Let's talk about non-age discrimiated home techy jobs

[ItsFlybye]

For a middle aged male with only an associates degree (but did make it to Calc3 at some point) and no formal tech schooling but has loads of lvl1/2 remote tech support experience and is a bonafide geek. What would you say is a good remote techy at home career change that would not be age limited?

I will separate a bunch of choices by a few areas:

Coding
This can range anywhere from simple web site making with a gui interface that makes people think you are a coder to hardcore programming of anything. I keep reading the mobile app market is very saturated and difficult for the smaller guys to make any money. What type of coding could you actually get into (websites, gaming, mobile and pc apps, general use languages, etc) that can be easy to learn in a few years and be able to find decent at home opportunities?

Graphics
Yeah another huge range going from making simple images like icons to full out 3d realistic architectural can take a full day to render images to commercial graphics for commercials/tv to even video game 3d modeling. Which areas are best tapped into?

Real remote IT Support
I'm not referring to simple things like being an Apple tech support person or a Comcast let me teach you how to turn off your cable box type of support. I am talking about the hardcore stuff out there like the Citrix IT remote technologies support stuff, API support, server management, MySQL support, etc. IT support positions I have noticed typically requires experience which can, obviously, take time to acquire. Things like graphics or coding, though, I have noticed it's more of a show us what you got and we will consider you type of thing.

Or anything geeky anyone here can comment on. I once came across a guy using a custom plate engraving machine in his basement using a 3D program for it that he loved playing around with. I wonder about a prototype printing business with a 3D printer, but is that mareket saturated? Heck even reprogramming car airbag ECUs is a thing greatly needed that I have noticed.

So any thoughts, comments, suggestions, please chime in! I am curious to see what people have in their minds on any of these things.

 

[shortylickens]

I have not experienced it myself but have been told that age discrimination occurs as low as 40, which shocked me.
Even worse, I heard that when I was 30 and am now 40 so its a little frightening.

 

[purbeast0]

Your first 2 options aren't really an area. I mean "coding" is part of development but again, it's only one part of it. You have to know how to architect software before you can even code it up. You have to understand from a conceptual level what needs to be done before you even write a line of code. Then you have the whole software development life cycle process and there are just a whole bunch of things other than coding when it comes to putting out software.

"Graphics" isn't a thing either. I mean that could entail modeling, animation, making logos, design, etc. You first need to figure out what your focus is.

Making a website is a completely different skillset than making a game. Sure they both involve coding, but the type of coding will be completely different. And as a complete noob, it will not be something you pick up on easily. So again, you need to figure out what you want to do.

And you talk about "make any money" which is too variable. I was making like $3-$4k a year with apps I had on the app store in my spare time which was "making money" but it's not something I could sustain a living off of. Then at the same time when I started my career in software development I was making around $50k/yr. But now a days I am making way way way more than that and making anywhere near $50k or even $100k is something to me personally, that I would not consider "making any money" because it's too little for me.

It sounds like you need to just pick a more focus area you have interest in and then ask some more specific questions, also talking about what kind of money you are looking to make.

I would also say that in software development there are fully remote gigs, but I searched and searched for one a few years ago and the pay for them simply doesn't compare to being on site. I found very few that were paying at the level I was making when searching, but they were very few and far between. And they can be SUPER picky about who they hire because they have such a large pool of people to pick from. They can be even more picky at the lower salary levels. But now I make significantly more than any remote job I ever saw before, so I have accepted that I probably will never get a fully remote gig which is fine with me since my salary and work/life balance is fantastic.

 

[ItsFlybye]

I have not experienced it myself but have been told that age discrimination occurs as low as 40, which shocked me.
Even worse, I heard that when I was 30 and am now 40 so its a little frightening.

Exactly why I am trying to do some future-proofing.

 

[ItsFlybye]

Your first 2 options aren't really an area. I mean "coding" is part of development but again, it's only one part of it. You have to know how to architect software before you can even code it up. You have to understand from a conceptual level what needs to be done before you even write a line of code. Then you have the whole software development life cycle process and there are just a whole bunch of things other than coding when it comes to putting out software.

Exactly why I wanted to get input from people. There is just so much more to coding that I am not familiar with just as you had mentioned. I took a few engineering C++ classes decades ago, but I never put any of it to a practical use. I mentioned coding because I know it is something I can enjoy.

"Graphics" isn't a thing either. I mean that could entail modeling, animation, making logos, design, etc. You first need to figure out what your focus is.

Yep and that is something I am trying to find out if anything that falls under graphics can be age discriminated. I have done simple modeling with Solidworks when I was studying to be a mechanical engineer. I have done simple animations with things like Unity. I have made different logos with Illustrator but not on a commercial scale. I have tried a decent number of things, but never put any of them to commercial use.

