InformationWeek

August 2, 1999

I'm 55 years old and recently took an early retirement package from my company. I'm very technically skilled; I have 20 years of experience as a Cobol programmer and I've been taking programming courses to update my skills. I recently finished an HTML programming course and am about to start an object programming Java course. I've been trying to find a technical job (non-management) since last fall and no one seems to want to talk to me except employment agencies. Am I too old?

Blunt questions! It's a combination of many years of experience (age) and the lack of more advanced technology skills. You are definitely doing the right things by furthering your skill via classes, but I think you need to start in a temporary assignment somewhere and fight like crazy to gain practical hands-on experience with newer technologies.

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