Should I go to college.

mickmac76

Hi all

I'm currently 37 years old and have worked in the pharma sector for 16 years as an operator. There is an opportunity to take redundancy next year and I've been giving this some thought.

What I'd like to do is take the redundancy offer and go to college for 4 years and study for a degree in computer science. I'm just concerned about a few things and hope the posters here can offer their opinions on the following questions.

My biggest concern is my age. If I go to college for 4 years I will be 42 by the time I graduate. Does anyone know what employers in the software sector will think off this. Would I be considered too old for a graduate level role. I don't mind working hard for the 4 years but only if I can get a position afterwards. The idea of studying hard for years and having nothing to do in 4 years fills me with horror.

Given my location (Kildare) I would prefer to study in Dublin (or possibly Maynooth). Which is considered the best path to go down. I've been looking mostly at Trinity college and Tallaght IT. Does it make a real difference if you attend an IT or a university. I like the look of Trinity's degree programme but if I attend Tallaght I could graduate with a cert or diploma in 2 or 3 years if money became an issue.

Also between now and about next August I'm going to start learning some programming and dusting off my maths. This is to help me to prepare for college and to make sure I'm suited to computer science as a career. Is there anything else I could be doing to test my own suitability and improve my chances of being successful at college. I've never done any programming before but will start next week. I've used computers extensively in work and at home but only as a user. That said physics and maths were my best subjects in my leaving cert and I enjoyed both of them although that was 18 years ago.

Any replies would be appreciated.

Mick.

srsly78

Go study physics or maths instead, opens up more options. Study whatever you are interested in, don't worry about career so much.

Smoggy

Make sure you like programming before taking a 4 year degree. 100 people started my degree, by the end of the first year we were 70. At graduation there were 50 and a good percentage of them didn't want to get jobs as a software developer. They went into hardware, graphic design etc.

Maybe do a beginners online course before hand, get some books etc.

grahamor

I did an Information Systems degree in Trinity part-time (3 evenings per week) and would recommend it. Its a combination of computer science and business in IT. In the last year we could choose whether to do advanced Java or management information systems (for people who want to be a CIO)

Smoggy's comment is spot on about ensuring you actually like programming before you consider a career in it. If you have a passion for the industry and a degree then lot's of companies would look past the age concerns you have.

Brussels Sprout

I started my on at a grad scheme at age 30 and a guy who was in his 40's started on the same day as me so my employer certainly didn't see a problem with it.

Giruilla

srsly78 wrote: »

Go study physics or maths instead, opens up more options. Study whatever you are interested in, don't worry about career so much.

Is that a joke?

Tar.Aldarion

Two people that did a course with me were in their fourties and plenty of people in their thirties, they have jobs in the field now. It's all on how much people are will to work for it and want to do it.

ChRoMe

Giruilla wrote: »

Is that a joke?

Why would you think that is a joke?

ChippingSodbury

Giruilla wrote: »

Is that a joke?

I wouldn't think so. There's no point in studying something you don't like. You can only be really good and enthusiastc at something that you truly enjoy: if you enjoy something and pursue it enthusiastically, you will definitely get a job. Life's too sort to be miserable and besides, it'll be tough to get a job doing something that you don't really give a sh*t about other than the money.

spurious

ChRoMe wrote: »

Why would you think that is a joke?

Doesn't the second sentence contradict the first?

Giruilla

ChRoMe wrote: »

Why would you think that is a joke?

Go study physics or maths instead, opens up more options.
Take a look on any job site and see how many employers are looking for someone with a maths or physics degree as opposed to programming skills.

Study whatever you are interested in, don't worry about career so much.
This is someone looking to get a skill to get higher in the workplace not some 18 year old kid living in the comfort of his parents gaf.

I honestly thought that post was a joke.

srsly78

Maths and physics courses involve lots of programming. Jobs often look for any numerate qualification. Maths/physics/engineering is just as good if not better than computer science, and opens up more options. Indeed the best payings software jobs in finance look specifically for maths/physics.

ChRoMe

srsly78 wrote: »

Maths and physics courses involve lots of programming. Jobs often look for any numerate qualification. Maths/physics/engineering is just as good if not better than computer science, and opens up more options. Indeed the best payings software jobs in finance look specifically for maths/physics.

Exactly, there is huge money for math focused programmers in finance. One of my mates contracts at 850 a day due to having the combination.

Dacelonid

mickmac76 wrote: »

If I go to college for 4 years I will be 42 by the time I graduate. Does anyone know what employers in the software sector will think off this.
Mick.

Hi Mick,
I work for a very large multinational software house, and I can tell you age is no barrier to employment. When I started (admittedly 13 years ago), there were 2 guys that started at the same time that were in their 40's and both are still employed here.

