Anyone can become a web developer at 40

So, can you become a web developer if you are 40?

After receiving this question plenty of times, I decided to write an article about it.
I would like you to know that this is just my story and hopefully, you’ll find it of help, or at least you can grasp the good things out of it.

So, can you become a web developer at a late age?

So, can you become a web developer if you are 40?
So, can you become a web developer if you are 40?

Background

I was born in an ex-communist country, one of the poorest in Europe. Living in a communist country you’d imagine the mentality and lack of resources for outside pieces of information.

My parents couldn’t offer me a good education as they were just simple workers, so around 11 years when the communist party fell down, I saw an opportunity to make small winnings. I went to a Fruits Store so that I will offer my services and work for them, the packages were so big that I couldn’t even move them an inch. I was so skinny due to lack of food that I used to get a stone of around 5 kilos and place it in the elevator so that I would use it when I wanted to get inside my flat as I lived on the 8th floor. I was a shy guy and later became an introvert but like most boys, I didn’t want to show it, so I was faking brave. 
Nobody wanted to give me any job, as they were probably afraid that I wouldn’t die. All the jobs were heavy jobs, in construction or brewery where physical efforts were needed and I couldn’t do it.

From poverty to the robbery is just one step!

As matter of fact, I never dreamt i will become a web developer.

Close to 14’s I met a bigger guy, he was around 17 and he proposed I “work” with him. He was a pickpocket. I started to “work” with him and we eventually became friends. I barely used to go home as my parents draw an addiction to alcohol. I was living on the streets with this fella and used to go to his house from time to time. Starting with this episode, my life had a bad turn until it reached its peak when I was 19. In Romania at the beginning of 19, they used to incorporate young men into the military, which was required by the Law. It used to be for 12 months. So the year I was doing military clerks, my mind was clear and I started to ask myself where I wanted to go. I had no education, no basics into any profession whatsoever, so I didn’t know where to start. 

Hope arises!

After finishing the military I saw an opportunity in my cousin’s furniture company. I started to work with him but after a year he went back to the US as he wasn’t able to be in two places at once, so the furniture company was closed. By the end of 2000, I started a military career and continued my education. It ended at the end of 2005 when I met my wife in Spain. 

My life begins in Spain

Since then I worked for a year in construction, and then I took an opportunity on olive oil manufacture, packaging, and bottling. I also went to study for three months a milling course of olives… Being a small factory I used to be the “guy that is good at all things” and I was also repairing the machines and doing the logistics when needed. Between 2007 and 2019 I worked for this company and was able to provide for my four kids and my wife.

Beginning To Shape the dream

In 2019 I decided to start working on my dream. 
I still live the feeling when I touched for the first time a PC keyboard. It was in 1999 when I went to a one-month introductory MS-DOS course. That feeling and memory had never left me. So, I decided to go into the tech industry and become a web developer.
As I am writing this article I am filled with emotions. There is a mixture of emotions, I can see fear, excitement, and so many of them, positive and negative. But I know something for sure, I will never quit accomplishing my dream, which is to become a software engineer

The Sky is not the limit!

It has been a long journey, with ups and downs. I faced my worst enemy: fear! 
I learned to not listen to the voices that come against what I’ve built in my life. I value people, and I celebrate life, but I don’t drink my coffee with toxic people as I have a dream to pursue and I need to focus on, which is to become a web developer.
I choose to listen to The Voice which encourages me!
I aim high for a guy that used to be insecure, self doubted, and introverted.
But one thing I know: if I shoot at nothing I will hit every time, but if I shoot at the Moon it’s impossible not to hit at least one star!

This is part of my story!
Be encouraged and be brave!
Pursue your dream to become a web developer as well.

you can find me on Twitter here

Check this article as well about the path I took into web development which might get you a job.