the IT field. Cybrary is a good place start, getting some certs will demonstrate your knowledge and make up for your lack of experience. I started my IT career when I was 18 years old on Mainframe Computers, and 37 years later I am still working on these "legacy" systems. However I am now learning new systems and technology like HTML coding learning and loving the free MOOC courses. Thanks again for your replies, interesting to hear somebody here worked construction before they got into IT. The guy I met who does contracts for GCHQ and Blue chip companies used to manage a fruit & vegetable shop before he got into IT at 42. Should be okay so long as you start before EOL :-) Thank you Never too late; at 49 I have been in IT for just over 2 years now after 20+ years in mental health/human services, juvenile court, corrections and parole. Love IT and learning about IT; thankful every day that I made the switch. L0wk3y; definitely agree that ageism exists in most any career field, IT being no exception. Thankfully I have not come up against it on my job; in fact I would say probably the majority of my work unit are 35-40 and up, many of us having had a wide range of previous careers unrelated to IT. And hey; it keeps me on my toes, staying up on new developments. @Drood Started in late 40's definately encouraging, I used to work within mental health myself back in the day. I do have some prior experience in IT from managing a website, learnt some painful lessons from doing that. Hmmmm... wonder if I'm the oldest one here. I joined cybrary a few weeks ago, and I'm 50 and I'm a woman. I didn't start coding until 1 1/2 years ago. It took this long for me to jump into the things that have interested me for many years. But hey, I also game, so there ya go. :) Dont think that you are old Thanks, @eldar! @Coding Mama Welcome to Cybrary! ***Thank you very much, @praetoriansephiroth!*** Hi community, hope we are all well! I would like to thank everyone for their feedback and comments, it has been interesting to hear the different ways and ages in which people either started their IT career or started to study/learn IT skills. All the best! I'm 40, retired from the military, have minimal computer skills, and almost feel like a lost little boy with all these smart kids in here. One has to start somewhere. I've got you beat in the age department, but you did start, and that's the only thing that matters. It's easy to up your basic computer skills, and soon you'll feel like an ol' salt before you know it. :) @roland99; thanks for your service! @roland99 Yeah I kinda know how you feel, I just look at some of the instructors here and I feel like I'm out of my league and have no business being here but I am still here all these months later! You have found a very useful resource in Cybrary and the community here are very friendly and helpful in my experience. I may need to reply a little quicker. Cybrary seems like an amazing resource and everybody here is great. Thank you all for the words of encouragement, and I promise that I'll try to start giving more personalized responses. Thank you. No worries! Nice to meet you, @roland99. :) It's never too late to start a new career. I believe that if you are passionate about learning and absorbing as much information about your new industry then you will do great, regardless of your age. I heard of a lady that was 60 when she started medical school. Everyone told her: " Don't you realize that you will be 70 when you finish medical school. Her reply: " I will be 70 anyway. I'd rather be 70 and a Doctor instead of just 70 and not a Doctor." She finished Med School and opened her own practice. Tru dat, @chefjd! Many fabulous people started their new (and likely most desired) careers later in life. It's a wonderful thing! @Coding Mama Nice to meet you too. :) I started off with 10 years in the Navy doing engineering work, then transitioned over to IT in my early 30s. I think the important thing is that you are passionate about the work, not what age you start. @Paul Rouk Yeah passion and enthusiasm is important, IT is one of my main interests alongside health and fitness. Everyday I am on Cybrary, reading a textbook or getting some hands on experience with a application/software. I will get my first IT job eventually. Hi all, seeing as this thread is exhausted I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their comments and advice! Great to have my concerns assuaged! Regards **Great topic, @praetoriansephiroth!** ... It's never too late to start learning new skills. You've got your lifetime ahead of you. You're never too old to start in IT - what you do need is common sense. It's sadly lacking nowadays. Still cleaning up after someone 30 years or so younger than me kicked loose an update and then left for the three day weekend. Who does that? Someone who doesn't think ahead. If you know how to plan, test and have a little patience you can make it. Good luck! Thanks for posting, OP. I'm in the same boat as you are - under 40 but wanting a career change into IT. So far no luck on my end to land any experience but I'm still trying. I am in the same boat, 35 years old and have a career. Yet, IT has peaked my interest and for the last few months I have been studying more and harder than I ever had in highschool. I am thirsty for this knowledge!! Hi all. After a 20 year career in biological research, I started in IT at the tender age of 51. Now, 3 years later I am working in Support at a local community college where