6 fears about IT that prevent you from starting a new career

Fear 1. No one needs johns

It can be really difficult for a newbie without work experience to find a job. But in other industries, inexperienced job seekers apply for dozens of jobs before they find the right company. At the same time, the global IT services market continues to develop: expectedInformation Technology Global Market Report 2022 / The Business Research Companythat by 2026 its volumes will increase from 9 to 13 billion dollars with an average annual growth of 10.3%. This means that there will still be a need for specialists.

In many ways, getting a job depends on the activity of the candidate. Watching dozens of programming videos is not enough to get a great job. You have to constantly develop or even practice in open source projects in order to learn how to work in a team or with other people's solutions. To develop practical skills, do projects for yourself or friends and share the results, adding to your portfolio. But it is better to start a career not with freelancing, but in a professional company: it is there that you will get the necessary practice, learn from colleagues and develop discipline. At the same time, it is not necessary to work in the office, many companies have long switched to remote work. And over time, you will be able to try freelancing - in this case, you yourself will have to look for clients and regulate the volume of orders, which will allow you to choose interesting tasks and set your own price.

Fear 2. Programming is boring

Programming will allow you to pump not only technical, but also creative skills. After all, the essence of the work of a developer is to find a solution for a specific problem or task. Some of the tasks, of course, will be repeated, but there will always be something new to make you think. A creative approach will allow us to offer non-standard solutions in difficult situations and look for new ideas.

Development is in demand in many industries, and you only need to choose the one you are interested in. You can write code for accounting programs or medical applications, or you can create games or even develop operating systems and robots. If you know about programming only by hearsay, don't be afraid to try it - it may turn out that coding is not at all what you imagined.

Fear 3. At my age it's too late to start

There are indeed many young people in the IT field, but programmers workDeveloper Survey 2022 / Stack Overflow both 40 and 50 years old. If you are driven by an interest in a profession, it is never too late to start. Any career experience enriches a person with useful skills, and some of them may be useful in future work. For example, companies that develop financial applications are often looking for employees with experience in banking. In addition, in IT, not only the technical base is important, but also the ability to communicate, work in a team and not give in to difficulties. If you have already built a career in another industry, then you probably have these skills. Feel free to highlight your strengths on your resume.

Fear 4. Studying is too expensive

For many popular programming languages, detailed manuals have been written and libraries have been created where you can take ready-made templates. If you want to understand the basics, you can do it yourself - however, you will need motivation and strict self-discipline. Many online schools post free webinars or open access to the first lessons of courses. They will allow you to figure out what features different programming languages ​​​​have and in which direction to move. You can participate in hackathons and developer meetups — this is important not only for improving programming skills, but also for soft skills.

In IT, rapid career growth is possible, and if you show yourself as a hardworking and talented specialist, the investment will quickly pay off. Median salary of a software developer in Russia in the second half of 2021 amounted toIT salaries in the second half of 2021: + 17% due to support and administration in the regions / Sudo Null IT News 140 thousand rubles a month. Abroad, they also have high incomes - for example, in the Netherlands last year, such specialists on average earnedAverage annual software developer salaries in 2021, by country / Statista 54 thousand dollars a year, and in Germany - 60 thousand. Such salaries are not received from the start, but rapid growth is possible in IT. Already after two or three years of hard work, a novice developer is able to grow to the middle - this is an employee who solves problems without the supervision of senior colleagues. And the more skills a specialist has, the more he can earn.

Fear 5. There are no jobs in my city

To do well with their duties, a programmer needs only knowledge and a computer. It is not necessary to travel to the office - you can work from anywhere in the world. Many companies appreciatedWork from home & remote work - Statistics & Facts / Statista the advantages of remote work, because it allows you to reduce the cost of renting an office. And also - to hire talented employees, regardless of where they live. Polls showPublic opinion on the state of remote work worldwide in 2022 / Statistathat up to 45% of workers worldwide work remotely. And while some are expected to return to the office in six months, more than a third will continue to work from home. Therefore, even if you live in a small town, you can apply for jobs outside of it. And if you improve your English, you will apply for a job in other countries.

Fear 6. Nothing to do with my education in IT

The presence of a specialized higher education for a programmer is rather a plus than a necessity. In this area, not a diploma is valued more, but practical skills. According to a survey of 70 thousand developers conducted by the Stack Overflow website, about 18% of specialists Dont HaveDeveloper Survey 2022 / Stack Overflow higher education. A diploma in the humanities or social sciences also does not block access to IT. Of course, such programmers a littleDeveloper Survey Results 2019 / Stack Overflow, but everything will depend on your motivation and desire to work.

No one is born with an innate knowledge of mathematics and computer science - and you can learn the right things even in adulthood.