can my late degree work against ageism in IT industry?

[jdhpa]

Yes there is ageism. People don't like hiring someone older than themselves. People believing you're 6 years younger will help, at least for another 6 years.

Good luck!

[Generaltao]

An employer who simply disqualifies for ageism is a stupid employer and you should thank God for sparing you the indignity of working for them. Ageism is a factor, not a sole determinator. People will look at an older person and make certain assumptions - those assumptions can be challenged by other factors that you bring to the table. You can show that your career has been dynamic, that you have taken on and conquered challenges, that you have leveraged your experience to become a leader, that you can herd temperamental cats, that you have an energetic and engaging personality, etc etc.

[jdhpa]

Originally Posted by Generaltao

An employer who simply disqualifies for ageism is a stupid employer and you should thank God for sparing you the indignity of working for them. Ageism is a factor, not a sole determinator. People will look at an older person and make certain assumptions - those assumptions can be challenged by other factors that you bring to the table. You can show that your career has been dynamic, that you have taken on and conquered challenges, that you have leveraged your experience to become a leader, that you can herd temperamental cats, that you have an energetic and engaging personality, etc etc.

You can't do any of those things if they toss your resume in the trash without talking to you.

There's a reason engineers in the valley are overwhelmingly in their 20's and 30's. Ever wonder where all those thousands of engineers from 20 years ago, who are in their 50's now, went?

[allison7]

Originally Posted by ggcd951

So how people get disqualified for agiesm? Looking at their face and general outlook?

A 41-year-old can be a serious candidate for many positions but not if they don't disclose what their experience was between the ages of 28 and 41.

[buenos]

Some of the larger companies are into farming people like sheep, they dont want to deal with individuals, they do not care how good you are at something. They only knowledge they want to see is what THEY have taught you. So, basically half the companies are out of the question for you. Focus on the other half, and keep writing a black list of companies with confirmed ageism, so you can avoid them later.

[neutrino78x]

hmm an interesting thread as I am 41 as well and also have IT skills, though I have not worked in the industry. I didn't want to make my hobby my job.

I can share that a couple years ago, I did an interview at a famous IT services provider, and they were quite impressed by my UNIX command line and scripting skill. Unfortunately they were looking for someone with at least the entry level Cisco cert (CCNA). They said if I came back with that, they would definitely hire me.

But I sort of moved away from IT again after that...I dunno...I have knowledge, but I keep coming back to the idea of, do I really want to deal with "you must finish this script by the end of the day", as opposed to having lots of time to play around.

Like I said, when I think of it that way, it makes me think that the maritime industry is where I should go back. I heard the Navy is concerned about having enough people to staff the Military Sealift Command vessels in time of war, as well as the US Flag private ships (US Flag vessels can be ordered to serve the Navy in time of war)...so Trump gave an executive order to make it a little easier for guys like myself to come back as non-combatant support. (yes...even a broken clock is right twice a day, lol.)

I could do that and maybe write some mobile apps and make some extra money that way. I notice that even the least popular ones in a given category still have 10,000 downloads. At $2 per download, let's say you make $1 out of that (I don't know how it works really), that's $10,000 you just made. hmm.

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by ggcd951

So how people get disqualified for agiesm? Looking at their face and general outlook?

What they did before applying is key. If you were not in IT for years, that is a bigger issue than just your age.


What type of work experience do you have? That is more important than age.