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Making a career change with kids

AshMan

AshMan

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So long story short, it's time for me to get out of the car biz. It's a dead end for me and not making enough income to support the family.

My wife and I decided it's time for me to move on

I've decided to work part time and go back to school. I figure I can drive uber and lyft, and do in home computer service. I'll post ads on Craigslist and various bulletin boards found at markets etc for the computer service.

Plan is to get a degree in software engineering. Seems like a good choice as that's the hot ticket right now.

It's going to be tough, but I know we can do it.

I can always fall back on the car biz in a worst case scenario, but I need a change in a big way.

We have enough saved to survive for around 6 months but I'll have to get health insurance at the least for the kids too.

I'm open to any and all advice anyone has to offer. This is a life changing situation, and I can use all the advice I can get to help me in this transition. It's going to be a long road, but I know I can do it.

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Good luck ashman.
 
You have done the hardest part already in making the decision. Go for it and stay focused like a laser on your goal. Make it happen for all the reasons you want it to happen. You can do it!
 
Ash - do you have a degree already? We've hired a number of people who haven't done a degree in CS or engineering but did a boot camp program. They've all been very good, and they came from a number of different backgrounds. That would shorten the amount of time you've got to spend learning.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you've got any questions.
 
mpeterson said:
Ash - do you have a degree already? We've hired a number of people who haven't done a degree in CS or engineering but did a boot camp program. They've all been very good, and they came from a number of different backgrounds. That would shorten the amount of time you've got to spend learning.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you've got any questions.
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No. I left college early to start a business years and years ago, but I was well young and stupid at that time. I've heard about a boot camp so Def going to check it out. Someone else mentioned one to me.

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I made that decision just about 10 years ago. I opted to stay working and get my MBA part time and it took almost 5 years. Once I had it I waited another year or so to finally make the move.

My advice is to take time once you're close to finishing and make sure whatever job you take is one you'll be happy with. You'll have worked hard for it. Good luck!!


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Best of luck AshMan! I am rooting for you!
 
I know some folks will hire and its a pseudo try before you buy situation where you will become a FTE once degree is reached.

I had something similiar, albeit smaller scale, where i had to get my CPIM from APICs before becoming full time manager.

Did two years of courses and tests in 6 months.

Good luck man. Rooting for ya
 
Change is scary but it's worth it, this luck ash
 
Absolute best place to be in right now is Certified Scrum master with a handful of technical certifications. They can't hire enough of these people, and it eases you into the tech world while reaping the tech world salary benefits.

Source, me. Software engineer who just had his wife do the above.
 
God bless you.
 
Best of luck.
 
Good luck with the change! I made a career change seven years ago and couldn't be happier.
 
AshMan said:
No. I left college early to start a business years and years ago, but I was well young and stupid at that time. I've heard about a boot camp so Def going to check it out. Someone else mentioned one to me.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
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That's also extremely valuable experience. The only reason I was asking was because HR departments can be overly aggressive in terms of screening people. The boot camps are good - especially if you know what kind of work you want to do, you can tailor something to what you want to do and save a couple years.

The PM/Scrum Master side of the house, as was mentioned earlier, is a not a bad idea to look into as well.

Good luck!
 
khaos288 said:
Absolute best place to be in right now is Certified Scrum master with a handful of technical certifications. They can't hire enough of these people, and it eases you into the tech world while reaping the tech world salary benefits.

Source, me. Software engineer who just had his wife do the above.
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Ah, Agile. the current flavor of the month on project management in the corporate world. At least for my company. Perhaps this is something I should look into.
 
My advice would be to create a very strict written budget and stick to it. Trim things that are unnecessary while you're in this transition phase. Account your budget to the last penny and be prepared to actually follow it. Plan your work and work your plan as they say.

Good luck to you.
 
gmiller598 said:
Ah, Agile. the current flavor of the month on project management in the corporate world. At least for my company. Perhaps this is something I should look into.
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Yep. There will always be project managers of some sort. This one you can get certified in pretty easily and just attach a few technical skills. Then you're hired.


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khaos288 said:
Yep. There will always be project managers of some sort. This one you can get certified in pretty easily and just attach a few technical skills. Then you're hired.


