Confused About My IT Career Path: Which Way Forward?

[makerveli]

I've been navigating the IT industry for quite some time on and off. I started my journey in 2009 after Uni with web development, primarily working with basic HTML, CSS, and a bit of JavaScript.

Over the years, I transitioned into application support and various other IT roles but never really mastered anything to a very high technical level. However, after some time, I stepped away from the industry due to stages of unemployment and mental health. I explore other opportunities, including delivery driving and retraining as an electrician.

This break was accompanied by personal challenges, including a battle with depression and a period of extended sick leave. Eventually, I found my way back to IT, focusing on technical support roles. I've worked for different companies, always in the same field. While I appreciate the stability, I'm now eager to advance, earn more money, and explore career options beyond the help desk. I am at the age of 44.

Programming is appealing because of the high salaries and potential for remote work, which I value since my current IT support role is fully remote. However, I found learning programming difficult—it requires a lot of time and patience, which I’ve struggled with.

I’m looking for alternative IT career paths that are financially rewarding, offer remote opportunities, and don’t take years to break into. I thought about maybe staying in infrastructure working my way up as a sysadmin or cloud engineer. But then I hold back wondering whether the job will pay as well as a web developer etc. Any advice on how to align my goals with a practical, achievable direction would be greatly appreciated.

I should maybe mention that I could possibly have ADHD undiagnosed. I find it hard to make decisions as well as constantly changing things, sometimes I have difficulty with concentration. I sometimes think I am hopeless and not achieving anything with my life which makes me feel so much frustrated when I see my peers and other people getting on with their lives and succeeding

 

[Throrik]

Infrastructure and Cloud can pay very well, however I don't want to put you off - but a lot of it requires code nowadays - Infrastructure as Code, GitOps, DevOps, Automation whatever you want to call it.

 

[swillsy]

You're not giving off focused specialist type vibes I'll be honest. Any you've been in IT for 10+ years. I would probably advise seeing if you can get into project/product management or sales type roles - at least these are not IT specific as well so can move to other industries easily if required. If you want to be a programmer then you learn to program.

 

[throwaway4372]

No point being a programmer, there are no jobs.

 

[shifty_uk]

No point being a programmer, there are no jobs.

Unless it’s framework specific or you have a good track record of personal projects.

I don’t have any advice beyond please stop beating yourself up and comparing your career to others, you have no idea what goes on behind closed doors. We all have our struggles.

And stop looking for the most financially rewarding jobs, do something that will interest you. If it’s programming, choose a language, find the most widely used frameworks and build some stuff.

It’s never too late and that’s from my own personal experience.

 

[dowie]

Programming is appealing because of the high salaries and potential for remote work, which I value since my current IT support role is fully remote. However, I found learning programming difficult—it requires a lot of time and patience, which I’ve struggled with.

I’m looking for alternative IT career paths that are financially rewarding, offer remote opportunities, and don’t take years to break into. I thought about maybe staying in infrastructure working my way up as a sysadmin or cloud engineer.

Programming is way easier now with the help of LLMs, also useful for roles that aren't specifically programming but involve some programming (which is potentially many roles these days).

 

[HangTime]

and don’t take years to break into.

Most higher end IT roles do take years to break into unless you get in early on an industry trend / growth area meaning you can develop quickly as typically there won't be anyone with decades of experience in that space. So over the past decade this has happened in Cloud, InfoSec and now AI. Early adopters of that will have hit six figures in their 20s, which normally isn't THAT common in more mature disciplines outside of niche industries like investment banking etc.

Personally, at this stage of your career I wouldn't go down the route of learning a trade that's been around a long time, because you'll be playing catchup and will potentially be in your 50s before you secure a high end role. Obviously you could embellish your experience a bit where needed to give the impression you've spent less time on the helpdesk and more time doing XYZ, but growth will be quicker if you find a growing niche rather than a saturated sector, especially in the current job market where you will be competing against plenty of more experienced candidates.

 

[dlockers]

Most higher end IT roles do take years to break into unless you get in early on an industry trend / growth area meaning you can develop quickly as typically there won't be anyone with decades of experience in that space. So over the past decade this has happened in Cloud, InfoSec and now AI. Early adopters of that will have hit six figures in their 20s, which normally isn't THAT common in more mature disciplines outside of niche industries like investment banking etc.

Personally, at this stage of your career I wouldn't go down the route of learning a trade that's been around a long time, because you'll be playing catchup and will potentially be in your 50s before you secure a high end role. Obviously you could embellish your experience a bit where needed to give the impression you've spent less time on the helpdesk and more time doing XYZ, but growth will be quicker if you find a growing niche rather than a saturated sector, especially in the current job market where you will be competing against plenty of more experienced candidates.

Move to somewhere that requires DV and then quit and make up whatever you want for your CV