Dare to Retrain in Computing

Daring to change careers

How long have you been doing the same job ? 1 year ? 5 years ? 15 years ? For all these years, you have been getting up at the same time, and spending most of your day doing the same thing. If you are reading these lines, it must be that it has been too long for your taste, and that you want to change it ! Maybe you've already thought about changing your career path, and going into a completely different field.

But you were quickly discouraged… Your parents tell you that it's a shame to give up all those years of experience. Your friends argue that you're not going back to school at your age. And you finally forget about it, a little disappointed by their reactions…

But despite these remarks, you think about it often. And if you had done it the first time the idea crossed your mind, wouldn't you be happy now ? You often think about all the years that separate you from retirement, and you tell yourself that you will not last those 15, or 25 years doing this same hard job, 7 hours a day, 5 days a week.

However, contrary to what you may think, a career change is a real opportunity to reinvent your life. We'll talk about it later in this article, but you don't have to go back to school for several years, nor do you have to give up all your past experiences. Not to mention that if you start today, you'll have your life back within a few months and will be enjoying this new lease on life every day.

There are many other benefits to retraining. To me, the most important one is that you will be completely out of your comfort zone, and will no longer spend your days looking at your watch, waiting for your next coffee break. This can be a bit intimidating at first, I'll give you that. But once you take the plunge, (I'm here to help you) you'll be proud of what you've accomplished.

Choosing your profession

Now that you have understood the advantages of a professional reconversion, you have to ask yourself the important question : To reconvert, yes, but in what ?

It will depend on you. If you have been dreaming of doing a job since you were a child, this could be an ideal opportunity to learn more about it, and why not go into it full time !

However, I am well aware that some of you don't have any particular idea in mind, and simply want to bring a change to your monotonous daily life. There are some general fields for this, such as commerce, if you have demonstrated sales skills in the past. However, there is one particular field in which you could flourish, which is IT. I know that when I talk about IT people, many people imagine a man with 3 different screens on the same desk, each one filled with unreadable text that scrolls by all day long. And you wouldn't be entirely wrong…

But wait ! Let me convince you of the qualities of a reconversion in computer science in 3 arguments !

First of all, IT is the profession of the future that recruits the most. The reason is very simple : All companies want to have their own website, and today there are more places to promote than talents available.

In addition, IT is incredibly diverse. I mentioned website creation just now, but I've already trained people who wanted to learn computers to configure their home automation equipment. For those who don't know, home automation is a set of computer equipment that allows you to open your shutters, turn on your TV, or pre-heat your oven, all with a simple click on your smartphone. But that's just one example. With a basic understanding of computer science, you could work in data management, or learn to create your own video game. I like to tell my students that once you learn the basics, the only limit is your imagination.

Finally, computer science is now accessible to anyone. You don't have to go to school for 10 years to become an expert in a particular software. If you start now, you could have a permanent job within a few months !

So, convinced ?

Where to start ?

As you will have understood, computer science is a very varied field. Whether you want to start your own online store, or become an application developer, you will need to know some basics.

You will have to master some basics : What are they ?

You probably don't know it, but all software, websites, or services are based on computer languages. A language is a syntax to be learned, which allows to define precisely what a program must do : Display an image, react to a click, … There are several thousands of different languages, and many beginners are afraid of such a list, unable to make a choice…

But don't worry, I'll guide you !

In fact, few languages are really used nowadays, and they depend mainly on what you want to do. If you have never programmed in your life, there is one language in particular that I recommend : Python !

Why Python ? Because it is designed for beginners, and is therefore very easy to learn. It is taught in many universities, and offers a great diversity of features. With this language, you will be able to automate tasks on your computer, or create a video game without difficulty.

How to learn ?

Whatever language you choose, you will have to learn the basics. If you don't want to go back to school for years, you have two options.

The first is to hire a coach, who will provide you with a customized learning experience, adapted to your situation. Even if it requires a financial investment, this solution is the fastest.

You can also train yourself, for example on the Internet. Despite a longer learning curve, this is a great way to get started for free, and it is the solution chosen by many people in retraining. So, I've written an online course, completely free, to teach you the basics of Python programming. As a bonus, you can even create your first video game !

In any case, and no matter what path you choose, the most important thing is to get started ! If you put off your career change until later, you'll think about this article every time you get up and think about the hard day ahead. But if you take the plunge now, you'll take back control of your life, and make it better today !

[ This article was written by Anthony for Axelle, from the website Coach Evolution. Axelle is a career guidance and retraining coach. ]

Écrit par Pythony le 01/03/2021.