does age really matter in i.t??

jakecitrix

does ur age really matter in i.t like in ur job etc or in certs or education''???

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Armymanis

I'm 22, have my A+ and 1 class away from my AA. I already have an IT Help Desk Tier 1 job. I am flying high. I do not think age matters. I started in IT 4 months ago when I was 21. I am the youngest one in my company that I know of.

Essendon

If you were 19 and a CCIE with 6 months experience, sounded immature and full of yourself, no way in hell I'd let you near my network. I'd rather hire a 24 year old CCNP with 3 years experience. Some employers might look at a you and go - this guy is young, hasnt been in the industry for more than a few months, nah aint hiring this guy, doesnt have the experience on a production network.

pham0329

Essendon wrote: »

If you were 19 and a CCIE with 6 months experience, sounded immature and full of yourself, no way in hell I'd let you near my network. I'd rather hire a 24 year old CCNP with 3 years experience. Some employers might look at a you and go - this guy is young, hasnt been in the industry for more than a few months, nah aint hiring this guy, doesnt have the experience on a production network.

What you're referring to has more to do with experience than age. I mean, yes, in that example, the candidate won't have much experience since he just graduated out of HS...but the same would result from a 50 year old guy, with 6 months experience.

However, if there was a choice between a 24 year and 40 yr old candidate, both with the same amount of experience, I think most employer would go with the younger candidate. Or at least, that's what I've experienced so far. I'm 23 and beat out plenty of older candidates in my last few positions. When I asked my manager about it, they say that they prefer someone who's younger because they usually have more drive and ambition.

instant000

pham0329 wrote: »

they prefer someone who's younger

So, they basically confessed to age discrimination?

instant000

jakecitrix wrote: »

does ur age really matter in i.t like in ur job etc or in certs or education''???

To be perfectly honest, your age doesn't seem to usually matter in IT, unless you're old.

There is this false perception that since technology changes rapidly, someone who's been around the block won't know the newest stuff. Excepting athletics, in most every other profession, you get better with age. In IT, you get more obsolete with age. They want to throw you out when they upgrade the servers

jakecitrix

age descrimination is illegal. Lol i am like a teen have all of the certs and have a sweet high end i.t engineering gig, ppl r surprised at my age and they hate on me.

instant000

jakecitrix wrote: »

age descrimination is illegal.

True.

Lol i am like a teen have all of the certs and have a sweet high end i.t engineering gig, ppl r surprised at my age and they hate on me.

Like I said earlier, age doesn't matter in IT, unless you're old

Psoasman

I don't think age really matters.
I changed careers to IT from healthcare when I was 32. I know age discrimination is illegal, but there are lots of reasons companies can use to justify not hiring you.

vCole

Age doesn't matter, maturity does. Anyone, no matter the age can be immature and irresponsible. I'm young myself (24) and I've already had positions such as Systems Administrator, Operations Manager, etc. with a lot of responsibility attached. As long as you can show the company you can do your job it's not a problem.

erpadmin

Age Discrimination is illegal. That doesn't mean I want to give clues about my age, or marital status. I won't answer those questions in the application process....only when I'm about to be hired.

However, that's why looking presentable helps out a lot during interviews.

I thankfully still look like I'm in my 20s..and I'm in my 30s.

As others have said though, it's all about maturity.

SteveO86

Age is irrelevant.. How you present yourself does, as well being able to deliver on your skills.

(Just throwing this out there but you might want to start spelling out yours words instead of relying on internet speak)

pham0329

instant000 wrote: »

So, they basically confessed to age discrimination?

Maybe, and I don't blame them. I'm not saying that because I got the job, but because I've worked with plenty of older people in the industry, and while some are very good at what they do, most hardly keep up with the technologies. For example, I've worked with programmers who develops in colbolt, and refuses to learn .NET because it would mean starting over.

It wasn't like the guy that was passed up on was the only candidate and they didn't hire him because of his age. They were given 2 choices, me and the older guy. They chose me because they think that younger people have more drive and ambition. Either way, if you think that employer don't hire base on fit, you're mistaken.

TLeTourneau

pham0329 wrote: »

<SNIP>...Either way, if you think that employer don't hire base on fit, you're mistaken.

