[Thor]

1. YES, made the change in my mid 30s and it was from business into the IT world. Best decision ever.
2. Well I am currently in our IT support desk, so its the usual dealing with the public stuff, but its pretty easy here in Iceland compared to what you guys would be dealing with, so I can't complain.
3. I started with MCITP, its now MCSA. Great starting point, and after that I highly recommend CCNA. From there its all about what direction you want to go in, I tired of Microsoft pretty quickly and have gone the linux direction and landed a job working with our IBM Mainframe department.

So as a rule, its probably going to be IT support where you start, do your time (1-2 years) and learn all you can about the company, the departments and let that be your key into deciding where to focus on. A lot of people make the mistake of collecting certifications and not specializing, try out as much as you can from coding, maybe even try your hand at web design. This is why IT support is ideal as a starting point, because you will get great insight into what appeals to you.

I know in Iceland and probably out in the US and Canada, being good at linux is x10 better than being a MS guy, since they are a dime a dozen, unless you have some top MS cert or a vast amount of experience.

In demand is ALWAYS top net guys, CCNA leads you into a lot of awesome choices, and we have a guy with us who's got the CCIE and basically works for us while freelancing with lots of other companies in Iceland and Europe, the guy pretty much writes his own paycheques.


But for me leaving the business world was the best thing ever, IT is about tangible problems and being able to solve them, and wow the lack of meetings is so freakin awesome.

You are never too old to change paths, in fact people are more likely to hire a 30yr old with less experience over someone in their early 20's. I say go for it, and never look back.