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At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?
19

At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

(OP)


When I was young during school holidays I was helping my father in his engineering business where I started developing interest in engineering.

Unfortunately, after my school graduation I went to live with my uncle in another country. I couldn’t have an opportunity to go to college to fulfil my passion to study engineering due to fees were very expensive.

Now, after working in catering industry for more than 20 years, I have started to get bored and I don’t have self motivation in that field anymore. I’m thinking again about go back to college and study engineering.
But what is bothering me now, I think age is not on my side, I might be too old for that. I know other professions such as doctor, lawyer, teacher, architect, etc you can still be employed at mid forty from college and work past your retirement age.
-But, to study engineering in that age is too late? Bear in mind, by the time I will obtain all necessary qualifications I will be 44-45 years?
-If the top question is YES which engineering? I’m intended to study Chemical, Mechanical or Electrical engineering. You can mention other branches of engineering as well.

I'm aware of the equality legislation but that it doesn’t stop employers not to hire you because of your age.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

It's never too late to learn something new. That part is up to you. As far as the specific discipline, choose one that interests you.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

4
There are still a lot of companies in the USA who find excuses to dump engineers at age 50 or so. They are very careful to never leave an actionable trail, but they do it.

There are other companies, typically smaller, who benefit from the involuntary mobility of experienced engineers, and are happy to have them.

You might think, "Well, who is going to hire an old but inexperienced engineer?".

You are experienced, differently. If you've been paying attention at all, you've been exposed to a lot of kitchen and foodservice and material handling equipment that could be engineered better, and you're about to learn how to do just that.

So, start.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

If you do decide to return to school for engineering I highly recommend that you find one that offers a structured intern/co-op program. This not only will allow you to gain engineering experience but also help pay for your schooling and give a practical break to the theoretical rigours of school. I am not sure if this would be offered in your area but the experience would be invaluable.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

I've seen it happen. One guy I worked with sold his dairy farm at 40, went to school, and found work at my employer. He was a great asset.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

If I would have to do my studies all over again I would change this : Ignore people and listen more to myself.

So the question you start your thread with is part of the same thing; the way we set our own limits are in the formulation of the question itself. And why we limit ourselves by ourselves (in your case it sounds of course legitimate) is still hard to understand ; maybe because we are afraid of our own potential.

It is when you do what you love that you unlock tremendous resources.

When I felt under pressure to study something I did it poorly or maybe good but the efforts seemed huge to me.

On the contrary when I wanted to design a system so I start with the end in mind and I knew that to get there I needed this tool and that material or to complete a certain course, I made it according to my own agenda - not the only the performance was great but the efforts I had to put in seemed (dangerously) unnoticeable.

Good luck.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

The only potentially serious downsides are that you'll be getting the salary of a 21-old when you graduate, which might be different from your current compensation, and that you'll typically only have about 20 yrs in your new career. I don't see that your age is necessarily a hindrance; in many respects, it's an advantage, you're more mature, stable, etc., and you understand what it takes to make money, and, they don't have to pay you the wages of a 40-something. Internship is highly desirable, since that will get you past part of the learning curve that some employers might be concerned about. The more, and varied, experience you can get before graduation, the better.

There's a slight joke about what's common between bank robbers and entrepreneurs? They all think they can get away with it. If you are determined and hungry, you will succeed. The fact that you are successful enough to be bored says that you have the wherewithal to succeed in your new career, so welcome to the world of engineering!

TTFN
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RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Read about George Green - he was a prominent mathematician who provided the basis of many fundamental mathematical theorems in the late 1800's to early 1900's. I think you'll find it inspiring. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Green

Its never too late to learn.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

-But, to study engineering in that age is too late? Bear in mind, by the time I will obtain all necessary qualifications I will be 44-45 years?
How old will you be in 4 or 5 years if you don't study engineering?

If this is your dream, do it! It's a good living, challenging and keeps you sharp. It's mostly inside work.
We have a guy in our office who was in the navy, did his twenty years and went to engineering school. He used his practical and life knowledge to move up. Now he's in his 50's and is a very valuable employee.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

(OP)
Which disciple is okay with some of that age than other?I know branch like software engineer has younger staff.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

I think that you need to discover what makes you want to get out of bed and go to work, first. If you hate, or suck at, programming, it won't matter much who they will hire. While there might be an inkling of validity about youth and programming, that's simply just because there's been an overwhelming push to train software engineers in the last 10 years. But, since there are still SO MANY companies looking for software engineers that you could probably relatively easily find a job in one of the less glam companies.