This is why I'd like to find out from the people that have been in the field on what can be age discriminated and what doesn't. I am fully open to going forward with what I have done in the past to put into a career. Finding out from people like yourself how it works out there will help me decide what direction to take just as you mentioned to help me decide what to finally focus on.

Making a website is a completely different skillset than making a game. Sure they both involve coding, but the type of coding will be completely different. And as a complete noob, it will not be something you pick up on easily. So again, you need to figure out what you want to do.

Yep! That is exactly what I am trying to do - figure out what I want to do. There are many things I have dabbled with in the past, but I would like to try to find one or 2 things to concentrate on which I can still have some type of career with and little chance of age discrimination. I have done simple websites with Adobe Muse but never something commercial worthy and certainly not something that needed me to get deep into the html coding of it.

And you talk about "make any money" which is too variable. I was making like $3-$4k a year with apps I had on the app store in my spare time which was "making money" but it's not something I could sustain a living off of. Then at the same time when I started my career in software development I was making around $50k/yr. But now a days I am making way way way more than that and making anywhere near $50k or even $100k is something to me personally, that I would not consider "making any money" because it's too little for me.

I wanted to keep a value range out of it. I figured once I have compiled a list of things people have suggested I would simply search for their salary ranges and future projections on the use of that craft.

Comfortable to me would be $50k-$100k and more a year. House will be paid off in about 10 years, and the wifey and I have a comfortable total income. Heck with the house paid off, $50k a year would be perfectly acceptable for me. And I live in an area perfect for growing old in.

It sounds like you need to just pick a more focus area you have interest in and then ask some more specific questions, also talking about what kind of money you are looking to make.

I am trying. I am trying! But because I have dabbled on so many different things, I am very open to many things which is why my primary goal is finding out what exactly has the least amount of age discrimination and can be done from home, and then I will choose from that list to do more research on.

I would also say that in software development there are fully remote gigs, but I searched and searched for one a few years ago and the pay for them simply doesn't compare to being on site. I found very few that were paying at the level I was making when searching, but they were very few and far between. And they can be SUPER picky about who they hire because they have such a large pool of people to pick from. They can be even more picky at the lower salary levels.....

That is very good to know. TY.

 

[Exterous]

I have not experienced it myself but have been told that age discrimination occurs as low as 40, which shocked me.
Even worse, I heard that when I was 30 and am now 40 so its a little frightening.

I've heard this is a big issue in IT but I wonder if IT is just more prone to exposing the pitfalls of not investing in your own skills. I've probably interviewed 100 people in person or virtually and older people in IT were much more likely to have compleley out of date skills. 2 years ago one wanted to be a System Administrator Lead making 94,000 but had never done anything but image a system by physical disk and said he "saw no reason to learn powershell." I've had people at Universities complain to me age discrimination is a thing and that they can't get a job because of it. But I have to work with them and I would never hired them because their skills are crap. It requires a lot of effort to keep your skills up to date. I hired a 60 year old last year and he kicks ass - he's one of my best employees. But he kept his skills up to date and keeps learning

 

[ultimatebob]

I think that learning "cloud" skills is still a big deal. People want to see skills like AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes on your resume nowadays if you're working in IT.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I have not experienced it myself but have been told that age discrimination occurs as low as 40, which shocked me.
Even worse, I heard that when I was 30 and am now 40 so its a little frightening.

It happens with my employer. They have said they want to renew the company by replacing the entire workforce (minus the uber high elitists) with those in their early twenties because they obviously know how to relate to today's customers better than anyone else.

Today's customers are all living at home with yesterday's bill-payers!

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Biggest help in my career from a tech-perspective was learning the skills of being able to talk/present in front of people.

Jumped into the consulting world ~7 years ago, and while we start off doing the "technical" side of just the work - eventually if you work your way up you have to learn to present in front of clients (status meetings, training meetings, etc...).

I then dived into sales... where my goal is simply to sell technical software to prospective clients. I don't even do the sales speal - we have someone else for that... They just turn to me during it for me to present how things work from a technical perspective. Thats it. And if it gets too technical, we can call upon a geeky moron that sucks at client presentation skills to talk for a few minutes and answer questions if needed.

Best thing I've ever done for my career path.

 

[ItsFlybye]

Biggest help in my career from a tech-perspective was learning the skills of being able to talk/present in front of people.

Jumped into the consulting world ~7 years ago, and while we start off doing the "technical" side of just the work - eventually if you work your way up you have to learn to present in front of clients (status meetings, training meetings, etc...).

