Job prospects for mature students on graduation

Moomat

Hi, has anybody any idea what the job prospects are like for mature students after they graduate?
The area I'm looking at and enjoy most is Business/IT/Law.
I'm hoping to apply to colleges after Christmas for a full time degree as a mature student. Done plenty of research and my top preferences are Business and Law, Computer Science & Business and a Commerce/Business degree.
I left school after the Junior cert, qualified as a mechanic, started a specialised transport business, ran that successfully for 8 years with 10+ employees and then due to varying reasons, some my fault, the business failed in 2011. I now find myself at 30 trying to put some direction on my life again.
I am curious though how I will be received by potential employers on graduation and what areas would suit my experience?? I like the sound of business analyst jobs.

Any help/advice/tips gladly welcome! Thanks

fangler

Your job prospects should be ok. I was in a similar position to yourself and went back and did a Finance degree. Had trouble getting entry-level graduate jobs in Finance as I was about 10 years older than what they wanted. Some mature students I know who did commerce degrees have told me about having similar experiences. Can be a bit disheartening to see students in your course with much lower marks than you get jobs that you also applied for, and didn't get, simply because they're younger. I found it better to apply for positions advertised that required more experience. More responsibilty and better starting salary. One interviewer for an Irish bank told that, in his opinion, Irish Finance companies were unlikely to take on mature students for their graduate programmes. He reckoned we'd find the lack of responsibility a big put off. He got me on to the idea of applying for higher level roles and I had a lot more success. I wish someone had told me this before I started applying for jobs. You should have even better prospects than me in applying for these type of roles if you have some business experience.

Moomat

Hi Fangler, thanks for the information. That was a concern of mine that you may be in no man's land on graduation. Perceived as not mouldable enough for a graduate programme and maybe too inexperienced for higher roles. I'm glad your chosen path worked out for you!
Did you do any internships or summer jobs related to your area of study during the degree?

fangler

Didn't do any internships due to financial constraints. Most finance ones are unpaid. If money weren't an issue, I would definitely have done one. Most students in my course got their graduate jobs with the same company they did an internship with.

Moomat

Money would be an issue for me too, I'd imagine it would be great for contacts though if you could manage it somehow. Just going to knuckle down and make the most of it. Probably 40 years of work left in me so better spend it doing something I enjoy.

fangler

A few paid internships out there if you could get them. Still would involve a hit on the finances as they'd pay less than you're used to but well worth it for the connections.

pow wow

From my own experience I didn't find them any better or worse than a younger graduate - though I did get a few sideways glances from graduate recruiters when I had 10 years on the other applicants. In the end I bypassed graduate programmes altogether and eventually (after many entry level positions) found a role that combined my previous experience/career history with the fact that I now had a degree. Be prepared for no-one to give two hoots that you went back to college at an older age - when I did my degree the careers officers seemed to think employers would appreciate the extra commitment it took to return to education when you're older etc. etc.....they don't.