How do companies evaluate older new graduates?
Employers often have younger students in mind for entry-level roles, leaving older graduates completely unsure of how their non-traditional applications are judged. This age gap makes building a professional network difficult because older students lack daily industry contacts and feel awkward attending events where they are the same age as the recruiters. Without clear ways to connect with professionals, these graduates struggle to build relationships and often question if transitioning to a new degree was even worth it.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Leveraging previous industry experience to find a niche roleDid this help you?
- 2Pivoting to a different master's program insteadDid this help you?
- 3Setting aside money in advance to survive a temporary pay cut for an entry-level roleDid this help you?
- 4Relying on a robust past job history to demonstrate dependability.Did this help you?
- 5Targeting mid-size or nationwide firms instead of highly competitive top-tier firms.Did this help you?
- 6Seeking out remote work positions.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I’ve applied to a few jobs while still in school but I believe most of the jobs had a younger student in mind.”source ↗
“I’m really just not even sure how companies look at graduates at my age, and if a transition to a different masters program wouldn’t be worth it.”source ↗
“I also have no contact with accountants on a daily basis and have been trying to brainstorm ways to network in the industry.”source ↗
“At networking events, I'm closer in age to the people representing the companies or giving tours of the firm. What I'd like to know from anyone in a hiring role: how do you evaluate applicants who are not a typical applicant?”source ↗
Where this came up
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