Engineering Will it be hard for me to find a job considering my age?

[Donello]

HiIn a few months I will be celebrating my 23rd birthday. I have planned to go to college this year but it seems that I will have to postpone that till next year. By the time I will be enrolled in an electrical engineering B.S program here in Germany, I will be roughly 24 years old. The degree program takes on average 3.5 years to complete, so once I am graduated with my bachelor I will be 27 years old. Due to all this delay in my life I decided to go into the M.S program directly after I finish my B.S. I also had a consulting with the university staff and they recommended this as well. The Master of science will take about 2 years to complete so I will be jiggling around my 30th birthday by that time.
The thing which is worrying to me is that I will be entering the M.S program with no real-life work experience. Do you think a 30 years old engineer with a M.S and no prior work experience has a good chance in the market ?? I discussed this with some of my friends here in Germany and as the engineers-workforce is kinda declining, it seems that I will have my fair chance, but I am still nervous about my age though !What do you think ?? And how is the situation over there in the US ??

 

[H012]

HiIn a few months I will be celebrating my 23rd birthday. I have planned to go to college this year but it seems that I will have to postpone that till next year. By the time I will be enrolled in an electrical engineering B.S program here in Germany, I will be roughly 24 years old. The degree program takes on average 3.5 years to complete, so once I am graduated with my bachelor I will be 27 years old. Due to all this delay in my life I decided to go into the M.S program directly after I finish my B.S. I also had a consulting with the university staff and they recommended this as well. The Master of science will take about 2 years to complete so I will be jiggling around my 30th birthday by that time.
The thing which is worrying to me is that I will be entering the M.S program with no real-life work experience. Do you think a 30 years old engineer with a M.S and no prior work experience has a good chance in the market ?? I discussed this with some of my friends here in Germany and as the engineers-workforce is kinda declining, it seems that I will have my fair chance, but I am still nervous about my age though !What do you think ?? And how is the situation over there in the US ??

Your age is not an issue. The job market is!
Alot of companies like to hire young unexperienced people, lower pay and benifits. The job market in the US is terrible.
As more and more people have to work longer years due to the burden of taxes and cost of living per income. it leaves the door closed to newcomers. As open door policies
toward immigration cost billions of working peoples earnings here in the USA! These people come here just to exploit this weakness. Jobs here for years have been disappearing to other countries because of lower wages and taxes.

 

[Choppy]

Not that I have my finger on the pulse of the German engineering scene, but I doubt your age will be a major or even a minor issue. In a way, you might even be able to make it work to your advantage, so long as you're expecting only entry level positions.

Having a little more life experience or maturity can help in that you might be seen as more serious about a long-term position. A 23 year old kid just of a school might be seen as more likely to use a position as a springboard to something else, whereas someone who's a little older can be seen as looking a longer-term commitment.

Though technically age-discrimination is illegal (I assume it is in Germany as well), I think you do tend to see some discrimination in the 50+ age group, because at that stage, even though most people have a lot of experience they can be seen as taking longer to learn, or looking for a desk job to ride out until retirement.

 

[Asteropaeus]

Seeing the title I assumed you would be 42 or something.

 

[Chronos]

Age 30 would probably work to your favor as many prospective employers would deem your maturity a plus compared to the hordes of fresh out of scool prospects they ordinarily face. While age discrimination is illegal almost anywhere, proving it in court is a can of worms few sane people would attempt to open.

 

[mpresic]

I was in USA and 29 years old with a MS in physics. I got a job after about 6 months back, bit this was about 30 years ago.

 

[H012]

Age 30 would probably work to your favor as many prospective employers would deem your maturity a plus compared to the hordes of fresh out of scool prospects they ordinarily face. While age discrimination is illegal almost anywhere, proving it in court is a can of worms few sane people would attempt to open.

I know that's right!

 

[H012]

I was in USA and 29 years old with a MS in physics. I got a job after about 6 months back, bit this was about 30 years ago.

Yea your about my age. The job environment is nothing like that today sad to say. I'm a master machinist by trade. I got caught up in the jobs going off shore late 80's down south. Luckily by then I had experience under my belt.