Is it too late to start in tech at 24?

Short answer: no. The longer answer is below, because a bare "no" doesn't help much at 2 am, when you're comparing yourself with everyone you know.

The fear, said plainly

You're 24. A few of your friends started working a year or two ago. They talk about notice periods and appraisals, and you have a degree you didn't take seriously and a gap you don't know how to explain. It feels like a race you've already lost by a lap.

That feeling is real. It is also not very accurate. Nobody asks for your date of birth when they look at your work.

What a hiring manager looks at

For a first role, the questions are small and practical. Can you do the work? Can you show it? Can you explain it?

Doing the work means you have actually written the query, built the chart or run the model, and not only watched someone else do it. Showing it means there is something to open: a project, a dashboard, a short write-up. Explaining it means you can talk through what you did and why, in your own words, without reading from a script.

None of those three has your age in it.

A gap next to a portfolio

A gap on its own invites questions. A gap with three solid projects sitting next to it invites a different one: what did you build?

That is a much better conversation to be in. A portfolio answers the gap question better than any explanation can. You stop defending the past and start talking about the work in front of you.

What does make it harder

It isn't your age. It's usually one of two things: having no plan, or changing your goal every month.

On Monday you're going to be a data analyst. On Thursday you read about something shinier and start again. A few months later you have six half-finished tutorials and nothing you can show anyone. Pick one direction and stay with it long enough to finish something. It's dull advice, and it works.

You will also have days where it feels slow, and days where you want to quit. That is normal. It is the effort, not a sign that you started too late.

One small step for this week

Pick one role you can picture yourself doing, even loosely. Write it down on paper, so it stops living only in your head.

Then spend one hour on something real. Open a spreadsheet of data you actually care about, such as your monthly spending or your favourite team's results, and ask it one question. Which month cost the most? Which season went best? Don't buy anything and don't sign up for anything. You are only finding out whether you enjoy it.

If you'd like to talk it through with a real person, we're happy to.