I got my As. in network engineering. I'm currently continuing ed while working in order to get a bachelors in network security. I think this site is going to be a great help...and yes, whoever said immersion was the best way to learn was spot on I think. Good to hear some fresh insights, good to hear @mache62 that you got going in IT after a long career within biology. I think another who posted here came from mental health, another from retail management....just shows with enough drive and passion you can successfully traverse career pathways. I am not having much luck myself and I do have some prior IT experience from managing a website for 2 years which included the backend stuff as well as digital marketing and website design/content etc. Anyhow, have a good one everybody! @ coding Mama I don't want to start a competition, I'm 51 years old, and still have fun on the Job. @Sephiroth I started my IT career 15 years ago, I Ully agree, that it is never to late to start something new. Welcome to Cybrary @agihammerthief That is encouraging to hear, glad to hear you are still enjoying your career all these years later! My problem seems to be getting a break somewhere, I tried a few years ago but that went sideways but hoped that the experience would lead to a door opening somewhere but I feel more like I'm knocking at a portcullis!! Competition started, @aguihammerthief. LOL! But, awww, you've got me beat. :) @Sephiroth Have Patience with yourself, and trust in your ability to learn and to discover new things. These days I tend to advise people rather than study, I've been learning for over 40 years - in many subjects. There is saying "You're never too old to learn!" - which is true, once you leave school, you carry on learning for the rest of your life. You might be interested in the FREE course of "Introduction to Cyber Security" which is endorsed by GCHQ, UK. It starts again on the 4th July 2016, 3 hours per week for 8 weeks. I have actually done the course awhile ago, you can do it at you own pace and can go over the 8 week period. If you take longer than the 8 weeks then any questions you put in the course will not be answered by an Open University Facilitator, but you find there are some very knowledgeable students that will help you out. The course details are here: [https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/introduction-to-cyber-security ](https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/introduction-to-cyber-security)You may need to register on the website at first, but it is all free. They have over 600 courses available on a global basis! Hope that helps you! Don't feel so bad. I am 44 and I am just getting started. =) I hear ya, @wendy101. Fifty, and me, too. Thanks for the link, @8lack0racl3. You're still in great shape for a career in IT. I'm starting over from scratch and it feels great. You can never stop growing no matter where you are in your life. All of your previous experiences will stand out in the midst of today's workforce. Good luck on your journey! Thanks @8lackOracl3 I will have a look at that course, endorsed by GCHQ must be decent then! Thanks for all the replies on this thread everybody! Regards Jason You are not old. I think you should continue your interest in Cybersecurity, however start in a role that gives you multiple levels of exposure to the overall IT realm (i.e SoC Analyst or InfoSec Specialist). Depending on your drive, you will climb faster than you think. Seeya i'm a civil engineer and 30 years old, 4 years have benn studying in a highway construction but i can't stop myself learning about computers, programming and networks etc. 1 months ago I found cybrary so i started to beginner level courses although I'm familiar many of the informations that I'm taking. So my plan is to take 12 courses that i've chosen beginner to advanced classes. When I finished them, I am going to start practicing and it is going to be an experience for me. As i see, the main point of information technology is , that it has no end :) İn this subject my motto is "if you can't advance in basic sciences (physics especially maths), you can't advance in engineering". After the experience i want to start a job but this process will take 2-3 years ... I am currently 17, but got into computers since I was a little kid (probably 6-ish years old). Did not do much then, but it's something! I really got into infosec at the age of 12-13. I only see infosec as a hobby, so I do not want to make it my career. Though I still hope I helped you out! -Phoenix750 [@Coding Mama](https://www.cybrary.it/members/codingmama/) You're welcome to the link. Competition started by the way I am 52, 53 in December this year! lol Old but knowledgeable! :-) I just like extending my knowledge - in many areas! While most people have a few hobbies, I tend to have many, etc. I get offered job after job, but never accept them. I just like learning like yourself! Oh, @8lack0racl3 - You've got me beat! LOL! I love learning about all kinds of different things as well. That's one of the big joys of life as far as I'm concerned. :) [@Coding Mama](https://www.cybrary.it/members/codingmama/), I started doing the A+ course and thought that was just so long winded and boring! When you been in to computers for decades nothing really changes apart from speeds and connections! I had to replace my PSU just a week ago, and I paid £60 for a Corsair, all because I couldn't wait until the Monday morning! If anything breaks down, you can guarantee