Is age a factor in IT?

CyberJosh95

Hi guys,

I was just sitting here thinking about my future. Over the past couple of years I have set myself up for success in the future. I think I've made myself pretty marketable by obtaining a few certs. A+, Net+, Sec+, CCNA R:S & a few more in the next few months as I will be graduating from WGU in December. I also have a TS clearance which I received through a military career. I'm a guardsman and I've been on active orders for the past two years. I think after this Active guard tour next year, I will be looking at my options on the outside. With that being said, me only being 21 years old next year. Will companies look at me differently because ill only be 21 years old?

rsutton

It depends on your experience, but I don't think your age is an issue. If you don't have much experience, you will probably have to start with an entry level position; but with your certs you should be able to move up more quickly than something without those certs.

NetworkNewb

Majority of kids graduate from college around that age... Cant see why you would think it would be a problem

tpatt100

Man I saw the thread title and assumed this was about being "too old" for IT.......

danny069

You have a good amount of recognized certs, and for your age, that is impressive (because most of that age don't have those credentials and are not disciplined). A company should not look at you differently because of your age, because that is discriminatory. The person in charge of hiring you will make judgement based on everything, education, certs, experience, etc. Someone will have to give you a chance at some point, especially if you carry yourself in a mature but enthusiastic manner (ex: dress well, speak well, send a thank you email, etc.) on/after the interview.

stryder144

Honestly, age isn't as big a factor as most people tend to think. Is it a factor, certainly, but not one to worry about. While you are young, I think a lot of companies will be feeling you out to see how mature you are. If you act like a frat boy, then your age will be a negative. If you use the discipline, respect, and maturity that the military tends to train into people, then you will have no problem with companies wanting to hire you.

Do you have IT experience? If not, I would look for ways to get that experience (such as volunteering). If you do have experience, then you will need to figure out how to highlight it on your resume so that companies will know what you did.

Cheers

jeremywatts2005

Being a former guardsman myself and after doing 12 yrs I can speak from experience you have an advantage no one else does. Many times individuals coming from the military are viewed as more disciplined and more mature. Not always but in a lot of cases it is true. Plus depending on your time in you will get vet preference on some government jobs and contracts. You clearance will help you on DoD contracts to boot and if you go for DHS contracts it will take less time to clear you in most cases. So I would not worry about your age, instead look at the benefits of what your service has given you.

CyberJosh95

They don't graduate with as near as much experience as I have and as far as salary wise, a kid who just graduated from college with only book experience, shouldn't be at the same level as someone like me with 4 years of experience with some of the equipment I have touched and even my clearance. I think that just because my age, they would want to just give me an 21 year old who just graduated from college salary.

NetworkNewb

CyberJosh95 wrote: »

They don't graduate with as near as much experience as I have and as far as salary wise, a kid who just graduated from college with only book experience, shouldn't be at the same level as someone like me with 4 years of experience with some of the equipment I have touched and even my clearance. I think that just because my age, they would want to just give me an 21 year old who just graduated from college salary.

I dont see any IT experience listed in your original post. Unless guardsmen is an IT position? didn't go in the military myself, I would have zero clue. Of course more experience means more money. Most colleges require students to do an internships with companies their final year of college though (at least most major universities do in my experience).

CyberJosh95

I currently work as an Network Admin in the Air Force, but I'm a guardsman just on full time orders.

My job is Cyber Transport Systems. I work on Switches, Routers, Firewalls, Access Control Servers, VOIPs, Taclanes, Multiplexers, Can splice and terminate fiber. That's just the basics. The Guard/Air Force has been really good to me.

networker050184

tpatt100 wrote: »

Man I saw the thread title and assumed this was about being "too old" for IT.......

Same here. I think discrimination against older people is more prevalent in the tech industry than against younger people.

CyberJosh95

I really hope that is the case. Lol. Currently taking an CEH class and I'm the youngest in there by 10-15 years.

scaredoftests

I am here to say (56 years young)..that experience trumps age. All depends on the attitude (and the aptitude).

bpenn

CyberJosh95 wrote: »

I currently work as an Network Admin in the Air Force, but I'm a guardsman just on full time orders.

