IT's age problem

Dos and don'ts

You may not be able to turn back the clock, but there are a few things you can do to increase the likelihood of getting a job and staying employed as you age. Step 1 is recognizing that your skills have a certain shelf life. Rather than fight it, IT professionals should consider that when planning their careers.

In fact, Vivek Wadhwa believes that colleges should tell computer science and engineering students that "between age 40 and 45 you'll hit your peak, so plan for it." That could mean saving a substantial part of your salary when you're young, so you'll be able to earn less and still get by in IT as you age or use the savings as a cushion if you change careers, says Wadhwa, who started his career as a programmer and then went on to be an entrepreneur and later entered academia.

Here is a list of things you should and shouldn't do if you hope to stay in IT:

Do:

• Keep your skills up to date, even if your employer doesn't pay for professional development.
• Consider moving into IT management, where longevity and experience are more likely to be seen as positives rather than negatives.
• Take advantage of a technical career path, if your company offers one. Some corporations have a dual-track system that allows technical folks to move up a ladder that's comparable to the one managers climb, says Paul Ingevaldson, who spent 40 years in IT and retired from his job as CIO of Ace Hardware in 2004.
• Build and maintain a professional network independent of your current position so you have lots of contacts to tap if you are laid off or decide to start a consulting business.
• Learn how to use social media to promote yourself, research potential employers and find current employees to refer you for jobs.
• Dress like your co-workers. Dress codes vary widely from company to company and from job function to job function, but in general you should aim to dress like your colleagues. If they're wearing shirtsleeves, your Dr. Who T-shirt probably isn't appropriate.

• Act bored or tired either at your job or during an interview. That feeds into stereotypical assumptions about age.
• Come off as a know-it-all. While decades of experience are valuable, employers are wary of narrow-mindedness in candidates who think they know exactly how things should be done. "You must be flexible to new ways of working and to a new culture," says Steve B. Watson, a managing director at executive recruiting firm Stanton Chase.