Conference turris::womannotes-v3

one of the women I worked with approx. 15 years ago was a widow, 55 years in
age.  She had been a secretary for her entire career.  She came to me and
asked to be trained as a computer operator.  I agreed to train her, and we
talked management into transferring her to my group.  Ida spent the last
14 years of her career as an increasingly more competent computer professional,
going far past her initial training as an operator to become a software
data warehouse designer/manager and a key member of the development team.
She retired to pursue other interests last year.

Is it ever too late?  NO! Is it worth it?  Ida certainly thought so...and I
greatly enjoyed working with someone with such an open and interested mind.

I say, if it is important to you...get off your butt and get started.  There
isn't any age at which you should avoid learning new things or accepting new
challenges.  Stay focused on what you want, and the other stuff will work out.

    I'm currently in the ninth year of my second career.  My first career
    lasted eleven years.  Will this be my final career?  I doubt it.  What
    will my next career be?  I don't know, but it will definitely be much
    more oriented toward visual creativity. What's keeping me here?  For
    now, the money (including the not insignificant benefits I use).
    
    					andrew

"After 30+"?!?!!  

You're just a spring chicken!  I went to a tech writing program with a whole
class designed for career-changers.  We came from all kinds of careers, all
kinds of .degrees.  After 7 years in the computer industry, many of us now 
are starting to change or thinking about changing again!  

Get the second career going now--you might want a third career in your 40s!

nina

    This is being reported as the wave of the future:  Instead of learning
    to do a job and having a career, we're supposed to learn how to learn
    and have a new career every ten or fifteen years.
    
    							Ann B.

    Well, I was 31 when I started law school and I was no where near the
    oldest in my class.  One of my friends who is about 12 years older than
    I am actually made the switch to practicing full-time.  I talked with
    her a couple of weeks ago and her practice is going great guns.
    
    I didn't make a total career change.  But, the extra education allowed
    me to move into a new related area where there was a lot more
    opportunity.
    
    I'm not naive enough to think that age isn't a barrier in some
    instances but most people I've dealt with are impressed that I could
    work full-time, raise a kid and go to school all at the same time.  Guess 
    they figure handling one little measly job isn't too tough after that.
    
    Polly

    Interesting -- I went to a "Finding Your Ideal Job" lecture a couple
    of weeks ago.  I was expecting the same old "What Color Is Your
    Parachute"-type stuff but the lecturer talked about careers in the 90's
    and being realistic about what you want (ie if you want a career in the
    arts and you also want to drive a Porsche, then you've got a problem). 
    The most interesting comment she made was that the average working
    person will have had five different careers (NOT jobs) before retiring. 
    Obviously changing careers is not a big deal anymore.  When you think
    about it, the medical field is probably the only one that's age-biased
    (but then it's a little harder for us 30+ types to work those 30 hour
    shifts!)
    
    By the way, the school I went to has 3 entry programs.  One is the
    traditional 18-22 year old high school grad program.  The second (the
    one I went through) is called EXCEL; it's geared toward career changers
    and people re-entering the workforce.  I started the program at age 24
    and was considered the "baby" of the group.  The third program is called
    College at 60, for retirees who don't want to stay retired.
    
    As one of my instructors used to say -- count the number of years you
    have till retirement age and decide whether you want to be bored for
    that long.
    
    ~ginny 

    I stayed home with the kids, and didn't start my career until my
    mid-thirtys.  I learned programming while at home (my husband was
    a programmer, and I helped him), and got my first 'paid' programming
    job in 1978.  The hardest part of the whole situation was convincing
    that first employer to take a chance on me - that I really did know
    what I was doing.  I think I've had the best of both worlds, kids and
    career!  
    
    You've never too old! GO FOR IT!!!
    
    Linda

    I went back to college at 27 to earn my CS degree and had my interview
    for this job on my 30th birthday.  I was not the oldest in any of my
    classes, and the people who hired me liked my "maturity" compared with
    the other college hires.  I'd do it again in a minute if I was unhappy
    with engineering.  No matter what your age, learning is FUN!!
    
    Karen, a happy "retread".

    I am currently getting my masters for a new career. I'm in my thirties,
    married with no children so the time contraints on me are differnt
    than those w/children.
    
    I wondered for a LONG time if it was too late for me to go back to
    school, but now (1year of classes and 1yr of internship away from
    graduation 8*) I am glad that I am doing it! Being in school is tough,
    the work and all, but theres so much going on that I would miss it if I
    wasn't there. And a lot of people in my classes are older than me, like
    in their 50's.
     
    School is much more stimulating than my job and its nice to be involved
    in something meaningful.
    
    If you do go back to school do it for YOU and to learn something YOU
    want to learn--- NOT because it might get you a promotion in a job that
    you don't really like. I got my
    first degree to get a good (?) paying job, but I HATED every minute of
    it because I wasn't doing it for me (the company I worked for required
    a degree for exempt positions for women). So this time I chose to
    go back to school for something that *I* like and wanted to learn
    about.
    
    You're never too old, go for it!
    
    Hannah

    I agree, Hannah.  I am back at school too, and it's great.  Of course
    learning *is* one of my favorite things to do (and it so happens I have
    an excellent prof. this semester -- that always helps!).
           
    -Janice