Question about ageism

[southbeach]

I have a question about ageism in the work place. I will be 34 when I graduate and I haven't as yet picked a major as am finishing first year.

Will age be a issue with employers and are there any employers or firm owners who could give some advice on landing a decent job.

I do have a fair bit of manufacturing experience and lab experience in a foundry.

My incentive for going back to school was mainly to get the heck out of line\production work.

However, it sounds like engineering is not such a solid career choice...

Any feedback is much appreciated.

Mike

 

[Beggar]

Not such a solid choice: Some will argue but I agree - not such a solid choice.

Ageism is prevalent in engineering but is usually more a function of career stage. As an entry-level guy, you should be OK.

Once you're in your mid-40's to early 50's, you'll be in trouble if you're not employed with a solid company and have a specialized set of skills.

Personally, I'd stay away from engineering. Pick something affiliated with healthcare. Growing market, strong representation, and difficult to outsource.

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[RDK]

Your age will right now work for you.

You will be competing with your classmates for jobs. While they are an unknown quantity in the workplace you have a track record and references for something other than your paper route.

After a couple of years most people will forget that you only have a couple years experience and see a thirty something and expect them to have about the same experience as the normal mid thirty person i.e. 10 years or so, you had better be able to get the moist out of your early experience.

You will also reach the workplace with some work street smarts that the new graduates will generally be lacking, you will know how to act and react to the dynamics of the workplace far better than they will be able to do so. This will be a dangerous time since you will not have the engineering experience to live up to the expectations of those around you.

After around 10 years experience (and I’d credit you with a couple of years worth of experience for this discussion due to your past presence in the work place) recent experience matters more than age. If you are ready to move to a senior engineer position, then you will be a senior engineer in your early 40’s and your classmates will not be ready until at least their mid thirties.

The only way that your age will count against you now is if you are after a job where mobility or a large degree of physical effort is necessary., In your thirties you may be starting a family, own a house or other property and not be able to travel or relocate as easily as a 22 year old with only one suitcase and furniture suitable to be returned to Goodwill.

The danger of your age is that you will not have enough time to make a career mistake. A 22 year old can afford to spend a couple years on a dead end career path and still have enough working time left to recover; you on the other have already had your time on the dead end career path.

Don’t listen to the naysayer about engineering being a dead profession. There will always be enough work available for an engineer to keep a roof over his head and food on the table. It may be ground chuck in a small house instead of sirloin in a mansion but you will always be able to make enough to survive.

Pick an area that is resistant to outsourcing. Any job where the work product can be done and shipped or transmitted electronically can be outsourced. This includes all manufacturing and a lot of design positions.

Operation and maintenance positions in an electrical utility is one area of work in the electrical field that can never be outsourced for example.



Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[southbeach]

Thanks Rick,

Is there a lot of engineering task being outsourced today? Would you recommend any other areas which cannot be outsourced. For instance what about construction work with respect to an electrical engineer.

Thanks for you input you made me feel a bit better about my situation. It is difficult sometimes knowing I am ten years older than most of my classmates but life is a journey and not all end up on the same path.

Regards

 

[riedlipa]

Southbeach:

I agree comlpetely with RDK. I am also a guy that had a little manufacturing assy/technician expereience before going to engineering school. I graduated when I was 31.

Coming into the workforce older than my ME peers and a little experienced helped me get into a bigger company and advanced me quickly. I am now 40 and my career is slowing, but I work with a guy as skilled as myself, and his career is pretty stalled (he is just 30). My opinion is his young age is now working against him.

Your mid-thirties age is going to work for you now. As RDK said, get as much skillset as you can before you get past 10 years in, because you want to be someone that can be handed authority commensurate with you age, and not be perceived as a "worker bee", a commodity when you get into your forties.

As for RDK's warning: Careful of a Career mistake...I just spent 4 years learning not much at a mid-size company that does business poorly. Watch carefully not to get too comfortable with and employer. They are after all, going to do whatver makes them the most money...and their actions may not be in your best interest.

 

[RDK]

I’m in construction and so far have been kept busy and had a rewarding career.

Depending n what types of construction you specialize in you may find that there is no demand for these types of buildings as their functions are outsourced. (building textile mills anywhere other than Asia for example)

One down side of construction is you go to where the jobs are. I have spent the majority of the last 10 years away from home, sometimes only a couple of hours sometimes 12 hour drive and 7 months in Iceland. I am currently getting packed for a project in Afghanistan.

If you don’t mind the travel and living in camps etc it’s a very rewarding career path. Nothing as satisfying as seeing a finished plant in your rear view mirror as you leave a project behind where there was once empty field.

Other areas resistant to outsourcing would be transportation (roads, ports, airfields), infrastructure (utilities and communication facilities), medical (either facilities as population ages or equipment) or any operations type of job.




Rick Kitson MBA P.Eng

Construction Project Management
From conception to completion

http://www.kitsonengineering.com

 

[GregLocock]

Hang on, although I agree with the main thrust of this thread, if someone is /not sure/ what major to take is engineering such a good choice? After all, it's a bit harder than almost any other major.

Cheers

Greg Locock

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[ivymike]

That's how I started with it - figured I could always transfer to something easier, but ended up liking Mech E and stayed.