Age & Job Opportunity: Advice for Young Professionals

[lonatico]

Hey guys,

It is my first post here. I found this forum while looking for information, and it seems like a good place to learn all kinds of subjects. I'm from Brazil, and looking for some hints or guidance on career, Job and education. Reality may be different on your countries, but still, any help is welcomed.

So, first of all, I'm studying Computer Science at The moment, although I'm not sure this is what I really want to do for living. I'm thinking about changing course to Engineer.

My problem comes when I think in terms of age, I'm 20 years old, and I'm afraid that if I change course I'll be entering in a job too old (its a 5 Years course here in Brazil), and that it will be harder to get a job, and I want to take an exchange program and go abroad to study for one or two Years.

My dad says I'm young, but I don't know, I'm kind of worried...

 

[SteamKing]

Make your choice now, at 20. It gets progressively harder to start over in most professions at 30 or 40. Right now, your main responsibilities are going to school; as you age, other things will happen in your life, which restrict your options. You might find yourself having to care for an elderly parent or two; you might have a wife and kids to look out for, etc. Even if you have just started school at 20, I don't see employers unwilling to hire a newly minted CS graduate who is 25.

 

[lonatico]

Im sorry taking so long to answer, but it has been a crazy week for me.

Well, what you said is true, but how hard is to get into jobs being older, Luke 27~28 Years old?

PS: I've never worked, and in college i would only be able to work as internship.

 

[Choppy]

I can't tell you anything Brazil-specific, but in general, employers care about skills and experience more than physical age. When you approach retirement age (ie. older than about 55) it becomes more difficult to start a new career because you have to fight unspoken assumptions (like you're unwilling to learn, or you're looking for a position to coast through until you hit retirement).

It might help to consider your age as a selling point. Unspoken assumptions about folks in their early twenties may include notions that they will party a lot, or that they may not take the new position seriously. With a few more years under your belt, you could be seen as a little more mature and more serious. Generally though my experience has been that no one really notices an age difference between early and late twenties when it comes to hiring decisions.