What are my chances?

[mumof2kiddos]

I am 44, about to complete my Masters in an area which I have zero experience in. Basically a career change.

Am I too old/experienced for graduate/intern jobs? What are my chances realistically? I have applied to numerous graduate schemes related to my course and have cleared the 1st stage in only 1 of them.
I dont want to do PhD but at the same time I am very concerned that I have a HUGE disadvantage with regards to my age and so may not get any other job at all.

Can anyone give me any insight to this please?

What area are you trying to get into?

Graduate schemes are very hard to get into regardless of your age and employers can't discriminate against you because of this. I'm surprised that you have to put your DOB on application forms as many employers have done away with this.

You've got another 25 yrs of working life at least yet.

There's probably loads of 21yr olds who haven't even got through to 1st stage due to the competitive graduate market so I wouldn't let your age put you off.

What field is this? Grad schemes should be open to all ages but they're very competitive.

Thanks a lot for your kind words. I am into Environmental Planning field and although I have Project Management experience in a different sector, I don't have any experience in the environmental area hence have to start from scratch. I am ok to start from scratch provided I get an opportunity!

I dont put my DOB in my CV or anywhere. But I have to put my bachelor's graduation year and from that it becomes apparent my age is almost double than that of my competitors.

Can you get someone else to look at how you're filling in the applications to see if that could be improved? How about trying to get some unpaid work experience for a few weeks to set you apart from the crowd?

I didn't get onto any grad schemes in my 20s, so as a pp said, I don't think it's anything to do with your age but simply the fact that these schemes are hugely competitive. Good luck!

Thank you for your encouraging words. Yes I am planning to get some unpaid work experience as the next step.