My 21 year old brother was very much so a victim of the pandemic career-wise: he was enrolled in community college with an education major on a full scholarship in their honor’s program, with the intent to continue to a bachelor’s afterwards. He was a year into school when COVID hit, and took a “semester off” after completing his associate’s degree, only to never return. Two years later, he’s working as a cashier, living with our parents in bumblef*ck nowhere, and is very depressed. He’s recently started medication and therapy to get out of this rut and move forward, but has shared with me that he isn’t interested in going back to college. He’s interested in working in tech after seeing what my life and job are like, but doesn’t have a clear direction beyond that. I’m the first in my family to have a career that isn’t either teaching or very classically blue collar, and I wound up in tech a bit by accident. I’m hoping that folks can contribute their experiences/ideas given this info and a bit more about him that I’ve written below. -he has always been good with computers, research, and writing. He is very creative and enjoys problem solving. -he is introverted and on the autism spectrum (but doesn’t have significant relational impairments) -Work-life balance is important to him (more important than salary) -he is interested in doing continuing education (boot camps, online courses, etc) but not in going back to traditional college if possible. - he has shown aptitude in SQL and UX online courses - a few online career aptitude tests have suggested technical writing, communications, and similar roles to him -he could work remotely or in-office in Austin, TX (just for context) I acknowledge that he will probably need to return to school to finish his degree regardless of what role he ends up in, but I also know people take non traditional paths in life! I’m interested in hearing from someone who has done a boot camp/ etc, and gotten a related job. Any thoughts/ resources/ suggestions on any of this are highly appreciated.
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He needs to go to college. Period.
I agree that this is probably true, but I also know people who have gotten into tech via a non traditional/ no degree route and wanted to see if there were any trees worth barking up on here.
General Assembly offers decent courses to help intro him to some tech roles. Does he have any good startup ideas? Maybe he can apply for an accelerator or build a no-code solution in his spare time.
Baby steps, don't force a major decision on him if he is struggling with depression, even if he is on medications. It's difficult to make right decisions when your mind is clouded. Let him heal. Trust me, do not short-circuit this process and add pressure. - Get him to therapist-counselling. - Help him with day-to-day, enroll him in a gym or accompany him for walk/hike. - Bootcamp / short-term commitment is actually a good idea. Gives a chance to see if he is able to manage workload with his current state without a longer-term commitment. Also, he can get a short-term win. - Do not bring up career/concerns frequently. - Lastly, emphatize and be patient. He is just 21 years old, let him heal completely. You are a good brother/sister. It shows from your post.
Thank you for your thoughtful and empathetic response! I definitely don’t plan on forcing him into anything and agree with you- he’s 21, he’s got so much time. He has expressed wanting some direction in his life(which prompted this post). I think I’ll encourage him to get a subscription to something like CodeAcademy and try a few beginner courses.