Just think about the fact that even a middling coffee maker now requires someone to write code for its controller. This might not attract a fresh BSCS grad, but it could serve as a stepping stone for you, assuming you go that route.

TTFN
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Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

(OP)
IRstuff,
I don't plan to study software engineering. That was an example to show that some fields can be difficult than others in relation with age. Another example is dentist graduate at 50s. can still secure a job.

I'm planning to study in either Chemical,Mechanical or Electrical engineering. I want to know which one will suite better with that age?

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Who says you have to retire at 65? As long as your health holds up stick with it. I'm 86 and the main reason I slowed down was that I moved away from the steady clients. Now I still do consulting when it shows up and mentor a testing firm.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

"I want to know which one will suite better with that age?"

I'm an old Chemical Engineer, and I've got friends who are old Mechanical and Electrical Engineers. I don't think that matters.

What is important is what is interesting to you. For me, chemistry came naturally and it energized me. Plus, I liked to take stuff apart to see how it works and put it back together. I knew I wanted to be an engineer first in Junior High School. I started out as a Mechanical. I enjoyed Chemistry so much in High School and the first year of college that I switched to Chemical. You can tell your advisor you are undecided, and ya'll can craft your first year so you can go either way. Everyone's first year is nearly identical anyway. You don't have to decide now. You got time.

Good luck,
Latexman

Technically, the glass is always full - 1/2 air and 1/2 water.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Latexman, depending on where the OP would be attending university the first year may not be as common and transferring may be more difficult.

I believe the OP may be from Britain in which case they'd be on their selected specialization from first year and transferring can be more difficult - at least when & where I attended university in the UK.

Posting guidelines FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm? (probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: FAQ1088-1484: In layman terms, what is "engineering"?

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

IRstuff,

Almost same for me, when I was 10 years old I have built a kind of "robot" which could move one arm up and down and turn on lights by pressing an electrical switch - there was a big cable - it was not wireless :) ...Anyway I knew I would go for mechanical engineering during secondary school, means not an Electrical or Chemical but exactly that and I knew a little bit later with great deal of precision which kind of mechanical products I wanted to work on...It was a kind of obsession. It was not linear path, I lost the focus and bifurcated at many occasions so today I cannot explain how I (more or less) made it.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

KENAT,

I see what you mean. Surely, the OP is not the first student to be undecided on their career major going into university, and some thought, planning, and an advisor's experience may have a favorable outcome on the student or the course choices if the OP is forthcoming with their dilemma.

Good luck,
Latexman

Technically, the glass is always full - 1/2 air and 1/2 water.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

(OP)
Latexman,

Especially with my age. If i was 18 years old, i guess it could be much easier to decide.I would go straightaway to something i like without hesitation. Because if you had made wrong decision still you have time to study something esle.

For me, i have to select what i like first and then look other things

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

When I was in university we had an older guy in our class. He did very well, I think that being an older student lends you more focus, you are less likely to go on alcoholic binges with the young crowd. I also work with a guy who went back to school and obtained his degree later in life (mid to late 30's?). I have also seen a lot of older people immigrating to this country and find it easier to go back to university and get a degree and start over then to try and continue with the profession they had in their place of origin.

While not an engineering anecdote, several of my friends who took nursing in university and college always talked about a group in their class that they referred to as "the moms". This was a group of older women who decided to go to school later in life. My friends always talked about how dedicated they were to learning, this group always sat at the very front of the room. Again lending to my thoughts that people who go back to school are more dedicated to getting a good education.

What I'm trying to say is, I've seen a reasonable number of older people switch gears and still land a job. I'm in mechanical engineering, just for reference. If I were ever an employer I would look favourably on someone who went back to school, that takes courage and dedication, good qualities in an employee I think.

Hope that helps!
K

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

You must do what you love. Even though we have all experienced situations where we must do a job that we dislike in order to put bread on the table, one must strive to be happy in their occupation. Life is short, and to be contributing with purpose, and enjoying it, is a blessing.

Age 41 is not that old. The advantage that you have that younger people do not is this - life experience. You hopefully have greater discipline, maturity, intuitive reasoning, and general knowledge than people half your age, and those things can serve you doubly well when competing in a job against a 20 or 22 year old, and employers know this.

Good luck and best wishes!

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

" Surely, the OP is not the first student to be undecided on their career major going into university, and some thought, planning, and an advisor's experience may have a favorable outcome on the student or the course choices if the OP is forthcoming with their dilemma."

Of course not, BUT, and it's a Big BUT, in the case of UC Berkeley, an undeclared major has no priority in major-specific required courses, meaning that until you do declare, you might not get the courses you need/want.

