Starting age for a career in software - fresh out of school?

Question

I am a new graduate (in the last four or five months), and like many in my situation, I'm having serious difficulty finding a job. I've got a good degree (BEng in Comp. Eng.) from a top-three school in my non-American English-speaking Western country, a pretty good resume, and a terrible GPA.

I've been making contacts (applying, personal relationships, etc.) with various companies over the past few months, but most people I get to says they're either not hiring at all, or are thinking about people, but have a hiring freeze for the next six months.

I have a few friends in politics, however, and have a potential job offer to do advance operations for one of the major political figures in my country. This basically means setting up events across the country, and going to them with this figure. There's also likely to be an election within the next six months which this guy should win, according to most polls out there. In the abstract, I think this job would be great, and a whole lot of fun. After talking to a few people whose opinions I trust, there seems to be two camps:

• Take the job. It's a shitty economy now, and no one is hiring. When the economy comes back, people will be hiring and that resume should help you get something in your field, as long as you demonstrate that you've kept your interest up while you're in this non-software job. Anyways, if you do this you'll meet a bunch of interesting and varied people, have some great networking contacts, and who knows what you'll end up wanting to do in a year.

• Don't take the job. When you want to come (back) to software in a year you'll be over 27, and at that point you'll be too old for most junior positions (which is what you should be going into, based on your professional experience), but won't have the experience for the intermediate-level jobs that you should be doing at that age. This will somewhat screw up your career in the long run, so you should keep looking now, and move to the cottage for the summer.

The first camp is closer to what I think about the job, but the possibility of the second one (specifically, the age thing) has me a bit worried. Is that a legitimate concern in this day and age, or am I seeing shadows where they don't exist?

Answer 1

I would go on that first job, but in the meantime search for one that suits me (in software industry) - just like you. Maybe in the meantime you should work at some private projects so you'll get some experience

Answer 2

27 is not too old to start anything. That argument doesn't carry much weight in my opinion. I didn't switch from engineering to software development until I was 38.

Wow, 27 as too old. What a concept. I could have used that excuse to say that switching careers was a bad idea because I was too old. Now I have fourteen years of experience in a second field. I think it's worked out very well indeed. I'm thinking about my third act now....

Answer 3

Age doesn't matter unless (1) you think it matters or (2) your potential employer thinks it matters. If you are willing to take a junior position and the pay scale that goes with it, it doesn't matter at what age you want to do this. Also, having a gap of a year or so between graduation and getting your first job in the field is not unusual or anything to worry about. Just make sure that you continue to keep current in your skills.

By the way, 27 is young! Age 40 is looking younger and younger to this 29-year-old.

Answer 4

I can only say, grab every opportunity you get. All experience you get is worth something in the future. Don't give up a chance just because you "might get something better" a little later on, because you will usually end up regretting turning down the chance later on. 26 or 27, there is no difference if you ask me. I don't have personal experience in getting a job because I'm 21, but I've worked with people who got into the software business past 30 without any raised eyebrows.

So, camp #1.

Answer 5

Whether you take the job or not will probably have little impact on your career later. What will likely benefit you either way would be to build up a portfolio of your work in your spare time. Examples:

• contribute to an open source project
• put together a number of small apps by yourself
• put together your own webpage, wherein you can showcase any of the above

Also, you should probably continue to keep an eye out for new software jobs in the meantime; don't just give up on finding a software job for X months because that's what recruiters are telling you.

Answer 6

Last month I graduated from a major Canadian university with a bachelor of Computer Engineering. I was very fortunate to find a job straight out of school, so I'm not in a good position to talk about the job market. That said, I can give you my take on your situation.

First, there is never a bad time to build your network. If you find the political opportunity interesting, then it is worth doing. I'm not convinced your age is a legitimate concern. Graduate students often start in the industry at around that age. You'd be entering the market with real-world experience versus their academia experience.

Regarding your GPA, I do not think that is the only concern that companies have. While I'm not dismissing a GPA, other factors also play a role in hiring. What personal projects have you worked on? What internships have you had? Do you have a blog? Do you contribute to open source? Etc. Joel Spolsky has a great article about sorting resumes. It explains what the (good) recruiters look for. Yes, gpa is there, but many other factors are important too.

Finally, if you really want to be a software developer, now is a great time to enter as a solo-developer. With all the smart phone craze (iPhone, Pre, Android) you can start building your own brand in that market. That way as the market improves, you'll already have your name out there with product experience under your belt.

Anyway that is just my take. Also, a lot of major companies (Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc.) are always hiring interns. That is a great chance to get some industry experience and get a feel for an organization. I'm not sure if these positions are reserved for returning students, but it may be worth looking into.

Answer 7

I was in the same boat when I graduated. I wound up taking 2 years "off" after graduating with a CS degree, working in a completely different field. I actually found it a lot easier to find a job afterwards.

Answer 8

I graduated in 2002, and didn't get my first programming job until 2006.

From 2002-2004 I was self employed, in a different industry. I think it definitely hurt me when I tried getting a programming job. The main question I always heard was "well why did you take so long to use your degree?"

I finally found someone willing to take a chance on me doing jr dev work and help desk. I'm sure a lot of people started off in the hell hole that is help desk support.

Basically, do what you want to do, and what will make you happy.

Also, try and keep up on the latest technologies. While software engineering principles typically will not change, the flavor and syntax and framework will, and hiring managers like key words.

Did anyone else find it funny back in 2006 when people were looking for 10 years of C#/ASP.NET experience, even though the technology wasn't around that long. Damn HR.

Answer 9

Getting removed from technology for any extended length of time can have detrimental effects on your career. Things change so fast that in six months or whenever you get back to development what you know could be useless (this is, however, somewhat unlikely). If you would end up with a job in software development for the government after the election, then I'd say go for it. If not, then I'd keep looking. Other people have suggestions for your resume and how to search which may help.

Answer 10

I began learning web development when I was 11, and by 16 was hustling well designed, compliant static websites. At that time, I was told "you're too young." Had I taken that as an answer, I would have never been where I am now. Now, I independently work, and have only been actually 'employed' once in my life. I had a similar fork in the road 2 years ago, I took option 1, and it's opened up a room full of doors for me. 27 is not too old, your never too old as long as you keep up to date with technology.

I suggest that you think outside the box on this one. Take 'option 1' as an learning experience, a means to network with others and way to pay the bills at the same time. Build some bridges. While you are working this job, begin to consider how you can fend for yourself without reliance on a company paycheck. Apply your skills in a way that provides a revenue stream, opposed to an hourly tradeoff. For example, develop a useful web app, sell a product marketed through a website and if you have to, sell your services on a freelance basis.

But don't forget, 'speculative work' doesn't pay bills, it's an investment towards your future. Remember to take care, and stay on top of whatever work you do that pays the bills (in this case, option #1)

Tips:

1. Resumes are obsolete, mostly used to start fires. If you plan on getting development work, build a blog and pump it full of knowledgeable content related to your area of expertise. Put the blog on your business card and give that to your interviewer. If you've done a good job, it will reflect in your client/inviewer interactions.
2. Don't doubt yourself, always challenge yourself, and don't be afraid to be wrong. You'll get it right.
3. Stop thinking you're too old! It's rubbish. My older brother owned a landscaping company. At age 27 he severely hurt his back. His solution was to teach himself Java (no school), 6 years later he is licensed and making $75-100/hour as a part-time Java developer.