Ask HN: Completely switching careers at 28

One of the best technologists I ever worked with denied his interest in technology until he was around your age. He was a professor at a top school in CS and started some innovative and impactful companies. I quit my job at 34 to study math and got my PhD at 40. After that, I left math to work in biology and I run a data science/engineering group at a premier biology research institute. I will probably change things up again before I'm done. I am not unique, there are many examples of this:

https://mathoverflow.net/questions/7120/too-old-for-advanced... https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/237002/too-old-to-s...

You are young and life is long. Go do what you love.

edit: My email is in my profile. Reach out if you want to chat.

Honestly, I don't think age is an issue. My mom did a career change at 50. Your problem is grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome: you seem to think that if only you put in years of study into some field, it'll turn into your dream career. That's not how it works. Academia suckage is a well documented phenomenon; unless you're keenly aware of what that entails and are willing to tolerate all the BS that comes with it, you're just going to find yourself at the same spot you're in now: entering a field with starry eyes and being confronted with a reality that isn't so rosy.

For me, when looking for career advice, the one single piece of advice that served me very well is this: "Don't aim to do what you love, look for something you can tolerate". The idea is that if your approach to career choice involves romanticizing a profession, you're most likely ignoring its downsides (all professions have downsides) and you're setting yourself up for disappointment, whereas being brutally aware of all the suckiness factors means your opinion of the profession can only go up from there.

I didn’t graduate from university until I was 28, up until then I worked in very average office jobs including sales, call centre work, and general admin.

It’s never held me back and if anything, it gave me an advantage in that I knew how to work in an “office environment” and had experience in quite a few different business areas - something that most young graduates just don’t have.

Heck, I didn’t figure out what career I was interested in until I was nearly 30. I didn’t complete my bachelor’s degree until I was 40.

28 is definitely not too old, and if you change your mind at 35, you won’t be too old then either.

I would encourage you though to figure out if you really need to pursue your interest in biology or mathematics professionally? Depending on what your interest is here, you may be able to do these as a hobby, which frees you from doing the research someone else wants you to do, rather than what you’re interested in. Your career doesn’t have to be your passion.

I would switch if it involves years of school. Debt makes you a slave to money (and the people who have it).

If you have a law degree, why. Ot look into specializing in a sector of law related to science or technology?

I sort of think I should have been a lawyer instead of a dev. A bunch of people say that makes sense, but it would be too expensive and time consuming. So I'll just tough it out in a job I hate. To be fair I think I would hate being a lawyer because of the general incompetence of law enforcement and the judiciary.

Pffft... 28. I wasn’t even a developer until 28. By that point I was already 7 years into a 10 year cyber security career.

Thing I regret most: a career writing JavaScript. Don’t get me wrong in that I love writing JavaScript applications and building things, but that love is not reflected in employment without tremendous hand holding. Software employment is most directly tuned to the smartest people having no more than 3 years experience doing it.

It's not too late. I switched careers at 30. My mom went back to school for her masters in teaching at 36 and worked for the next twenty years as a teacher.

I was a late starter. Finished uni later than others and took my time, changing careers 2 times before settling into tech.

I've never been held back or had any roadblocks (other than the ones in my head). Its time that society gets rid of the myth that you have to do everything right now, have everything sorted out young. Its a journey and its great that you have found something that you are more passionate about.

> Am I too old?

No, just switch if you want.

This is a ridiculous question. Stop thinking like this -- it is self-defeating. It's your life, just do it.

Just do it.

There are so many jobs available in tech that if you put your mind into it, you will likely have more opportunities than in law or finance.

But I'd advise against doing a PhD. You've studied just for too long.

Do a bootcamp, study a lot by yourself and make a name for you... and get a job as a software engineer.

I have a terrible time understanding that one person could afford to study for that long.

You never start completely new, you always carry your previous experiences and knowledge you gained. This will be valuable to your progress even if it doesn't seem relevant right now. Speaking from experience, switching career at 28 was the best decision of my life.

I know someone who got a JD, saw he didn't want to live a life as a partner. He left the firm and learned to code. He works at a big tech company now. Do what makes you happy.