At a disadvantage due to my age?
At a disadvantage due to my age?
(OP)
I'm 31 and I just got my BSCE. Considering that entry level positions in engineering are usually secured by someone younger, do you think I'm at a disadvantage due to my age?





RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
Luck is a difficult thing to verify and therefore should be tested often. - Me
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
Nonetheless, the only issue is whether you're going to ask for more salary than a 20-something. Otherwise, you're on a level playing field, and your experience should aid you.
Bear in mind that companies no longer expect to keep employees for life, and employees no longer expect lifetime employment, so the fact that you're 10 yrs closer to retirement than the typical new graduate is not relevant.
TTFN
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RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
V
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
If an employer discovers that your added maturity and pre-grad experience is adding to your job performance, a decent one will bump your salary up quicker than that of the average fresh grad. But it's good strategy to find out what a new grad makes and ask for no more.
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
Best of luck to you!!
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
Hg
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RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
Sometimes the age will be an advantage, sometimes a disadvantage.
The important thing to notice is that at least 2 of the posts above are from people who graduated at a similar age and seem to have done OK, so it is possible.
Might want to think about what Greg put too.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."
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RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
But I had been working in an engineering department professionaly since I was 21 due to my associate degrees. Mostly CAD and anything else related to it.
About one and a half years before I graduated my employer at the time recognized I was close to my degree and promoted me to a ME even though by that time I had already been doing the job.
Unfortunately I got about a 10% raise. I think that is pretty standard. But considering I made next to nothing before my promotion it was a poor raise.
After I graduated I left and got another making low 60's. Not bad, although someone with no experience in their early 20's made almost as much in my field. Low 60's can be extremely good depending on the field.
It still amazes me that some employers look at my graduation date as when I started working as an engineer. A lot of them are head hunters though.
I kinda fell into my current field. I am not exactly thrilled about it but I have averaged 8-10k a year in raises since I left school. And the previous experience (pre BSME) did come into play to get me where I am at.
You really need to realate pre grad xp with something engineering related if expecting a better then graduate salary.
Careerwise I do not believe you are at any disadvantage. Although I would imagine you will meet people at work that are younger then you but make more money. But you'll get that anywhere. The supervisors here still say to me "hey young man" so they probably think I am a twenty something. The next youngest engineer here is 10 years older then me.
OT but kinda makes me wonder if ME's are a dying breed? all the young engineers here are EE or have Computer science degrees. Maybe it's an xp thing for my particular field.
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
Also, hiring managers are often more comfortable hiring someone who has some some age/reality under their belt as opposed to an early twenties new grad who has to spend two or three years learning how to "not" act like a college student.
All things considered - I believe the extra age is actually a real advantage rather than a disadvantage.
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
just to raise your confidence, one of my colleaque finished bachelor degree in engineering at 40 and was hired 1 year back. Reason: He was running a small business where he gained a valuable experiences from winning business to delivery. As our work is mostly project management for automobile parts, his experience is valuable.
Hope you might have done something related to your engineering degree and use that accordingly. All the best..
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?
And I don't think being 30 is a minus; I started my second career when I was 46.
Steve
RE: At a disadvantage due to my age?