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55 too old to get an asp.net developer career?
Got fired from my previous job at walmart & was wondering if I could start a web developer career. I know nothing about programming or web development. Now I was told to learn asp.net. How long will it take me to get my first job? The learning curve? How many months should I expect to lrearn asp.net until I get good at it to offer my services as consultant on dice.com. Any books or material that I should buy? Plz if you feel that 55 is too old let me know , I have no desir to invest my time in asp.net if the market is closed for me because of my age.
Public Comments
- Nope, not too old, but ASP.net isn't really a good way to go. With no experience, you can expect it to take around 2 years before you really get to grips with it. That, and ASP.net is awful. Whoever told you to do that was probably just giving you an off-the-cuff remark to get rid of you, a bit like "just learn rocket science tomorrow". I mean, the inital outlay is also tremendous! Youll need a computer and things like Visual Studio: http://www.memory-express.co.uk/index.aspx?pageid=17&id=522242&utm_campaign=froogle&utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=lead&utm_content=Visual+Studio+Standard+2005+English+CD&utm_name=Visual+Studio+Standard+2005+English+CD&rndstr=2007-0925-482 So for hardware & software you'll be looking at a good £1k. Books and courses will set you back another few k - especially as you'll need background courses - you can't just "jump in" to a 5-day ASP.net course and expect to understand it. http://www.traininghott.co.uk/ All in all, just to start out, you're looking at spending a good £5k.
- Since you have your career goal in mind, the next thing to consider is what your competition will be doing to get the same job you're after: a degree. I'm not saying that you have to go get a bachelor's in computer science, but I would suggest an associates degree in computer science as minimum, if you are wanted a chance at any type of competitive job. If I were in your shoes, I would: 1. Find another job - at least part time. 2. Apply to a community college that offers computer science or programming programs and certificates 3. Learn the basics of computer science and programming with a good starter language, such as Java. 4. Once you know the basics of computer science and programming, programming professionally will be a matter of simply learning the syntax for any language, or multiple languages, and applying the knowledge you've attained to your projects. Good Luck.
