Getting into IT field at 40

[hawx20]

I've been an Operations Manager at my current job for the past 10 years. I've always loved working with computers and having been doing so since the DOS days.

I want to start self studying and earning certifications but the thing killing my motivation are the horror stories of age discrimination in this field. Is it really that bad? My current job is fine, but I want to be prepared in case anything ever happens so I figured why not start on getting certs while I can. Realistically, how hard would it be for someone between 40-45 years old to land a job in the IT field? Would I pretty much be wasting my time getting certs at this age and should I look into another field?

 

[Lexluethar]

Its not hard at all to find a job at that age. I think the big issue people have is they think because they are older they can start mid level similar to other fields. This isn't he case with IT, you start from the bottom and move up, no matter what your age is.

Certifications is the perfect start, I'd start off with CompTIA A+ and Net+. Those are great starts.

Professor Messer, CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux, Microsoft Certification Training has some great material for free.

 

[hawx20]

No misconception here about starting at the bottom. While it does kind of suck, in a weird way its what excites me the most about getting into a new field.

While working at my current job, I was already at the top when I got a wife and kid. Its exciting to see what I can do starting on the ground floor with the motivation of having a family. Its simultaneously the most exciting and most frightening thing I can do, starting a new job on the ground floor. Absolutely no room for failure, and forget hitting the ground running.....i dont plan to hit the ground!

 

[Lexluethar]

Ha!

I think the biggest hurdle for someone in your position (at least that i've seen) is the pay. A lot of people established in their current job make decent money and starting at the bottom making 30 to 35k a year isn't a financial option. It's hard to overcome, but with hard work you can easily move up rather quickly and within 3 years have a completely different set of job duties in IT making a lot more money.

 

[hawx20]

Yeah that would be a pretty big cut in pay but luckily I've positioned our family to live below our means so we could do it for a year or so and still be fine.

 

[ibt734]

I know he feeling. I am 57 YO and was one of those that lost their job at Hostess Brands. I am enrolled at the College of DuPage in Illinois and am 8 months into my schooling. Going for AAS in CIT. Great instructors here that have on average 20+ years in networking. They are all CCNA/NP with one CCIE. And a few of them were with Bell Labs thirty years ago. I had a cert in tech from 1982 but never did anything with it. The money was too good at Hostess. Now that isn't an issue.

Age does not seem to be a factor in this industry as far as I can tell by talking with my instructors. I have already done a computer tech internship and am trying to get a networking internship. I hold a 3.86 GPA so far and am on the honors roll. The way I see it is that you need to separate yourself from the pack via a good GPA. Cisco training and CompTIA+ is the way to go. I plan on taking my CCNA and CompTIA+ this summer. I also have amassed about 25gb in study materials on the side. Professor Messer, Danscourses, Eli the Computer Guy, Vambar, CBT Nuggets, INE Training.......just for starters. CrameMaster as well as a few other testing simulators I have found help also. I spend about 6 hours a day since last May studying and going to school. Plow into it as best you can and good luck.

 

[Lexluethar]

ibt734 gets it. You have to do all the extra work to stand out. It's not enough in todays world to just have a degree, you have to have certification and experience if possible when applying for jobs.

 

[ibt734]

I have at least 475 videos I have downloaded to my Roku Media Browser Server that I have started watching weeks ago. Not to mention the 20 or so PDF's primarily on networking and my 6 testing sims. I get up at 4AM and study until at least 10AM. Then school at night. I will get my school certs in May. My vids and other materials include Cisco voice, NP, IE , security, data center, firewall, switching and routing. I set up my PT typologies and start my configs. My confidence level is much higher for CompTIA than Cisco. To me, Cisco looks brutal. But this is the work needed to get where you want to go. Get all the info you can fellas. You cannot have enough.

 

[Remeran12]

This is becoming more and more common. When I did my internship at a school district one of the other interns was in his 40's. It's not something that should really hold you back at all, in fact he just seemed to be a little better at talking to the higher ups than the younger interns were. Technically speaking he did just as good as the rest of us.