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Yeah, I've been working for my current company in the financial industry for 17 years and have supported many projects through my time there. I've lived through the Six Sigma phase and everything. I see the benefits to Agile in certain circumstances but I have also primarily dealt with vendor supported apps that don't function in that method. Not to sidetrack the original post but with the right skills and situation it would be a good career change for someone with good organizational skills. I may want to look into internal opportunities for this for myself since I know much of my current building is trying to function in this methodology.
 
Agile...yeah, we could get sidetracked.

To the OP, my advice is to move to IT only if it really is a passion. If not the education and subsequent job are going to be unfulfilling.


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Most people never leave their zone of familiarity voluntarily, no matter how uncomfortable, so congratulations on doing that. Your wife's support will be invaluable. Should things go south, review your plan and keep your eyes on the prize - both of you. You might need to tweak your plan, but knowing it's a fundamentally sound approach can be a real morale booster at times. Usually you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find that princess.

Good that you have reached out to fellow THPers, many of whom know you personally. Networks are invaluable, for all of the reasons demonstrated in this thread and then some. I'm not in that industry, but I've helped quite a few with job searches, as others have helped me. Should you get to the point when you'd like a critique of your resume/cover letter, I've seen a few thousand and would be happy to give you feedback from that experience.

I know you're a regular on here, but please update us on this thread at the end of every month. We're interested, and the accountability is good for you, too.
 
good luck.

Just curious, why are you set on software engineering?
 
tequila4kapp said:
Agile...yeah, we could get sidetracked.

To the OP, my advice is to move to IT only if it really is a passion. If not the education and subsequent job are going to be unfulfilling.


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I'm a techie, and have worked in IT for years.... I' a very hands on person. I had a computer service business for several years, before getting out due to issues with my business partner.

Ive still got a couple of computer clients whom I have been fixing their computers for 20 years... not many only a couple, but they won't call on anyone else. so I definitely know I can do the tech stuff. its fun and a challenge to figure out the problem and fix it. I am definitely passionate about technology and computers.
 
Barberakb said:
good luck.

Just curious, why are you set on software engineering?
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Well Ive seen there is a high demand on various random job searches, and based on salary figures, seems like they do pretty well overall.

I'm thinking more on terms of something Ive always been interested in, but never really spent the time to look into it. its something I have considered in the past and after some more research I am definitely leaning towards it. Ive always been pretty good with math and computers, and Well seems to me like learning to program and code software would be a good starting place for me. often times I find myself using a program or application and wondering why something was done a certain way because it makes no sense. A software engineer while they should know how to program, I think are integral to a final product, be it implementing a corporate network and setting up the whole shebang, to integration of technologies working through departments.

I feel that something along those lines would be right up my alley.
 
Reframmellator said:
Most people never leave their zone of familiarity voluntarily, no matter how uncomfortable, so congratulations on doing that. Your wife's support will be invaluable. Should things go south, review your plan and keep your eyes on the prize - both of you. You might need to tweak your plan, but knowing it's a fundamentally sound approach can be a real morale booster at times. Usually you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find that princess.

Good that you have reached out to fellow THPers, many of whom know you personally. Networks are invaluable, for all of the reasons demonstrated in this thread and then some. I'm not in that industry, but I've helped quite a few with job searches, as others have helped me. Should you get to the point when you'd like a critique of your resume/cover letter, I've seen a few thousand and would be happy to give you feedback from that experience.

I know you're a regular on here, but please update us on this thread at the end of every month. We're interested, and the accountability is good for you, too.
Click to expand...

Great advice and definitely will need to keep this updated. I haven't left my job yet, but My wife and I are currently working out the plan. We will definitely be putting things down on paper and creating a plan, budget and all.

I know I can always fall back on the car biz, but I really want to get away. the hours are long, the pay is ok, but its just draining me. there are many aspects to worry about besides just doing the job. there are things you have to put up with on both sides that just kills you. I need to get away from it, and my wife and I have decided that I need to. for not only myself, but I need to do something better for the kids.

Initial plan is to clep some or many college courses that I can just to get some extra credits out of the way. Ive done one clep so far and will take 3 more before the end of July... after that, get enrolled in school and work as much as I can on the side to get income to survive.... we will be on a beans and rice budget most likely but I'm good with that. if I have to drink water and eat beans and tortillas every day I will. Cut back is definitely not hard, we don't spend crazy on stuff, well I have in the past but it all stops now... I need to do this for my family and I will do it.
 
Good luck and kudos for being brave enough to change your path!
 
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