So after 20 years at my old job I'm retiring. Yes, I'm an old fart. And yes...

So after 20 years at my old job I'm retiring. Yes, I'm an old fart. And yes, it was a government job where they let you retire after 20 years.

So now I want to reinvent myself and go into a different sector of employment - IT. I have no certificates, so I want to start out at the bottom with the fundmentals with things like A+, Net+, Sec+, and CCNA.

I looked around for how much it would cost to attend a class that teaches these things, and said FUCK NO. So how realistic would it be for me to self-teach myself the necessary stuff it takes to earn the certs I mentioned? I will happily purchase and read a textbook cover-to-cover, watch videos online teaching these things, and utilize web sites that help me practice for the tests. Also, I'm not starting from scratch - I've fucked around with tech all my life though mostly as a hobby (building desktops from parts to satisfy my gayming needs, fucking around with wifi routers for my house, smartphones, etc).

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>I want to start out at the bottom
No you don't. Get moving quick though. This is how alcoholism sets in. Not even joking...I have a Fundamentalist brood of retired uncles.

Think laterally; you could fuck around with SEO, travel sites and then set up a consulting company to maximize revenue for resorts in a sleepier beach area.

>Yes, I'm an old fart
>So now I want to reinvent myself and go into a different sector of employment - IT

Fuck off

Were full, get out.

start doing granny trans porn

>I will happily purchase and read a textbook cover-to-cover

What a horrible thought.

nice blogpost gramps

What MOS/Rate?

I've got nothing but time on my hands - wife is now an Ex and kids are moved out of the house.

And I'm the kind of boring old fart that wears a bath robe and slippers around the house, and looks forward to some quiet time with a book - I wish I had a fireplace to complete the picture. It's been mostly fiction, but I'll give this a shot because I basically did the same thing WAYYYYYY back in college.

25B/E6

Mate what are you doing on Sup Forums shitposting with high schoolers?

you're headed towards depression op. seek help

Government lackey.
Certs are shit, you'll be doing tech support for an isp for minimum wage.

I've been fucking around Sup Forums since around 2005 or so. I come and I go.

Also I won't discount that I might have the mentality of an autistic 17 year old. Hence why my wife left me and my kids don't talk to me. :D

>Government lackey.
Former government lackey. There's a reason I retired.

>Certs are shit, you'll be doing tech support for an isp for minimum wage.
That'd be fine with me. Gives me something to do.

What do you want to specialize in? Helpdesk? System administration? Do you want to work with Windows machines or be a "jack-off of all trades - master of porn" type?

Honestly? I have no fucking clue. But if you held a gun to my head, I would say security, I guess - since my old job required me to have a security clearance.

But I'm open to recommendations.

You have a secret clearance... check clearancejobs and make a profile.
Also see about becoming a GS.

Rgr

Nice. You're alright.

What about those pay-for-access masters programs? Can you get grant money and then take some electives in a CS department? There must be some MPA funnels for 40-somethings to get into cybersecurity at Booz or boutique consultancies. This has been a cash cow since all of the financial lobbying and Blackwater money dried up back after 2008. The Russian government hacking and North Korean industrial sabotage will have only increased demand.

> I looked around for how much it would cost to attend a class that teaches these things, and said FUCK NO
Meanwhile, this market generally wants FUCK YES AND I ALSO GOT STARTED WITH AN UNIVERSITY DEGREE TOO.

You have to compensate for quite a lot in an employer's eye if you're an old fart, you know.

>What about those pay-for-access masters programs?

I had no idea those exist. I'll go take a look.

I got a degree already, though. I'm just asking if it's realistic to get IT certs without benefit of taking classes with an instructor.

alright? nigga, he's living the dream
>retired
>no wife to nag
>kids moved out, so no need to give them money (if they ask, he can tell them to fuck off and they WILL fuck off)
he's living my dream
stay true, old man, you're doing God's work

Dad?

If I told you once, I told you a thousand times:

These are my chicken tenders, God damn it. And you can't have any. Go ask your mom to make you some.

Oh and hi son! :D Want to watch some anime together?

No. The point is that you show you're *all in* and motivated.

Not some old fuck who learned obsolete and now job unrelated punch card techniques who just wants to an income until he retires and will work slowly on the job and be generally a much worse choice than one of the plentiful younger new hires.

Acquiring bottom tier certificates slowly on your own likely won't do the trick unless somehow your country has problems finding low tier IT people.

We have tons of prior army guys working at the comm squadron on my base, and at the NOC too.
It's totally doable to get some certs on your own... check out r/homelab to get some ideas as to how to build your own lab so you get some hands on experience. Guys who just know everything out of a book aren't incredibly useful.

Your big benefits are going to be your clearance and years of experience in the government.

You could definitely land a GS-9 or 11 position, which combined with your retirement would make for a very comfy lifestyle.

No one hires old people for junior positions in IT, y'all are too entitled and slow

Gotcha. Thanks!

No problem.
Currently enlisted, just trying to help a brother out.

>So after 20 years at my old job I'm retiring.
Learn C++ and spend the rest of your life as a NEET writing FOSS for peanuts. That's what I would do.

In that case, word of advice:
If you intend to make it your life's career, make damn sure there's plenty of upward mobility in your MOS - and damn it, do all the necessary shit (online classes and schools) so you're qualified for promotion ASAP. Mine hardly had any mobility - hence 20 years going by and all I have is E6 to show for it. Well, that and a clearance.

Idk about all that. Wife leaving sounds pretty shit

Oh believe me it gets pretty shit wayyyyy before they actually leave.

I text-to-speech entire text books. Sometimes twice.

>t. psychology major
text-to-speech works bretty gud with your textbooks huh

gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=B3F09E02CE3A5DC2EF8AF4A85945D146

You're welcome

Also try visiting iFixit, get an account, and peruse through their site. They will probably let you get a wholesale business account if you tell them you are starting up and getting into things.
They have resources there to help you get certified to sell refurbished tech devices from phones to Macs (I'm sure theres a windows one too or generic laptop one or something...), and start your own business as a repair technician.
If you've got tons of free time and you're retired so finances aren't haunting you to perform and bring home X amount of dollars, you can jump right into this and go at your own pace pretty easily, doing business the way you like to.