I then dived into sales... where my goal is simply to sell technical software to prospective clients. I don't even do the sales speal - we have someone else for that... They just turn to me during it for me to present how things work from a technical perspective. Thats it. And if it gets too technical, we can call upon a geeky moron that sucks at client presentation skills to talk for a few minutes and answer questions if needed.

Best thing I've ever done for my career path.

That sounds like how my previous employer used to do it. The sales guy would get the spiel out. If techy things came about, one of the tech support guys would get pulled aside to do the rest. If specific tech things we asked like API stuff, then a lvl2 would take over.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Your OP is all over the place so I’m not really sure what you’re looking for at this point. Just a technical position of some sort working from home?

I seriously doubt there are many WFH ”high end” tech support positions available out there, obviously excluding the present circumstances. I think Apple and others hire support workers to work from home, but those are typically the tier 1 jobs. And if you want a higher-end job, you have to possess higher-end skills - “I can learn it” won’t likely get you one of those positions. What skills do you have currently?

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

Oh also - as far as age discrimination, I've seen and met tons of old people in my line of work over the years.

The only place I've worked that definitely age discriminated was with accounting firms, consulting practices, etc... They won't let old guys present in front of billion dollar clients, etc... Even if you make partner there is a certain point where they will start to kick you out the door.

But that said - in general... in the business world I see tons of old folks, mostly because they are some of the only ones that can remember old (yet still important) stuff.


You can say the same thing for old tech-workers that can still do COBOL and the like.

 

[ItsFlybye]

Your OP is all over the place so I’m not really sure what you’re looking for at this point. ...

I was worried providing too much detail would be problematic.

I should have kept it simple with just:
What non-age discriminated techy jobs making $50k+ a year from home exist?

And then from that list I’d check what requirements each one needs. I have a bad habit of trying to be too detailed lol.

I seriously doubt there are many WFH ”high end” tech support positions available out there, obviously excluding the present circumstances. I think Apple and others hire support workers to work from home, but those are typically the tier 1 jobs. And if you want a higher-end job, you have to possess higher-end skills - “I can learn it” won’t likely get you one of those positions. What skills do you have currently?

There are plenty or companies that hire tier1s like you mentioned. But some of those same companies also hire the tier2 and tier3s from home and also the managers and supervisors WFM as well which I’ve seen salaries range between $50k-$60k.

Skills are basic. Just power user Windows and Mac OS knowledge. But that is irrelvant as anything suggested I will look into seeing about what I would need to learn for it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I was worried providing too much detail would be problematic.

I should have kept it simple with just:
What non-age discriminated techy jobs making $50k+ a year from home exist?

And then from that list I’d check what requirements each one needs. I have a bad habit of trying to be too detailed lol.


There are plenty or companies that hire tier1s like you mentioned. But some of those same companies also hire the tier2 and tier3s from home and also the managers and supervisors WFM as well which I’ve seen salaries range between $50k-$60k.

Skills are basic. Just power user Windows and Mac OS knowledge. But that is irrelvant as anything suggested I will look into seeing about what I would need to learn for it.

In IT, experience is king. Even if you learn the skills, you won't have experience, so you'd probably need to take one of the entry level support jobs to get a foot in the door. So maybe start there first if you can afford it? I am not sure how much those jobs make.

I work from home and have done so most of the last 7 years. I hope I never have to go back into an office again and if anything good comes out of this pandemic, I hope some of these companies with stone age management realize that requiring people to work full-time in an office is just dumb. And I hope the idiots who jumped on the "open/shared office" concepts finally realize how stupid they were since several studies show those office models result in lower productivity.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm in telecom, there's quite a large range of ages and the company is fairly diverse as far as gender and race etc so they don't discriminate on anyone including age. I think it really depends more on the company than the type of job. In the case of my industry the older folk tend to be the ones with the most knowledge.

Though generally speaking in IT they often want someone with experience (sometimes even ridiculous requirements like more years than a certain tech has even been around) so if they are picky on age too then they are really narrowing their choices. You're probably not going to find someone in their 20's with 10 years of experience with Windows 2019 server.

 

[ItsFlybye]

In IT, experience is king. Even if you learn the skills, you won't have experience, so you'd probably need to take one of the entry level support jobs to get a foot in the door....

Oh the entry level supports jobs Ive done several already. The higher tier stuff is what I am most curious about. Things like virtualization, MS server support, active directory, etc. These are things I see in the higher end windows support positions. It it those jobs I am curious about with regards to age discrimination.

I work from home and have done so most of the last 7 years..

