Anybody Started over in Coding/Data Science/Cyber Security/ UXUi Design?

Those are all different things you listed.

I rebooted my life from a sales career to an IT career with zero degree, zero structured programs. Less than a year really. Although it took about two years to get where I wanted to be.

You need to start out more general, but also figure out what you want to do.

Programming and IT are often lumped together and have SOME overlap but are different fields.


Cyber Security probably falls further on the IT side of things than any other career path you listed. Although there is a lot of overlap depending on if you go team red or blue.


My path personally was A+ Net+ Security+ and then CCNA.

I found an entry level help desk job that took me with no certs because I was a nerd who had built a PC. Then got my basic certs and cut my teeth for a year and some change on the help desk.


I eventually landed the gig I have now where I'm not exactly sure what I am but Sysadmin is probably the best description although that's not my title.


I've never been more happy professionally in my entire life.


However if you are doing a career reboot you need to make peace with one fact.

You are going to most likely take a paycut, and start at the bottom of the totem poll.

Everyone wants to skip entry level, help desk,etc. NO thats where you pay your dues, learn to think critically,etc

With that said the land of coding is a bit different. Before I jumped into IT. I banged my head on a few online coding platforms trying to learn Java. Realized it wasn't for me and moved on.I remember looking at all the things you listed and wondering how to get started in them.



I recommend taking Mike Meyers A+ course on Udemy for like $9 or whatever it, then also doing some kind of entry level Python course.


See what you like better and go from there. If you are more on the IT side of things and a bit raw. I would then work on those basic certs A+ Net+ etc while grinding some help desk life.

Then go get a cert with a bit more clout like the CCNA RHSCA, etc and progress the career.


Sorry I rambled a bit. Coffee is hitting me and I can relate deeply to where you are.

Just be prepared to start from the bottom no matter the path you took.

quote:

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they almost garantee you a job when finshed and they say the average starting salary is around 75k +/-.

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I would not really assume that without data. There are a lot of people now doing coding work and learning it.

I was able to successfully start over in Data Science using free resources online and doing self projects. It's a lot of work, but certainly doable and no real reason to spend any money in the process.

One word of advice, don't just be a Data Scientist, you will be competing directly with Masters and PhDs, no matter how good you are, you won't overcome that without real experience. Instead, become a "blank" with data science skills. Leverage any areas that you may have domain knowledge or access to unique datasets.

I don't think you can be too narrowly focused at first. Build real projects that solve real problems.

If anyone is seriously looking to go that route, I certainly wouldn't mind helping point someone in the right direction.