How a 45-Year-Old Career Switcher Landed a Tech Job with Zero Experience (Salary Revealed)

After his bank automated most processes he faced a choice: retrain or risk obsolescence.

The Data-Backed Strategy

Skill Mapping:

Used LinkedIn’s Skills Graph to find overlapping skills (e.g., Excel → SQL, client management → SaaS onboarding)..

Result : Cut learning time by 40%.

The 6-Month Upskilling Plan

Enrolled in Google Data Analytics Certificate ($49/month).

Built 3 Tableau dashboards using free public datasets (e.g., COVID-19 trends).

Outcome: Added “Data Visualization” and “SQL” to his resume (verified by a Zety scan as “ATS-optimized”).

Networking Hack

Joined #BreakingIntoTech Twitter chats.

Sent personalized cold emails to 10 hiring managers with:

“I analyzed your app’s review data—here are 3 UX pain points + solutions.”

Response rate: 30% (vs. 2% from job applications).

The Payoff

Role: Jr. Data Analyst at a fintech startup.

Salary: ₹8.5L/year (vs. ₹6L in banking).

Time to Hire: 7 months.

Key Takeaway

“Age is just a number. Transferable skills + proof of work beat degrees.”