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Ask HN: Will I be accepted for engineering internships as a 28 yr old undergrad?
I'm a military veteran, and I've recently started my undergrad education in computer engineering. I'm really hoping I'll be able to get involved with industry/government internships down the road. Will I be at a disadvantage for my age?
- wmf 10y agoJust to be safe, don't list your age on your resume. Personally, I've hired interns of various ages but that was in an "age-tolerant" environment.
- sndean 10y ago> industry/government internships I work at a government lab [0] that regularly has interns that are a bit older than an average undergrad, and vets are preferred. This extends to people the lab employs (a percentage, myself included, are former interns). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_laboratories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_laborat...
- webaholic 10y agoI am a 31 year old grad student and I still do internships. I am guessing it should not be such a big deal for you too.
- afarrell 10y agoI doubt it, but I'm not old enough to have encountered agism yet. If you are willing to try out the Boston area and you like maps or UI/Human Factors, email me so I can introduce you to a contact of mine who commanded medievac helicopters near Basra and is building a startup.
- brudgers 10y ago[US centric opinion] I don't think it will be an issue in general. In part because of the type of industry I imagine you are referring is probably similar to government where maturity is valued. In part because 28 is only likely to be an age issue to someone really young or in an organization that chews up young people. Mainly it is because internships are academic and blatant employment discrimination is less likely to occur in that context. Good luck.
- brudgers 10y ago[US centric opinion] I don't think it will be an issue in general. In part because of the type of industry I imagine you are referring is probably similar to government where maturity is valued. In part because 28 is only likely to be an age issue to someone really young or in an organization that chews up young people. Mainly it is because internships are academic and blatant employment discrimination is less likely to occur in that context. Good luck.
- kevindeasis 10y agoNo, maturity is an asset
- kat 10y agoThat's actually one of the neat things I discovered when I moved to the States. Its not uncommon to meet a fellow developer that started after servering in the military. I've also met a lot of developers who started out in QA and other positions, so they were older when they got their first developer job. Any reasonable company will see your life experience as a advantage .