Hiring “secod career” BLA graduates

I was 37 when I got my BLA. One reason I got hired quickly was I knew Autocad, so if you’re proficient in any of the knowledge, skills, and abilities used in LA, getting hired as a non 20-something shouldn’t be an issue. For entry level positions this usually means Autocad and/or experience in apps like Sketch-up, Photoshop etc. Hand sketching is a major plus too.

The other reason I got hired, according to my eventual boss, was that the production staff in the ‘backroom’ hadn’t yet learned to be professional, i.e., how to exude the confidence, warmth, and conversational timing necessary to gracefully interact with clients. This is usually something older hires do well. Also, don’t forget that a ‘do whatever it takes’ attitude conveyed at interviews (and on the job) goes far. Bosses know they can easily teach someone the apps but not attitude, how to play nice, and work habits.

If you have the opportunity, hook-up with an internship while you’re in school as many times these turn into real jobs after graduation.

I was 35 when I got my BLA. I have no idea if age helped or hindered in getting an interview.

I have personally been involved in hiring a new professional in an engineering office. We interviewed a lot of people with various backgrounds. One thing the office was very concerned with was how much they would disrupt someone if they hired him/her and they did not work out. It was not the deciding factor, but it was a factor. We hired a young person who had been out of school for over a year, did not have a job in the profession, lived with parents, and could commute. It turned out great.

Be aware of perceived added responsibilities an employer may feel they need to take on if they hire you as well as which they will be avoiding by hiring you. Try to subtly mitigate them (if they exist) in your cover letters.

I’d be concerned as a potential employer (something that may happen at some point not too far away) whether someone wants to join my team or just use me to adopt my network and get licensed whether they are 22 or 42. I’m not going to be interested in a person who perceives my job description as his/her job description – I don’t think I’m alone on that. I have read a lot of resumes of people right out of school who seem to be applying to be a principal rather than a team player. It seems like youthful optimism coming from a 22 year old, but more like arrogance from a 42 year old. Be careful not to come off that way.

Being calm and patient is an asset in this profession. Those are two things that are difficult when you restart your life in your 40’s, but also two things that should be more developed at that age. Try to show that you are calm and patient.

Patience was the single hardest thing for me to deal with as I entered the job market and for several years afterward. 

You will have a harder time landing a job in an office where the primary role would be to work in the back and assist more senior staff. These jobs are usually low pay and maybe long hours, which young people who are single with a lot of energy would not mind filling. Employers know this. There are however, offices who needs a more well-rounded individual to also do the front-end tasks, meeting clients, marketing, etc. Somebody more mature and with more work experience would fit in better in this kind of situation.

Whether your age and your work experience can benefit you or not depends largely on what the employer needs. Luckily there’s quite a lot of variety of offices in the LA profession where you could fit in.

There are a lot of skills you have that’ll be to your advantage, while the disadvantages may actually be in your favor (so you won’t be the most attractive candidate for a firm that pays little and expects 85hrs/wk… not exactly a bummer).

As Andrew mentioned, some employers have been skittish about taking on someone that may have to move, but many will pull the trigger on the right candidate.  One thing I have noticed is that it’s hard to find a recent graduate who has good soft skills and a good attitude toward ‘starting over’ -as the profession is so different than school-.  A good chunk of a firm’s time can be in construction administration and an understanding of a trade’s point-of-view can be invaluable to a firm for quality control and basic communication.  I still remember being ‘scolded’ by contractors for drawing details that couldn’t physically be constructed with the tools on site early in my career.

If you can, establishing a network through internships in areas you want to move to post-graduation can be very helpful for future employment.  Cal Poly Pomona is a great program with a good alumni network, so you’re in pretty good hands.