it's on a weekend, and on a Sunday - so only the most expensive shop was open 'PC World'. I hate parting with my money with them. Their so-called technical engineers are useless, get technical with them and bang! straight over their heads! lol Well, I just started doing the Ubuntu Linux+ course, much more interesting than the first one - I finished yesterday! Your like me in many ways I prefer learning than anything else! I see you like making coffee, is that to keep you awake at nights? lol Oooooh, @8lack0racl3 - Why couldn't you wait until Monday?!? Why?!?! ;) I must admit... I'm having a hard time "staying" into a couple of the courses myself. I don't have a problem getting into them- just staying in a few of them. That's going to happen on a site like this as people have different personalities and learning styles. I'm the type of person that needs an instructor to get to the point quickly and stay on point, so I understand what you mean. For me, some of that could be an increase in impatience that I'm gaining as I get older, though I've had a sprinkle for a while. I don't think I even knew there was an Ubuntu Linux course. I'll have to get to that one after I finish the Linux one. And FTR, I can drink (and I have) a pot of coffee and go straight to sleep. At least, I used to be able to do that. It may keep me awake a little now. It's simple [@Coding Mama](https://www.cybrary.it/members/codingmama/), I'm impatient! lol It is like loosing a life-support machine! Can't be without it! ;) I still got an iPad and an Android phone, but that's not the same, as a proper computer. You're trying to do the same as me, taking on more courses at the same time - with me it failed! I tried doing a course on here and Creative Coding (Developing code to produce amazing illusions). But trying to do that and the A+ course on here, switching between to keep up and receiving reminders on here - I decided to terminate the Creative Coding course, I find the courses on here are more in depth and better laid out. The CompTIA A+ course I followed up with the CompTIA Linux+. I know Linux but not all the CLI commands it uses, what I learned was by working for a webhosting company, so we were working at root level with Linux and M$ servers, and I done most of the custom coding for certain clients. But I have advanced knowledge in MySQL & PHP, so I was the one that was told to fix hacked websites, believe me there's some nasty malware out there! I got a VMware Workstation with Ubuntu 64bit loaded on it for the CompTIA Linux+ course which I am on now, noting down the many of the CLI's. I didn't bother on the A+ course, because that was simple for me, apart from a few terms I stated were wrong! I wish I could drink coffee but the Caffeine reacts with tablets I have to take and cause a chemical imbalance. :( If you run in to a problem, send me a PM, I'll probably know the answer anyway! I have studied many subjects over the years, the jobs I have been offered over the years is unbelieveable, but sadly I have to turn them all down. However, that does not stop me from learning even more! :) I will turn 34 this year. I had an extensive career in the music industry (guitar player). Was a private guitar teacher for many many years, yet when I moved to Toronto, I knew little about the IT industry. However, the first time I found a bug in a Web Application, I decided that this is what I would do because it was making me feel excited. But guess what.... I found my first bug at 31 year old! I didn't get a fancy education like the majority of those newly grads, but my life experience and my desire too learn cannot be stopped. And now that I discovered this website, I think I can acquire new skills. I'm currently a QA Analyst, but I'm looking to go in the Security field. I strongly believe that if you have the eagerness to learn, then nothing can stop you really...except yourself. Thanks, @8lack0racl3. I'll remember that. :) @dangui, you're too young for this conversation. LOL! Just kidding! You found your fist bug at 31? That's awesome! And, you're right... Only we can stop ourselves. @dangui 'nothing can stop you really…except yourself.' Yep indeed, I am my own worst enemy sometimes. @Coding Mama How you finding the Introduction to Cyber Security course? I am going to start week 2 today or Thursday hopefully. Which course do you mean specifically, @praetoriansephiroth? The CompTIA A+ or Security+? Oh sorry @Coding Mama, the Introduction to Cyber Security at FutureLearn. Ooooh, okay! I was so confused. LOL! I haven't taken that course yet, @praetoriansephiroth, but I plan to. Hi [@dangui](https://www.cybrary.it/members/dangui), My middle son plays electric and acoustic guitars, mind you he used to give us headaches at first... Now, he can just listen to music and play along really well, he's in to Gary Moore from Thin Lizzy.. Old but still some amazing rock back then! My son does a really good version of Parisienne Walkways, and sings as well - very talented that way! But he's also in to Cyber Security, in a big way! I'm not your normal average person that browses the internet (on all 3 levels!). By mistake I found a huge security hole, but what I didn't expect was the strange answer when I put it to them. It happened about 4 years ago now, but I alerted FALCON the MET Police in London, I even told them the exact details of how to replicate it. Their answer was 'Please do not publish your findings on anywhere on the web, or internet or even in an article, and tell no one the