1) tinker with computers as a kid
2) go to university and study something I wanted to learn about, randomly learning C in passing (from a friend and a stolen copy of turbo c) because I was interested
3) get a job at a small local ISV, qualified by having a degree in anything and knowing how to write simple code
4) spend 4 years as an apprentice (informally) taking every opportunity to learn
5) get a job at a startup
6) join Microsoft through acquisition
7) ...
Up until step 6, my resume probably didn't look that interesting, but once you have one of the household name software companies on your resume the rest becomes irrelevant
1) Tinker with computers as a kid
2) Go to University to study something I wanted to learn (Biochemistry) - took CS101 to learn some programming
3) Go to grad school for something else unrelated (economics)
4) Work in something unrelated
5) Learn programming in spare time.
6) Quit job. Learn programming hardcore. Enroll in CS classes at a University to become eligible for internships.
7) Land an internship at Google.
After that, it was smooth sailing.
Do you mean if I tried to enter the industry in my 40's it would have been much harder? Or now that I'm in the industry, the smooth sailing will eventually get rougher as I approach my 40s? If the latter, I don't really believe it...
Also, I think plateauing is fine.... Why do I need to move upwards when they're paying me plenty already?
But in the end find out he doesn't work at Google.
In any case, I meet people on the regular working at top tech companies without a STEM degree, some without any degree at all. The stories are all pretty similar:
1) Teach themselves programming
2) Make lots of actual software