I’ve worked from home since the late 90s in some type of capacity ranging from call center management to technical support.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Oh the entry level supports jobs Ive done several already. The higher tier stuff is what I am most curious about. Things like virtualization, MS server support, active directory, etc. These are things I see in the higher end windows support positions. It it those jobs I am curious about with regards to age discrimination.


I’ve worked from home since the late 90s in some type of capacity ranging from call center management to technical support.

It seems you're really asking for an administrator position. My comment about the entry-level position was meant to get your foot in the door somewhere, let them pay for training, and work your way up because if your plan is to obtain a few certifications and then apply to a company hoping to score an administrator position without demonstrable experience performing that role, your resume will get ignored. I've been in IT 26 years in various roles (administrator, engineer, developer, architect, consultant, and management) and have hired lots of people and the folks with certifications and no experience always go to the bottom.

The age discrimination piece is harder to quantify and no one can give you a definitive answer because, after all, age discrimination is illegal and no company will admit to it. However, age discrimination definitely does exists but it seems to vary from company to company. I'm almost 50 and am worried about it myself, but I've been in higher-level positions for close to 20 years now and once you get into the upper-level positions, it becomes less of a concern. The last company I worked at, however, didn't hide the fact that their goal was to hire millenials and they went to ridiculous lengths to recruit them. Earlier in this thread, someone mentioned that he thought older folks may not keep their skills as updated as younger folks and that might be why they have trouble finding new jobs; I definitely think there is merit in that argument. The fact is, it is HARD and time consuming to keep your skills relevant. I'm no longer 25 and it definitely takes me longer to learn something now than it did all those years ago, but I have to force myself to do it or else, I could be in trouble.

 

[ItsFlybye]

It seems you're really asking for an administrator position.

Naa not at all. Really I was looking for any "techy", as in a tech related type job, position. Any type of position that uses a PC in a capacity far beyond the standard user. It most certainly does not have to be technical support related in any fashion hence why I mentioned things like graphics production and 3d art.

Take architectural renderer salaries for example. I see they range between $60k-$80k+. I have come across some extremely detailed renderers that even makes me question if the pic was a real photo or not. I've skimmed through a few architect render forums, and some of the work these guys produce is just jaw dropping. And the software they use is as equally impressive. Autodesk Revit and Cinema 4D are just to name a few. To me this is a techy/geeky type of position which is why I also mentioned it. But I don't know enough of the field to know how it does with the older crowd. Yeah I would LOVE to dive into software like that and make amazing renders. I am more than willing to take courses on the software either online or locally. I included graphic types of positions to see if anyone here knew about how such positions do with the older crowd. Can those salaries be had at home? Is there a point in such a field that if your work looks amazing your age becomes 100% irrelevant? I have no clue which is why I opened this thread. I expected not to get full answers to everything here. But as a PC community, I figured I would ask here first to see if anyone knows about any of the topics I mentioned. I will eventually branch out to different forums like the architectural rendering forums to ask those guys.

My comment about the entry-level position was meant to get your foot in the door somewhere, let them pay for training, and work your way up because if your plan is to obtain a few certifications and then apply to a company hoping to score an administrator position without demonstrable experience performing that role, your resume will get ignored. I've been in IT 26 years in various roles (administrator, engineer, developer, architect, consultant, and management) and have hired lots of people and the folks with certifications and no experience always go to the bottom.

Makes perfect sense. And it is that no experience part that worries me. But I can always grow within a company when starting as a tier1. And to add about the graphics portion I mentioned above, I wonder exactly how important is the "experience" considering the quality of your work pretty much speaks about your experience.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I wonder if there are jobs out there doing data entry. Like they send you a bunch of printed or weirdly formatted data that needs to go into a database in a set format. You could spend your off time trying to develop an algorithm to try to automate it, then on the job you run it, then just verify it, and basically submit it at a pace that would be consistent with doing it manually. Or if you get paid per amount of data you could rack in lot of money doing it faster.

Then again those jobs are probably taken by people in India or China who are way ahead of me on the idea of automating that.

 

[ItsFlybye]

Red, a while back I came across "going paperless" remote positions. Company sends you a scanner and possibly a pc, and all they do is send you a continuous feed of documents to scan. Still technically data entry I would think. Expected input was a box of documents per x days. It is such a silly and time consuming position that makes total sense lol.

 

[snoopy7548]

What you'll need to do, and this is a very large hurdle, is be able to convince an employer that although you don't have the experience, you can learn it, and why you are the person they should spend all this time and money on for training over someone who already has the experience and can hit the ground running... at the same salary. This is especially more difficult if you're talking about a remote-work position, probably impossible.

You might be better off finding something within the experience you've already accumulated, and then branching out from there within the same company to a different position once you're picked up the necessary skills.