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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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There are many very specialized jobs at public agencies with good pay, great benefits, and once you get in, the knowledge skills developed over time make older employees remain in demand. They are also places with a huge variety of jobs including clerical, IT, engineering, accounting, finance, planning and maintenance. Consider public utilities, airports, seaports, and state or city highway departments.
On the flip side, if you go into software programming or something along those lines, you might be fine till your 40's, but if you get laid off then, then likely they'll want to hire someone younger that they can pay cheaper.
This simply isn't true. I've been in IT for ~15 years, working alongside many people in their 40's to late 50's. There's a tendency for the older workers to get into management roles, but plenty have remained happy as clams as programmers, analysts, QA testers, etc.
Also, entry-level programmers are more expensive than their senior-level counterparts. Smarter companies know this. I'd imagine it works like that for some other professions too.
On the flip side, if you go into software programming or something along those lines, you might be fine till your 40's, but if you get laid off then, then likely they'll want to hire someone younger that they can pay cheaper.
The problem with many people is that they don't keep up with technology in their field. This is the same with IT as it is in marketing. Things change and if you don't know about what is new and have no interest in it, then employers want to replace you or hire someone else that has the desire and experience. I know people in their 60s working in IT who are well-paid and keep their skills up to date, and are in non-supervisory positions.
You can't make a blanket statement about age for all industries and professions because it just depends. Some employers have a concept of the kind of employees they want, and it might be they want to hire someone who graduated college recently for various reasons, not just cost. While another goes out of their way asking for 10-15 years experience because they don't want "any kids" working there who need training. Some companies who are staffing up for a huge project and need 100 engineers to work for six months on a contract, are going to look for lots of experience doing exactly what they need and age doesn't play a part in it for them.
Drug treatment counselor, geriatric social worker, family counselor, foster care work - placement, management all hire (and sometimes prefer) older workers.
Geez people...OP, if your skills, knowledge, etc. are all up to date and you have talent that applies to the job and you're motivated, make good decisions, are able to maintain good relationships and good networking, then you'll be fine in most any field (other than stripper or something). I mean the working assumption is that folks who are older have accumulated a valuable set of experiences that contributes a great deal towards the work. A 20 something can't do my job nearly as well as I can because I've been doing it, have better judgement, more insight, and am just better because of what I've learned over the years. If you're talking about carrying buckets from point A to point B, then 25 is better than 55. If you're talking about more professional or thought based careers, then just keep current. Even skilled trades are like that - I'd rather pay an older, more experienced plumber to do my plumbing work because I am more confident they'll do it right because they've done it for much longer and much more often.
If you can't or don't want to stay sharp within your career as you age, then yeah, I suggest that you become a pro athlete or major Hollywood actor or something like that 'cause you know...that's realistic.
Counseling, Social Work, Psychiatry. the Ministry, teaching, (higher ed) accounting, law and certain allied heath fields.
Except for allied health, I would stay away from STEM. Medicine needs to be entered at an early age. Computer anything? Age bias.
If you are and look under 35, you are probably OK.
Medicine needs to be entered at an early age?
I'd say if nothing else is, or has gone on with your life and you've finally got all your academic and financial faculties together, I say go for it.
Or just sit at home, old and alone wondering what happened with the rest of your life.
The key is to remain on the bleeding edge of your field, and constantly moving up within your company to a senior level where you're experience is valued. Someone who is just going to sit in entry level and let their skills stagnate will find themselves in trouble at a certain age.
Granted, I'm only 26, but after reading how those 45 and over are having a horrible time finding work and are being told they are "overqualified" or are being turned down in favor of younger workers, I would think it important to either find a career that pays VERY well now so that you can retire at 45 or so or else one that can last longer than 45 where they cannot just hire someone younger for a fraction of the cost or where you're ability to do the job is no longer good enough to get hired (take manual labor for instance).
For instance, professional sports (I know that's an extreme as so few get into that). They spend years in there and it puts a lot of strain on their body. By the time of their 40's, if not sooner, they are too worn out to keep going and also their ability to do many other jobs is affected by it. I mean, if they didn't pay millions for the job, do you think we'd see so many professional sporting events? If they only made $100K a year, they'd be in a bind as they'd be worn out by their late 30's/early 40's and may well have to retire then due to all the damage to their bodies.
On the flip side, if you go into software programming or something along those lines, you might be fine till your 40's, but if you get laid off then, then likely they'll want to hire someone younger that they can pay cheaper.
One field I can think of is a doctor, where you can do somewhat well starting out and can last into your 50's or 60's and not have to worry about being turned down for being too old or having too much experience.
Yes, let's all go to medical school and when the sewers explode we'll throw pills at it.
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