I don't know what "base on fit" means, I assume you meant "based on it". So what's your definition of "older"? I'm in my 40's, does that make me old? I was hired recently and my employer certainly knew my age. But hey, that's just my experience.

pham0329

What I mean by "based on fit" is that aside from your qualification, you have to fit in with the team. For example, if you have a team of 8 people, all within their 20s, and you have 2 candidates, one in his 20s, and the other his 40s. If everything else is the same, chances are, the one in his 20s will be hired.

I know an HR manager for a very well known company who told me that recently, he had to hire someone for a marketing position. The manager of the marketing depart narrowed it down to 2 candidates, one was a guy with years of experience and everything they wanted. They other was a woman, who qualified for the position, but wasn't quite as experience as the other guy. They ended up hiring the woman because according to the Marketing Manager, she went with the woman because there were too many males in her department.

I'm not saying if you're older, you're SOL. What I'm saying is that there are employers out there who would rather hire younger people because they think the older you are, the less up to date you are with technologies.

Raidersfan81

While any type of discrimination against a person is illegal, it doesn't mean it don't happen all the time. People get discriminated everyday from an interview, but you have no way in finding out. It's not like if you call them and ask they are going to tell you any type of negative reason.

I hate when people can come to conclusions about somebody off of looks and or somebodies age.

idr0p

Im 24, I hold 3 (soon to be 5 certifications), I am a Security Analyst, going into Consulting. I dont think age really matters to an extent. I will have to let you know at the end of the year when i am in consulting.

Heero

pham0329 wrote: »

Maybe, and I don't blame them. I'm not saying that because I got the job, but because I've worked with plenty of older people in the industry, and while some are very good at what they do, most hardly keep up with the technologies. For example, I've worked with programmers who develops in colbolt, and refuses to learn .NET because it would mean starting over.

It wasn't like the guy that was passed up on was the only candidate and they didn't hire him because of his age. They were given 2 choices, me and the older guy. They chose me because they think that younger people have more drive and ambition. Either way, if you think that employer don't hire base on fit, you're mistaken.

Hiring a younger person over an older person because he/she is younger is the definition of age discrimination. Stop skirting around that fact and trying to justify it.

erpadmin

Heero wrote: »

Hiring a younger person over an older person because he/she is younger is the definition of age discrimination. Stop skirting around that fact and trying to justify it.

Don't beat pham0329 up, man. The truth is a bunch of folks don't want to hire AARP card-holders (or folks that are soon to be getting there.) Does that make it right? Heck no! But that's just the way it is...the only way AARP-person can beat someone who is younger is by demonstrating drive and ambition, as well as willing to forgo the notion that "old dogs can't learn new tricks."

BTW, I'm only 16 years away from earning my AARP card.....as time goes on, that's right around the corner!

pham0329

Heero wrote: »

Hiring a younger person over an older person because he/she is younger is the definition of age discrimination. Stop skirting around that fact and trying to justify it.

It's not black and white as you think. What if it's the same situation, but with 2 guys of similar age? They believe one candidate has more drive and ambition, so they went with that one instead. Is that wrong? Why is it different because one is older?

Either way, I'm not the one hiring people so I don't much care about this issue...at least, for another 20 years

Mishra

I'm pretty sure I didn't get a job because of age discrimination.

I had people like the Linux manager telling me he wanted to steal me and hire me in his group. And STILL didn't get the job with the people who I interviewed with.

When you look young, walk into an interview and get that awkward stare, you know immediately what they are thinking.

Qord

I've seen age discrimination happen. My father tried for two years to get a job where he lives. His resume mentioned something like "proud Vietnam veteran" in it. I talked him into taking that part out, and re-submitting his resume to everyone he had sent it to before. He changed nothing else in it, and started getting calls from places that had turned him down before. Exact same job postings, exact same resume, minus the hint at his age, and he started getting interviews....if it wasn't an initial age issue than what else could it be?

jakecitrix wrote: »

age descrimination is illegal.

That's irrelevant, it doesn't matter if it's illegal. Being illegal is not enough to stop something from happening. All that means is that companies have to be more careful about how they do it.

w_w_w

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but age discrimination only comes into play if the prospective employee / employee is over 40. Otherwise, an employer is perfectly within their rights to prefer hiring a younger candidate -- or an older candidate if they think you're too young.

never2late

w_w_w wrote: »

I hate to burst everyone's bubble, but age discrimination only comes into play if the prospective employee / employee is over 40. Otherwise, an employer is perfectly within their rights to prefer hiring a younger candidate -- or an older candidate if they think you're too young.