procedure. They assumed I was an High Level Computer Analyst, but I have no qualifications in that area whatsoever, more so around it. There is many areas on the web that can be used against itself, the only issue is finding them - I have found numerous documents, not meant for the public yet they have been crawled by search engines and indexed, only a few keywords and you find them! Authorities sometimes will take no interest if a security is that large, and it would need the entire internet to be taken down to actually fix! It would never happen in my lifetime. If you look in the right places there is more on the internet than what many people think! @8lack0racl3 He should definitely start listening to some 'Al Di Meola' if he didn't started yet :D Awesome guitar player. Hey is never too late to learn something new !!! :) 3 months on and this chat room still going strong, thanks for the replies everybody! Guess there can always be new beginnings or paths if you have the passion, motivation and time/resources to commit to such change. Hopefully I will be able to switch lanes to IT eventually, getting a break is difficult as nearly all the basic/entry level IT roles want previous experience. I did manage a small personal website for 3 years which included using MySQL, Apache, Wordpress, Cpanel alongside some basic coding alongside defending regular website attacks.... but that all seems insufficient. I will just have to keep learning and eventually maybe the portcullis will lower. Have a good day! I'm in my 50s [@Shadow](https://www.cybrary.it/members/albie/), Me and you both mate! Over half a century old, and still learning! But it is one thing we never stop doing in life, we learn everyday something new! Regards, 8lack0racl3 Been wondering about this one myself, being in my middle 30's. Maybe not so much as a full time career, but I like the idea of doing side IT'ish jobs well into my old age. Because my body won't last forever and retirement is looking like a pipe dream. @gunnar I just turned 33 myself and have not had any luck getting a proper IT job despite having 2 years prior experience, albeit more from a digital media perspective. I still got my hands dirty with SQL, Apache server, wordpress, Cpanel and some basic coding; but even with my learning here I still can't even get a interview for a entry level job in IT....close to giving up to be honest. I'd hate to end this post on a salty negative tone! Never surrender dreams, keep plugging away! Have a good day! [@sephiroth](https://www.cybrary.it/members/praetoriansephiroth), That is the total opposite with me! I get companies contacting me all the time, from webhosting companies to advisory positions. I have had 3 companies ask me to join them, since I been on this site, which is only about 4 or 5 weeks! All the job prospects mainly come from LinkedIn, which is a good starting position, there are keywords that employers look out for that I have noticed, one keyword that does attract attention is 'digital', others are 'linux', hosting, etc. Keywords and connections will get you noticed on LinkedIn, I can guarantee jobs are sent to me every week now, even though my CV needs updating I need to update my LinkedIn profile, which is why I haven't added it on here yet. I'm linked to many system administrators, advisors, university tutors, and many more. Getting you name on LinkedIn and adding yourself to others in similar jobs goes far. 2 months ago I was offered a advisory job to work as a Mentor for 12 entrepreneurs across the UK and Ireland, with a £1 million startup fund from Sir Richard Branson. The job had very good prospects, including company car, free business broadband and phone - but, I am not in a position to even take a job on, not like that anyway. All I do is go around gaining knowledge of numerous subjects. I have advanced knowledge of MySQL, PHP, Apache, Litesped server technology, and numerous PHP accelerators - an area where you have to be careful of conflicts! I have been asked many times if I'm a High Level Computer Analyst, that was by the MET Police in London, whom I contacted about a huge security hole in the internet. I did a Cyber Security course at the OU in the UK, mainly to find out what sort of level they were teaching people at about the surface levels of the internet. I fired a few articles at them, basically updating there lessons being 'out-of-date', and in other areas which were not even mentioned. Yet, when I mentioned them, I had a tutor contact me, asking me for my LinkedIn ID and if I could provide urls backing up what I had put in articles. This caused a lot of students to start following me as I progressed through the course at a fast rate, even with answering other students questions. At the end of the course the main mentor asked if he could use a lot of my written answers and links to add and update their own material. I also gave them a huge network 'map' I had generated, showing all their servers, IP's, CDN's, Network Blocks, and MAC addresses of numerous netblocks, etc. It was done by a scan I did on their website, but I went quite far in to their network, finding all registered email addresses, server scripts, server software, databases, etc. Never give up though, that is one thing I would never do, I've spoken to many CEO's in the USA. A typical one was an ex-CEO of Symantec, I was doing some custom coding for him.. I was forever talking to him, one day I asked him about Symantec and which Norton Products he used? His answer shocked