4 ms·

The older I get the more I recognize that most of the people I've encountered, in one way or another, have a great lack of confidence and courage.

pbhjpbhj 4y ago
Meh. You can be as confident as you like, if people won't take on staff as "juniors" who are older, then the whole process of retraining - wrt career change - has been a waste of time. I've never been involved in corporate HR, I'd want advice. Similarly, if I was doing a bungee jump for the first time I'd ask someone to check my harness ... (to spell it out, you seem to be berating someone for doing a reality check, as if reality [of the jobs market] were open to someone to define individually; ignorance and confidence can be easily confused)
- ghost-towels 4y ago
  This is pretty much where I’m at. I’m mid 40s and been working in the marine industry for almost 30 years (yes I started that young). I’m going for a career change but I have zero experience in a corporate/modern office setting. I am also self taught. It will be a huge change, and I’m concerned that I may not be hireable. All that being said I’m still going for it as I’d like the rest of my working days actually helping society instead of old white dudes and their boats haha. I’m looking into security/osint.
  - happyopossum 4y ago
    > I’m looking into security/osint. If you can breathe, spell cybersecurity, and have decent grooming standards, you can get hired in security. The 3rd is technically optional... Get training, then take a crappy SOC level 1 analyst job to get exposure and experience - the hiring standards aren't a lot higher than your average call center at a lot of them, as we have a ~1.5M headcount gap in the industry. You will burn out or move up in 9-12 months just like all the other L1s, but you will either figure out it's not for you or you'll be able to get a foot on the next rung of the ladder.
  - influx 4y ago
    Security/osint is very laid back. Folks coming from a different career usually have some interesting perspectives on problem solving that can be really useful. Just wanted to say, keep going, if I was a hiring manager and you showed technical chops, and a willingness to learn, be wrong, and correct yourself, I would completely hire you.
  - andrew_ 4y ago
    my advice: look for work with startups that have under 20 on staff. you'll avoid corporate nonsense (more often than not with startups of that size), and it's likely they'll be remote so the only "modern office setting" things you'll have to pick up and master are: not being a jerk, communicating effectively asynchronously, and video call etiquette. With companies that size, and there are many out there, they'll likely be more than happy to help you figure out the remote lifestyle. Be bold
  - Temporarily21 4y ago
    In a similar boat, only I am 31. So it's been 10 years at sea.
dinaufilter 4y ago
Agreed. Without courage there's not much you can do. Who's going to practice something for 10,000 hours? One who is strongly motivated to do so. Who's going to do well in school exams? One who is strongly motivated to do so (e.g. to please his parents) Being strongly motivated is about following your own bent. Which takes courage. If you lack courage you won't even be able to perceive what that bent is. But if you have courage then you'll make your mind up and get stuck in.

pbhjpbhj 4y ago

Meh. You can be as confident as you like, if people won't take on staff as "juniors" who are older, then the whole process of retraining - wrt career change - has been a waste of time. I've never been involved in corporate HR, I'd want advice. Similarly, if I was doing a bungee jump for the first time I'd ask someone to check my harness ... (to spell it out, you seem to be berating someone for doing a reality check, as if reality [of the jobs market] were open to someone to define individually; ignorance and confidence can be easily confused)

ghost-towels 4y ago
This is pretty much where I’m at. I’m mid 40s and been working in the marine industry for almost 30 years (yes I started that young). I’m going for a career change but I have zero experience in a corporate/modern office setting. I am also self taught. It will be a huge change, and I’m concerned that I may not be hireable. All that being said I’m still going for it as I’d like the rest of my working days actually helping society instead of old white dudes and their boats haha. I’m looking into security/osint.
- happyopossum 4y ago
  > I’m looking into security/osint. If you can breathe, spell cybersecurity, and have decent grooming standards, you can get hired in security. The 3rd is technically optional... Get training, then take a crappy SOC level 1 analyst job to get exposure and experience - the hiring standards aren't a lot higher than your average call center at a lot of them, as we have a ~1.5M headcount gap in the industry. You will burn out or move up in 9-12 months just like all the other L1s, but you will either figure out it's not for you or you'll be able to get a foot on the next rung of the ladder.
- influx 4y ago
  Security/osint is very laid back. Folks coming from a different career usually have some interesting perspectives on problem solving that can be really useful. Just wanted to say, keep going, if I was a hiring manager and you showed technical chops, and a willingness to learn, be wrong, and correct yourself, I would completely hire you.
- andrew_ 4y ago
  my advice: look for work with startups that have under 20 on staff. you'll avoid corporate nonsense (more often than not with startups of that size), and it's likely they'll be remote so the only "modern office setting" things you'll have to pick up and master are: not being a jerk, communicating effectively asynchronously, and video call etiquette. With companies that size, and there are many out there, they'll likely be more than happy to help you figure out the remote lifestyle. Be bold
- Temporarily21 4y ago
  In a similar boat, only I am 31. So it's been 10 years at sea.

dinaufilter 4y ago

Agreed. Without courage there's not much you can do. Who's going to practice something for 10,000 hours? One who is strongly motivated to do so. Who's going to do well in school exams? One who is strongly motivated to do so (e.g. to please his parents) Being strongly motivated is about following your own bent. Which takes courage. If you lack courage you won't even be able to perceive what that bent is. But if you have courage then you'll make your mind up and get stuck in.