Budawanny

mickmac76 wrote: »

Hi all

I'm currently 37 years old and have worked in the pharma sector for 16 years as an operator. There is an opportunity to take redundancy next year and I've been giving this some thought.

What I'd like to do is take the redundancy offer and go to college for 4 years and study for a degree in computer science. I'm just concerned about a few things and hope the posters here can offer their opinions on the following questions.

My biggest concern is my age. If I go to college for 4 years I will be 42 by the time I graduate. Does anyone know what employers in the software sector will think off this. Would I be considered too old for a graduate level role. I don't mind working hard for the 4 years but only if I can get a position afterwards. The idea of studying hard for years and having nothing to do in 4 years fills me with horror.

Given my location (Kildare) I would prefer to study in Dublin (or possibly Maynooth). Which is considered the best path to go down. I've been looking mostly at Trinity college and Tallaght IT. Does it make a real difference if you attend an IT or a university. I like the look of Trinity's degree programme but if I attend Tallaght I could graduate with a cert or diploma in 2 or 3 years if money became an issue.

Also between now and about next August I'm going to start learning some programming and dusting off my maths. This is to help me to prepare for college and to make sure I'm suited to computer science as a career. Is there anything else I could be doing to test my own suitability and improve my chances of being successful at college. I've never done any programming before but will start next week. I've used computers extensively in work and at home but only as a user. That said physics and maths were my best subjects in my leaving cert and I enjoyed both of them although that was 18 years ago.

Any replies would be appreciated.

Mick.

No i don't think it would be a barrier at all. get some books, see if software is what you like doing. (persevere, it can be frustrating but the penny will drop eventually so just keep at it).
if you do like it give it everything you have. you will be employable and you wont regret it.
A positive attitude will really help when the time comes.
my albeit small boutique software house would have absolutely no problems hiring a 40 something grad. in software its really irrelevant. We couldnt care less to be honest.

mickmac76

Hi Everyone

OP here. I'm sorry about the delay in replying to the many posts.

Thanks for all the positive replies, it does help my decision making process knowing that my age won't be a huge barrier. In response to the replies concerning my enjoyment of physics/maths, yes I do enjoy both subjects and I am considering studying them at college.

However first I want to explore programming as it's something I haven't done before. If I think I could make a reasonable software developer I will most likely go down the computer science road as it seems to have good prospects. I mentioned the maths/physics as I hope an enjoyment and capability in these subjects may suggest an aptitude for computer programming and related area's.

I fully intend to start programming over christmas and continue into the next year. I will also be applying to CAO for college places in the new year. As I don't have to make my mind up regarding the redundancy until July I hope to have a better understanding of my own abilities by then. I can then make a definite decision as to weather I should take the redundancy offer or stick to my current job.


Mick.

Talisman

Age is never a factor, your mental capacity for providing efficient solutions to problems is what will determine how good you can be. Your background in Maths would help you greatly.

Are you intending to apply for a college place as a mature student? As far as I know if you do so your submission has to be received by February 1st.

CreepingDeath

I'd say you should try to leverage your existing skills in any future career.
If you really want to get into the computer industry, I'd aim for business analyst/project management instead, especially if you apply to some software house that is writing software for the pharma industry.

A mates wife worked for the HSE and took a course in bioinformatics.
It complemented her skills as opposed to ignoring them and starting as a beginner in a completely new field.

lillycool

I think that you should make a big list of all of your 'transferable skills', and think about your future direction/goals and possibly chat with an experienced career transition consultant before committing to anything.

The Corinthian

mickmac76 wrote: »

My biggest concern is my age. If I go to college for 4 years I will be 42 by the time I graduate. Does anyone know what employers in the software sector will think off this. Would I be considered too old for a graduate level role. I don't mind working hard for the 4 years but only if I can get a position afterwards. The idea of studying hard for years and having nothing to do in 4 years fills me with horror.

Yes, age is a factor. When I say factor, I do not mean throughout your career and for every role, however it is certainly a factor for graduate and junior level jobs. Many IT companies (particularly Internet and new media) prefer to hire young and cheap, that they can work to the bone, and naturally age is a factor in this.

Take a look at job adverts; if it describes the company as having a "young" or "dynamic" culture, that means that they want their graduate-level intake to be in their twenties.

Of course, not all companies are like this. More traditional software firms prefer older developers, with previous experience in another field, because they prefer people to remain, rather than stay for 18 months and move on. Nonetheless, age is a factor in that some companies will discriminate against you. Still, don't become disheartened (see below).

Does it make a real difference if you attend an IT or a university.