me, he said 'any Norton Product is useless!' I would never use Norton myself, but I didn't expect an ex-CEO to say what he did. I used to code modifications for vBulletin and IP.Board, and ran my own website selling the numerous scripts - it soon gets you noticed, and then you get clients asking for custom work to be done. Custom work, can pay you well - My eldest son who is just 25 yrs old is well known for digital art, but he's just been offered $10,000 for an updated logo and a complete new look in the design and layout... You never know who is looking at your CV, or previous work! You never know what another day will bring, as they say! @8lack0racl3 Thanks for that reply, sounds like you really made some things happen and got some notable contacts and IT roles. One of the key concepts I took away from your reply was networking! Not in the technical sense but people networking. I have never used Linked-in, well truth be told I did about 5 years back but deleted my account as I thought it was a waste of time, I should probably look to rejoin and fill out as much info as possible. I think I have had literally one IT contractor contact me this year, the rest were general emails and I'm registered on 1 cyber security job site, 2 general IT/engineer job sites and about 6 other general job sites. Struggled for years after my time managing my own small website to get my foot in the door, I gave up on digital media ages ago. Hopefully I can still get into IT, might need to revise my CV and clearly start using Linked-in again. I'm close to giving up but I am not quite rekt just yet as us gamers say! Regards Hi [@Sephiroth](https://www.cybrary.it/members/praetoriansephiroth/), I just looked at your profile on here, you have quite a few site badges, but I noted none of them contain Linux, is there a reason for this? Social networking is something I never used to bother with either, I used to look at from a negative perspective - moreso with Facebook, and people taking photos of their dinner or a comment stuck up saying "time for a cuppa!", personally I did not want to know what people did and when. Or you had others whom were in the same room sending messages to one another, which I thought was a another pointless exercise. Then I done a course on Digital Anthropology, which basically looks at how different cultures use social networking, it made me think twice of how Facebook was being used, or even Twitter. Different cultures use different platforms, if you compared the UK or USA to China, you would see just how our cultures interpretate the use of Digital Anthropology as regards to the word Privacy. To us I would consider Privacy as one of the top priorities, I thought China would be the same or higher. The fact is they view Privacy totally different than we do. If you have a Facebook account in China then you must inform your entire family of your usr & pwd that you used, if you refuse then you are dishonouring your family. They also all sleep in the same room, because you should have nothing to hide. So, Privacy in China as a totally different meaning. I don't use Facebook much myself, I seem to stay on Twitter since I can send tweets to anyone or company. Plus I try and mention about cybrary to get 'cybytes' throughout the day! I'm just coming to the end of the Linux+ course, basically more of a refresher than anything else, because I used to use it a lot in webhosting, and MySQL which I assume is mentioned in higher courses on Linux. Knowing the Linux command prompt these days will get you far, it is the first thing webhosting companies ask. Fixing crashed tables in MySQL databases is far easier than going through cpanel, plus you can run php scripts via Linux to override PHP limits. I used to be forever getting asked to importing sql data dumps into a new database, in phpMyAdmin you're limited to uploading sql dump data sizes! I have daily updates on people viewing my profile on LinkedIn, changed my password a few times since the 114 million hacked accounts! Which was initially stated at 6.4 million, a big difference. Anyway, good luck! I don't think there is ever an age limit to start a new venture. I am a little older than those in the field i am trying to get into. At my current workplace i have gotten some older people into more technical aspects as well as re-ignited some interests in the IT field. @8lack0racl3 In answer to your Linux question I put that off that course as I have used Linux off and on for the last 3 years, mostly Ubuntu but also Kali Linux, though people say I should try Mint. I will do the Cybrary Linux course next as I just finished another course here. I will finish the OU intro to cyber security course you recommended today, it is a well thought out course with good content, would be good to have such a course here at Cybrary to cater for people new to IT/cyber security. Yeah my Cybrary profile needs to be updated, plenty of badges and courses but very little else apart from my personal eccentricities, probably should fill in those black spaces. MySQL and phpMyadmin yeah I used them a lot when I managed my own website, using Cpanel never really helped me as I found myself using SQL and to lessor extent Wordpress more effective and moreover direct. I'll make finishing the OU course, updating my Cybrary profile and registering on Linked-in my mission for this weekend! Thanks for your advice! Have a good weekend! It now seems age is not the problem but having recent industry experience, even entry roles in IT now