Does age matter for a first job?

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi all , knowing that soon the place where I work is going to make me redundant and that for some time I have been fiddling with computers I was thinking to get certified in A + and then Network + and then get a job in IT
as a first job I guess anything would do,and then get a higher certification but as I am almost 50 years oldand with gcse education... I really wonder if I should carry on and try or just forget about it and keep in the computing thing just as a hobby.
Any advise is welcome, looking forward for replays.

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

It can be done but it is difficult. It will also depend what you want to do and whether you can get around the unspoken ageism that exists (particularly with recruiters).

Remember that IT covers lots of different things - hardware, networking, service management, web design, project management etc. and some of these are very removed from tinkering around with your home pc.

For support type work then yes, A+ and N+ will give you a start and may also let you see if that is where you want to work. If you've been made redundant and are signing on then you may have courses or help available so a "taster" might be good to see if you like it.

Good luck !

 

I am definitely not ageist as i am a few years older than you. But even for an old git, i kick ass and run my own business but i have been in IT for yonks. Forget your age that is irrelevant, what is relevant is, as it's always been, can you provide good value for money to a potential employer?

 

Maybe bollocks what i just writing, because i do not know you, the company where you working, and why they make you redundant. But (if the company has IT dept) i would try to speak to the HR or IT dept, about your plan and learning to get certified, etc. Maybe they can offer you something else.

 

Good points but Bluerinse is already in the industry, and its more of a one way street when you have zero experience !

Ageism is illegal in this country, as UKDarkstar says, it will be silent, you will often simply not get invited to interviews.

I agree leave your age off your CV, probably your education dates too, possibly even other dates. Its hard to know if this will help or not, leaving all dates will make you look suspious.

Ageism will probably be mentioned when you are considered too young, I often used to get this, but of course one will grow older naturally so people don't protest this and a case would be hard to prove anyway.

The reality to me is there is a 'sweet spot' in the middle where employers will treat you well, either side of it you have to look after number one.

 

I worked with a guy who was nearly 30 years older than me. At the time he took up computing in the 80s, he was only a few years older than you - 50s. He learnt building his PC from scratch, learnt Windows 3.1 upwards. He was a self-motivatd guy with a strong will/mind. He kept going and never allowed ageism to bother him. When I recently left, he was learning Windows 7. I also learnt that (at his age) he would not be jumping from one company to another and this would be considered as reassuring from an employer's point of view.

You have maturity and ways of doing things that will be unique. Ask what you have (soft skills like communications, tact, diplomacy etc) that is unique to you but not to others. There must be something you can offer to an employer other than "these are all the IT skills I know".

There is this book which I had since 1992. The last update seems to be a 1992 version. It will help you change the way you think of your current situation. It's a book about Job Interviewing. The 1992 version I've had was excellent so the 1999version should be even better. I used it to update my CV. It helps you understand about your USP or unique selling point and many other tips on the book.

Believe that you can do it and go on. Good luck!