This thread terrifies me. I am in that "older" bracket, with grey hair and a few (very few) wrinkles, and soon to be a college graduate. I feel that I have a lot to offer to any employer, having both the degree and 12 years experience in IT. Thinking that a younger candidate has more ambition and drive automatically qualifies them as the best choice is slighting the more mature and experienced candidate. There has to be situations where maturity and experience tempers the over-exuberance of youth. Though age discrimination is illegal I am not so naive to think that its not happening. Those companies limit themselves by not tapping this vital resource.

N2IT

erpadmin wrote: »

Age Discrimination is illegal. That doesn't mean I want to give clues about my age, or marital status. I won't answer those questions in the application process....only when I'm about to be hired.

However, that's why looking presentable helps out a lot during interviews.

I thankfully still look like I'm in my 20s..and I'm in my 30s.

As others have said though, it's all about maturity.

They can get you with asking when you graduated high school. That will give you a really good indication how old someone is. Obviously this won't be on a resume, but if the organization requires you fill out some on line application they usually ask for dates with your education.

Short little story. And for the record it is practiced

I know a lady who is the wife of one of my employees who is an AD architect and another gentleman who is a storage administrator. Both have grey hair one has some streaks the other is full blown grey. Both have a lot of experience probably 30 years between the both of them. Neither of them could get a job for the longest time. They were still employed but the company had just been bought and the writing was on the wall. Well the lady read an article about dying your hair to get a job. It was one of those top 10 list off of Linkedin. Well guess what as soon as she died her hair she was offered job in the next 2 months. More pay same job. The other gentlemen who had grey / white hair got his hair professionally died and styled received a job the next week. I remember my employee and I laughing about it.

Up until that point the gentleman had been on several interviews with no offers. He gets his hair styled and dyed and BAM A new job. Call it A coincidence if you would like.

So in short yes it does happen.

Rappeller

We all know age discrimination happens, but to be fair there are tons of companies and HR managers that would prefer to hire the older generations (I include myself as I am 41). That's because we generally have a better work ethic, looking for more stability (not moving job to job), and usually very few morning after issues (read less partying). The last 2 people hired at my place of employment have 10 - 15 years on me. As for drive, i have found that older employees work hard to feed their families, the really young ones work to pay the liquor store. (Really I jest, as I have a lot of younger co-workers who feed their families, but their budget to "play" is way different than mine)

instant000

It depends on the place.

I would want to have the best workers on my team, period.

It also becomes an issue of affordability. Maybe I can afford the guy with two years experience, but I cannot afford a competitive wage for the guru with ten years experience.

If wages are not an issue, of course I want the most experienced guy on MY team, but I am just being realistic, and saying that I see both sides of the coin here.

Everyone

I've been on a long trend of being the youngest person on the team. A couple places I've been the youngest person in company history to hold a specific title. People think I'm older than I am. I blame having kids, lol, although a lot of it comes from having the amount of experience that I do. I'm sure this trend will end soon as I'm pushing 30 now.

neathneathneath

Does being 52 mean i'm on the scrapheap?

I'm still studying and knocking out some certs, 70-682 next

Many older guys have much more "get up and go" than some younger counterparts.

Plantwiz

instant000 wrote: »

To be perfectly honest, your age doesn't seem to usually matter in IT, unless you're old.

There is this false perception that since technology changes rapidly, someone who's been around the block won't know the newest stuff. Excepting athletics, in most every other profession, you get better with age. In IT, you get more obsolete with age. They want to throw you out when they upgrade the servers .

I actually have not seen this to be the case.

So, your experinece may be different, but a good IT person is valuable regardless of gender or age. And frenquently, the older candidate has a better grasp of working with a team as well as intergrated technologies than a younger worker. It varies from candidate to candidate which is why a through interview process is necessary before selecting a candiate to join the team.

never2late

N2IT wrote: »

The other gentlemen who had grey / white hair got his hair professionally died and styled received a job the next week. I remember my employee and I laughing about it.

So what do you think.... blonde, brunette, or redhead. Hell, I might just go Kojak. Oops, did I just date myself. Gotta be careful.