require prior IT experience. How can I acquire said experience when no employer will give me a shot? Even with 2 years managing a website from a few years ago....welcome to the art of constantly banging your head against the wall. Perhaps it is just my bad luck or my simply looking in the wrong places.....Nevermind I see a 40 minute HITT session with my name on it calling. Have a better one ladies and gentlemen! Hi [@Sephiroth](https://www.cybrary.it/members/praetorian/sephiroth), I basically started with my own website. Then I started learning XML, PHP, HTML, CSS, and dynamic CSS. But I also cover Flash Authoring, and creating customized products using dynmaically controlled AS.2 & AS.3 in Flash authoring. This led to further my skills in many areas Like creating PHP installers for creating the database, and pulling various data that I needed. But while doing this my work caught the eyes of 2 guys in the US, both creating highly professional modifications and standalone products. As time went by I took on advanced courses in MySQL and Linux (Kali Linux is okay, but with over 1,000 different command prompts, it's much to learn!) Basically, I got into the IT industry mainly because of UNIX, Linux and Advanced MySQL handling using direct queries from the command prompt in Linux. That's how I got asked to start working for a webhosting company - the CEO gave me a VPS, so I could still carry on in development work. By this time, I was creating modules and extensions for vBulletin & IP.Board. I was also covering security on mysql - vB5 is terrible for security! But then again there have been over 300 exploits found in IP.Board this year, it makes you wonder just how bad their coding really is! Have you got any hobbies that are IT related? Perhaps start blogging or even a forum - with me forums worked well. Join websites where you can advertise your website in the signature, The Admin Zone is pretty good, www.theadminzone.com - do a few posts on there, if you still run websites. In answer to your last question no I don't have any IT hobbies outside Cybrary, reading text books and learning software/tools, my other main hobby is fitness which I a very passionate about. I don't run any websites and gave up doing that years ago as it was my failed attempt to break into digital media industry. I may well have to set-up another website just to practice my SQL database and Apache skills, I am gonna try learning some coding as I have no knowledge in this area, probably my last roll of the dice to get into IT. Thanks for your advice @8lack0racl3 you posted several long messages of advice now which I appreciate. Regards Big thanks to everyone for sharing Never too late. @8lack0racl3, nice words of advice you have there. I think I'll also start blogging very soon. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all the voices on this thread, been helpful both to myself and others. I have now decided to start building a website again. Least I will be prepared this time around. Have a good weekend guys! I am brand new to Cybrary. I appreciate all the positive feed back here, but when discussing this topic I'm not quite sure I fit in. Everyone is saying your never to old, but I just turned 60 this past weekend and I would like to get into some type of IT field. Now, be honest am I to old? I have been in the warehouse field for some 30 yrs and I would like to get away from all this heavy manual labor. I do not mind some, but I would like to cut back somewhat. Do I have any hope? Thank you! You can never be too old to pursue your passion. If IT, Cyber Security or Forensics makes the world go around for you, take the jump and you wont even think about your age, let alone being at work every day. @skyward7 I have known people to change careers in their late 50's, particularly ex-military and people such as yourself from manual hands on careers. I met a guy in March this year who used to run his own building/DIY company but then at 57 decided to go into teaching at a local college. Passion and determination are the key factors I find speaking from experience. All the best! I would like to start off with getting certified with IT Security and A+. Is this a complicated process getting started? Like the person that posted prior to my Post I also manage a couple web sites for my wife that I put together. Many years ago I took a general PC repair course where I received a Diploma for. like I said this was a while back, at the time I was using Windows 98.... see many years. lol So this is where I am at and would appreciate any assistance. Thank you! @skyward7 I would recommend doing the CompTIA certifications that you mentioned, CompTIA A+, N+ are vital. The security+ would be a good follow certification if you want to look at progressing. Speaking from personal experience managing websites is good experience, I got my hands dirty using Apache server, SQL database, PHPMyadmin Wordpress and Joomla, plus I learnt all about digital marketing and getting hacked lol. I Hope you find Cybrary helpful! My post has finally died.....still I hope it helped others! Peace. My forum has died.....very sad. Thanks for all the comments and advice comrades! Welcome..! hi As an engineer: For a youngster learning IT takes a "few years". If your "expected lifetime" - "actual age" > "few years", you are just in time... :) I have between 35-40 yrs experience with computers and electronics. The latest technology is IoT, one that will put you in front of much competition.. Regards, Les.