Is 33 too late to get a career in programming?

It's never too late. You will do Great! Good luck. :)

I concur with the others - absolutely not. It's never too late to start anything that you feel impelled to pursue. It may in fact help you to feel better about your current situation. I believe that Phillis Diller didn't start being a comedian until her 40's or 50's.

I think that the people who make the best programmers are the ones that start it as a hobby.

Instead of thinking of just learning the art of programming, I feel that you need to have something in mind that you want to solve, or see "on the screen". I guess you would call that a goal oriented approach. If you have something that you want to see (like a small game, for lack of better example), it will drive you to learn everything you need to learn for the specific application your wanting to design. I say this because there is just too much technology out there to learn at once, and the application will tell you what you need to know now, and what you can safely skip.

As far as pursuing it as a career, why not dedicate a good amount of time to the hobby aspect, and see where it leads you?

Some other things you might consider. Its likely that you might not like the corporate IT environment, having been a teacher. Therefore you could consider remaining in acedemia. I know of a guy who was teacher (recording technology at a community college) who learned programming on the side and eventually got promoted into the districts data center as a developer.

Another idea: once you get knowledge of something fairly popular (I'll say C# for sake of example), you might approach one of the local community colleges and see about teaching a non-credit community education courses. I used to teach those classes years ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. And, not to mention, I did get one very nice job offer from a student. And basically, all its going to take is one job offer to get you going.

I also feel impelled to suggest you read (or listen to) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I thought this book was going to be about business, but its way more than that.

Hope this helps.

Scott

www.devguy.net

It's possible, but tough. Employers want very good credentials (the kind it takes years to get), but they also want young talent (it's notoriously difficult to get hired in the field after age 40 or so). Furthermore, I have heard it said that industry professionals and academics both view each other in a negative light, so while a background as a teacher gives you an advantage in interpersonal communication, it may be looked on unfavorably by IT employers.

Having some education in computer science does give you an initial leg up. But a lot has changed in the past ten years or so, and many of the languages, frameworks and logical structures you're expected to be familiar with are different now than they were then. In order to make a good career in IT you have to get on top of these changes and stay on top.

Since you are probably a relatively smart person, look into becoming Network+ or Server+ certified. You still need to know programming and how to work on computers, though. If you are Security+ certified, then you need to know about hacking and the scripts that are used to test network security.

Take a look at the CompTIA site and look at the various certifications you can get. It is possible to go into this field without a 4-year degree, but since you already have one, you will be a good candidate for going far. You would still need to take classes at night or during the summer, and it will take a year or so to finish everything, so don't quit your day job just yet!

I know it's cliche, but it really is never too late.

Also, look into programming classes in the high school in your area. I'm a sophomore in college but the year after I graduated HS, there was a Programming in C class implemented in my high school. Awesome class, you'll get to program on your own, the students receive extremely relevant knowledge in programming, and you will get interested students because they will have to sign up for it on their own.

It might be something to look into, I know it had a good turn out in my HS and I totally wish I took it.