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Hi, I have posted a few times and agree you are all great. A couple of years ago I decided on a career change into IT. Got my A+ and soon to have N+. Are there any of you out there in my situ or been there - get the employer to believe I am not over the hill and have lots to offer. I am 58.

 

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If by "in my situation" you mean a person who has changed career in mid-life, I guess I can raise my hand. I started studying for a career change to IT about 6 or 7 years ago and switched to it full-time as my primary income in 2003. In the strictest sense, I don't actually work in IT. I'm a Technical Writer for a software company and write books, articles, and book reviews on the side. I have worked as a contract tech before finding my niche and have performed endless Ethernet, hardware, and operating system rollouts plus designed and managed a few SOHOs and cleaned malware off of an endless stream of PCs.

A career change is certainly do-able, but you have to put up with a lot of uncertainty, especially in the beginning since competition for entry-level positions is fierce and the income and job security (if the term means anything anymore) is poor. My job security isn't near 100% even now since I'm a contract-to-hire worker (it's the "to-hire" thing that is always the sticking point).

What sort of plan do you have for a career path right now? You say you have your A+ (congratulations) and are studying for the Network+. Do you have any experience at all at this point? Have you been applying for IT related jobs? What's your story?

BTW, welcome to CF.

-Trip

 

Hi there and welcome

 

OK I came from South Africa to England 3 years ago. I had no paper qualifcations. I got a job at a supermarket in the checkouts. I decided to get IT qualifations. I got my A+ and hope to get my Network+. I did pay for a professional cv and posted it on the Internet. I have had a couple of bites and actually have a second interview on Tuesday, I'm fairly sure I will get the job but I am so conscious of this age issue (which legally 'doesn't exist')

 

Welcome!

Age can be an advantage, even in getting an entry-level job. Older people are more likely to be reliable/on-time than younger people, older people tend to be able to look at things from a business perspective more than a younger people, and older people tend to have all the "distractions" (dating, drinking, partying) out of the way.

Personally, if you can do the job, I don't care how old you are. I know that not everyone is "age-blind"... but realize that there are some out there who are.