My job is Cyber Transport Systems. I work on Switches, Routers, Firewalls, Access Control Servers, VOIPs, Taclanes, Multiplexers, Can splice and terminate fiber. That's just the basics. The Guard/Air Force has been really good to me.

Yup, you are a 3D1X2. I am a 3D1X1 in the AF Reserve and it is definitely the worst IT AFSC paywise in the civilian world. I am trying to cross train to 3D1X2 so I can get a TS clearance as I will never get one as a CSA. With your experience, CCNA, and a TS clearance, I dont see why you cant already succeed. Many DoD jobs in Northwest Florida, particularly Networking, require a TS/SCI and pay very well.

CyberJosh95

You're a CST? Our CST's here complain about their futures. I'm over here at Tyndall AFB in Panama City.

stryder144

CyberJosh95...since you have four years experience, you will need to make sure that you can talk to the technical side as one with four years experience would. A lot of people have difficulty talking up the experience they have. Your resume should highlight the outcomes (not unlike the bullet statements on an EPR). Never say that you've touched a switch, tell them how configuring the switch solved a problem. If you can do that, you should have zero problems finding a job.

CyberJosh95

Thanks stryder144. When this active tour is over in the next year ill be at the 3 years 10 months years of experience mark and I'm truly considering the outside. Every time I do something on a piece of equipment I think about the logic of what's going to happen when I press enter.

blargoe

I don't think it will be *that* big of a factor, but I do believe people will bring their preconceived notions about youth just like they would about someone who is a few years from retirement. As long as you can demonstrate that you know your stuff, and prove yourself to be contrary to what some people may assume about the up-and-coming generation (lack of maturity, work ethic, entitlement), you will excel. The military experience should help for sure.

Simrid

I think it's actually the quite opposite of what you're thinking. I am 20 and I have been in IT since the age of 18. I've been in a helpdesk job, promoted to a systems engineer and then a NOC job, promoted to a project engineer.

I honestly think that companies quite like hiring younger people as long as you have the right "can do" attitude. As we both don't have much experience, it allows companies to train us how they want us, with minimal bad habits to the industry.

OctalDump

Yes. It's a factor in most industries. When you are young, they assume you know nothing and will work for peanuts or "experience". When you are older they assume that you must know what you are talking about because you are so mature and years of experience trumps quality of experience. When you are too old they assume that you are out of touch and inflexible and cannot learn.

21 is probably pretty safe. It will still likely impact on your pay, but at least that is going to go up over time.

OctalDump

christopher-sec wrote: »

thanks. Actually, how do I delete a post?

I think that you should be able to edit a post, and remove most of the contents. I think there is a minimum of 6 characters or something required in a post, so just replacing it with 'sorry, deleted' should do the trick.

There might be a minimum post limit before you can edit posts, though.

DatabaseHead

Of course it does in "some" situations both young and older. We live in a world of prejudices and these are two very common ones.

Techytach

Age, like all things will depend on the person and the company. Sometimes it might be perceived as an advantage at one company like with Simrid and for other's it might be a disadvantage (I have heard it go both ways.)

TechGromit

CyberJosh95 wrote: »

Will companies look at me differently because ill only be 21 years old?

Short answer, depends. Some hiring managers will only hire candidates with a college degree, others prefer older workers because they are more mature, others like younger workers because they can get away with paying them less, some companies hire based on the number of certifications you have, I like to hire hot easy blondes myself, but I'm not the hiring manager, so I guess it does matter anyway.

beads

IT has generally been quite accepting of people of all types of backgrounds and age has never really been a differentiating factor. No, the only thing that really separates us in IT is skill mastery and not focusing on being such a jerk to work. Know that the field is fully of myopic introverts who need to learn some social skills would be helpful at times.

"I don't care what class you slept through..." Anonymous interviewing manager

- b/eads

cmztech

(edited)

I just want to say that any discrimination is unfortunate. Thank God for true leaders who see the potential in people and not just what stands before them at any given time.