Go deeper to change the type of activity?

Question

IT education

Good day to all!
I’ll ask you right away to treat this issue with the help of experienced people, and not a thread where you can taunt: “Wherever you climb, there’s enough here without you.” I know that not everyone is happy to welcome a new member of their society into their ranks.
I'm 24. At the moment I'm finishing my master's degree at KPI and I have a job far from my specialty (and yes, I didn't choose what I expected, but, let's omit it). I have a fairly tight work schedule, but there is still enough time for some kind of development. In principle, I am a person who does not like to sit still and always want to learn something (from the last one, I decided for myself to figure out how the algorithm of some business processes works at my own job). I do not complain about work, but I would like to change my occupation in the future. A couple of years ago I started learning C# , even it came to a test task with which I somehow coped (a parser of song titles and their performers for a streaming service), but decided not to go any further, because I realized for myself that I was still weak. Later, almost a year later, I decided to try to write something for myself - I wrote a program to turn off the PC after a specified time with a simple WinForms interface, because I realized that I needed it for my purposes. I posted the code on GitHub and since then, in fact, I have been solving problems on codewars and edabit. In conversations with friends who work with this language, I could keep up the conversation, and when watching recorded online interviews on YouTube, I knew quite a lot of answers to questions, which was a surprise for me.
Although the knowledge has subsided, the fuse has intensified, because I understand that all the same I am drawn to this steppe.
But, I need your advice on several points:
Isn't it too late for me to delve into the study of this area? What is preferable and more relevant for future (I dream) employment: .Net or Python? Which area of ​​development to choose and why? Or follow in the footsteps of some - first in QA, and then in developers? And, can someone share their experience, who managed to change their occupation and how much time and effort it took?
Thank you all in advance!

Answer 1

Isn't it too late for me to delve into the study of this area?

Has anything changed in recent years?

Which area of ​​development to choose and why?

Which is interesting

What is preferable and more relevant for future (I dream) employment: .Net or Python?

Everything here is the same as everywhere else: the lower the entry threshold, the more competitors. And, again, it depends on the direction in which you plan to move.
As for "relevant" - it's better to look at the number of vacancies on the same hh.ru, for example. Or at the exchange where you plan to work.

Or follow in the footsteps of some - first in QA, and then in developers?

If you are hired, you go to work. There is no need for impostor syndromes, insecurity and other things. You're just going to get experience. If everything suited the employer and you, then "I'm still weak" - this is generally incomprehensible to what.

And, can someone share their experience, who managed to change their occupation and how much time and effort it took?

And what is this for? Need motivation? There are enough articles like this. In addition, articles by people who were not hired are not written, so a selection of crap, to put it mildly. The main motivation is a comfortable future for you, and not Vasya from the next entrance.
Bottom line: look for a comfortable area for yourself in which you will be happy to work and develop in that direction. If you become a professional in it, then Vasya can be moved from the next entrance.
And yes:

Where do you go, there is enough without you

Come in and make yourself at home here. And to think that you are a very important competitor for someone is very self-confident. Especially on the forum, with a bunch of specialists who still need to, at least, grow up.

Answer 2

Isn't it too late for me to delve into the study of this area?

It's not too late.

What is preferable and more relevant for future (I dream) employment: .Net or Python?

It depends on you. Strong specialists are relevant (this does not depend on the stack). No one can tell you what will happen in 5 years.

Which area of ​​development to choose and why?

The one you like best. You need to try each of those that interest you. The choice is yours.

Or follow in the footsteps of some - first in QA, and then in developers?

There is no point. You will just waste your time. The next step after the QA manual is QA automation, but not a developer.

And, can someone share their experience, who managed to change their occupation and how much time and effort it took?

Downgrading is often a complex and lengthy process. Roughly speaking, in 2 years you have reached a junior and in 3 more years you have reached a solid middle. By changing the stack, you will have to go through this path again, even if you save a year or two simply due to the fact that general experience and development, but everything else will have to be done all over again.
The most painless way to transition is to study what you are interested in parallel with work and earn extra money on this second stack.
In general, I strongly recommend mastering the search, in particular for this resource. Your question is asked here on average once or twice a day. Everyone who asks this question believes that his case is unique, alas, no.

Answer 3

Isn't it too late for me to delve into the study of this area?

It's not too late.

What is preferable and more relevant for future (I dream) employment: .Net or Python?

Both +/- are relevant. Choose what you like best, but you still have to look at the market.

Which area of ​​development to choose and why?

Choose what you like more)
In both cases, web development is the most popular, but with python you can go into data analytics, and with C # - into game development, desktop and mobile development.

Or follow in the footsteps of some - first in QA, and then in developers?

Also possible, but not required.
Usually, those who go to QA do not understand at all what they are doing in development without practice. (in my experience)

Answer 4

choose what you like

Answer 5

I'm 34, I started preparing for a change of occupation and chose to go to devops