TTFN
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Need help writing a question or understanding a reply? forum1529: Translation Assistance for Engineers

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Interesting, at NCSU "each prospective engineering student registers for classes in a common first year, which includes two engineering-specific classes, E 101 - Introduction to Engineering and E 115 - Introduction to Computing Environments". Actually, it's more like a common fall semester. They went this way because their statistics indicate "Almost half of students who consider studying engineering in college don't know in which kind of engineering they will major." It's the same today as it was in 1975.

Good luck,
Latexman

Technically, the glass is always full - 1/2 air and 1/2 water.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

in Brooklyn, they'd tell ya: fuggetaboutit - I would, because engineering sucks, even when you love engineering.
I am thinking of putting a sign on my tomb like Zorba the greek: "Here lies an Engineer who hated engineering, engineers and.... architects" in reference to "here lies a crete who hated the cretes".

Now that's off my chest, you could be a kitchen consultant, as mike noted, you know a lot about kitchens, you could be laying out and choosing (specifying) kitchen equipment for architects.
No need for a college degree for that, high school level, some CAD, on the job training and you made it.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Quit sugar coating it, cry22, how do you really feel about it!?!

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

If it's your passion, do it. But don't forget your head either. You're hoping to enter a profession which is already oversupplied, with a disadvantage as far as employers are concerned. Sure, you're more mature and you have some life experience that will be useful on the job- and you probably will do well markswise because you won't be as distracted as the kids in your classes are. But prospective employers will look at you for perhaps 2 seconds before they worry about how much salary you'll want the year after they hire you. That's the reality of the situation.

I agree with previous posters who suggested you study somewhere with a structured internship or co-op program. I'd go one step further and suggest that you do not do this UNLESS it is at such a university. It will give you a higher quality engineering education, a list of job experience prior to graduation, and a little money to offset the enormous cost of foregoing fulltime employment through those four years as well as the tuition etc. But more important than that: you will get real, current and hands-on experience with what engineers really do rather than just what you imagine or remember your dad doing.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

When I went back to school, (I took a 2-year break) I found myself in a class with many older guys. Most of them had been laid off from a factory job, and were using the severance to put themselves through engineering to get a better job. I liked hanging around with those guys a LOT more than the kids who had no life or job experience at all, even though they were only a couple of years younger than me. The older guys weren't so keen on the math (helps to have a young mind I guess) so I helped a lot of them with the statistics and calculus. They in turn taught me how to change a clutch. Fair exchange.

If some country-folk wisdom is helpful here: Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're probably right.

Good luck to you!

STF

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

The concerns about age discrimination and salary are valid, but if it's what you want to do, go for it! 41 is not too old; after 4 years in school, you could work as an engineer for 25 years before age 70.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Engineering is as much a state of mind as it is a formal education. You are either already of the engineer mindset, or not. It's not a hobby that you can learn.

Sounds like you already might have this realization. And if you feel up to starting school again, then education will obviously teach you the tools you need. But at the heart of it, a person is either of the engineer mindset or they aren't.

PE, SE
Eastern United States

"If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death!"
~Code of Hammurabi

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

You have to have . . . The Knack

Good luck,
Latexman

Technically, the glass is always full - 1/2 air and 1/2 water.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

ornery
Truly wish I had gone to law school instead of engineering, real arguing, real convincing, new cases all the time.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

The only thing stopping you is your belief and negative support from other people.

Pretend you didn't ask this question.

Ignore anything that may suggest you can't do this.

Do it ...... Do it..... and this way, you will answer your own question.

If you don't do it, you will never know; and you will regret Not doing something more than trying and failing.

Forget about this thread, and go do something.

Charlie
www.facsco.com

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

WHere are you form and where are you planning on studying?

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Do or do not, there is no ~try, want, wish, if only, etc~ . Yoda, modified to the situation.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

FACS: most people advise having a careful look around before jumping into something serious with both feet. The OP is doing what an engineer should do: seeking information from different sources, analyzing it and then using it to guide an important decision.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

moltenmetal,
I gave my opinion, if it offended you, sorry about that.

Charlie
www.facsco.com

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

Your ROI is going to suck unless you can find an employer willing to subsidize your schooling. There are jobs, especially field jobs, that involve problem solving and engineering and often are filled by anyone that can show that they can do it, degree or no degree. Also, oil and gas is hiring anyone that can fog a spoon right now. So, getting into rig work or even just starting out in design at a consulting firm wouldn't be as hard as you might expect right now.

RE: At the age 41 can you fulfil your dream to become an engineer?

FACS, you didn't offend me at all, and you are absolutely entitled to express your opinion here. The OP will have to decide between our opinions, which differ on this a fair bit.

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