It does if you ever want to get a job or contract abroad.

Any replies would be appreciated.

Other thoughts that come to mind are first; do you need to do a primary degree in Computer Science? If you already have a primary degree, it may make more sense to do a postgrad instead. I say this because you don't need a degree to learn how to program, in fact most degree courses are way out of touch where it comes to current technologies, and an MSc or PGDip looks way better than two BA's on your CV.

As such, I'd look at doing that programming course, prior to doing any degree, but I'd seriously consider doing a postgrad instead of a primary degree, if you can.

Finally, while I may have depressed you above on the topic of age, there is a silver lining. You've 16 years background in pharma, which combined with development skills and experience can be a licence to print money as actual industry experience in the area you're to develop in is like gold dust in many sectors, pharma and medical systems being two of them.

fergalr

mickmac76 wrote: »

Hi all

I'm currently 37 years old and have worked in the pharma sector for 16 years as an operator. There is an opportunity to take redundancy next year and I've been giving this some thought.

What I'd like to do is take the redundancy offer and go to college for 4 years and study for a degree in computer science. I'm just concerned about a few things and hope the posters here can offer their opinions on the following questions.

My biggest concern is my age. If I go to college for 4 years I will be 42 by the time I graduate. Does anyone know what employers in the software sector will think off this. Would I be considered too old for a graduate level role. I don't mind working hard for the 4 years but only if I can get a position afterwards. The idea of studying hard for years and having nothing to do in 4 years fills me with horror.

Given my location (Kildare) I would prefer to study in Dublin (or possibly Maynooth). Which is considered the best path to go down. I've been looking mostly at Trinity college and Tallaght IT. Does it make a real difference if you attend an IT or a university. I like the look of Trinity's degree programme but if I attend Tallaght I could graduate with a cert or diploma in 2 or 3 years if money became an issue.

Also between now and about next August I'm going to start learning some programming and dusting off my maths. This is to help me to prepare for college and to make sure I'm suited to computer science as a career. Is there anything else I could be doing to test my own suitability and improve my chances of being successful at college. I've never done any programming before but will start next week. I've used computers extensively in work and at home but only as a user. That said physics and maths were my best subjects in my leaving cert and I enjoyed both of them although that was 18 years ago.

Any replies would be appreciated.

Mick.

You haven't said enough about yourself.

Have you a primary degree? If so, what was in it?

What did you do in pharma? What do you know?

Do you want to work in something associated with pharma in future? Or explicitly not in anything to do with pharma?

Do you want to be a software developer? Why do you think that?

Why are you also considering maths/physics?

What's your motivation?

Is it more that you want interesting technical challenges? Or is it that you want a well paying job? Where do you hope to be in 10 years? Working as a coder? management? something else?

mickmac76 wrote: »

I've been looking mostly at Trinity college and Tallaght IT. Does it make a real difference if you attend an IT or a university.

Yes, often to employers, and especially internationally as people say.

mickmac76 wrote: »

I like the look of Trinity's degree programme but if I attend Tallaght I could graduate with a cert or diploma in 2 or 3 years if money became an issue.

Are you sure you can't get a pass degree in 3 years from TCD, if things become bad? You used to be able to when I was there, and that'd probably be worth more than a cert or dip from tallaght.

fergalr

srsly78 wrote: »

Go study physics or maths instead, opens up more options. Study whatever you are interested in, don't worry about career so much.

That really depends.

I'd agree it opens up more technical/analytical roles in the long run, e.g. in finance, but it often means that if people want to become more pure software developers, they need further training (e.g. MSc) and more time than CS grads.

I'd give different advice to someone just finishing their leaving cert, vs. someone making a career change, possibly with financial commitments.

_Redzer_

Smoggy wrote: »

Make sure you like programming before taking a 4 year degree. 100 people started my degree, by the end of the first year we were 70. At graduation there were 50 and a good percentage of them didn't want to get jobs as a software developer. They went into hardware, graphic design etc.

Maybe do a beginners online course before hand, get some books etc.

This is crucial. After doing programming in college I actually couldn't despise a subject more than I do programming, despite having good intensions initially.

zig

Another option would be to start doing your own projects now, starting with some real easy ones and work your way up until they start getting interesting, to the point that you could use them to put on a CV, then when the time comes for redundancy you could attempt to get an internship.

Maybe a small company would be interested in someone with some decent knowledge and will look past the lack of qualification.

On the back of that you may get an entry level job.

The advantage of this is you will know quite quickly whether you like programming or not, and it wont cost you time and money.

But to answer your question, no , age definitely doesnt seem to matter in the industry. If you can do the work, and you're professional in your conduct then I dont see why anyone would care.