[PeKaJoSa]

I've searched through the forums and found a few posts where the poster asked about ageism in general within New Zealand. Judging by the responses, it's nice to see that most people don't seem to have encountered any real ageism in NZ.

However I didn't see any replies specific to the IT sector. Over here in the UK there is a *lot* of ageism within the IT sector, as it seems to be very much viewed as an industry for "younger people" - moreso than many other employment sectors.

So my question is this: Is there anyone on this forum who has encountered ageism-type issues specifically with IT sector jobhunting (or career progress) in NZ?

I suppose that I'm really just looking for a bit of reassurance before hauling myself (at the grand old age of 44 :laugh) half way round the world to go jobhunting next year...

All thoughts / observations / experiences / comments much appreciated! :nice1

Cheers!
Pete

[lockstock]

There's no ageism whatsoever over here from what I can see. It's amazing! I feel like a spring chicken all over again.

You're 44????? A mere babe in arms:D

[welsh_italian]

it seems to be okay. I managed to land an IT-related job at the grand old age of 39 and I was never once asked about my age :-)

There were lots of questions about experience, qualifications etc to make sure that I can actually do the job and thankfully this seems to be more important than fitting abstract qualification criteria such as being within a certain age range. I'm sure it must happen somewhere, but in my experience I haven't encountered it.

[bob_the_engineer]

its simply fantastic in NZ, as a UK engineer I was seen as the odd ball, I'm strictly technical I work in R&D and i design stuff, I love it and no amount of pressure or money would make me move into management. conversely I was never given any recognition for my hard work either. in fact as the years rolled by I was viewed as a bit of a failure because i wasn't a manager.

now let me tell you about NZ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, YAY my boss is an engineer, the guy who founded the company is an engineer, we all carry out research and we all design stuff. Management is left to competent managers instead of older frustrated engineers (thats not to say that several of our managers aren't ex engineers, the difference is they chose management).

the interesting thing is the bar has been raised (hopefully without sounding arrogant) I have to say I could wipe the floor with most of my UK technical peers. The funny thing is, inside a UK company I was seen as a failure, an engineer that never made manager. As a consultant UK engineer (having dumped the company through frustration) I was seen as a hero who could walk in and fix things that their R&D team couldn't.

lol here in NZ I'm just another engineer, the difference is several of us are my age and the company actually recognize and reward results.

Bob

P.S nobody in NZ is dumb enough to turn down an experienced engineer because they look a bit gray and dusty

[TheBigSaxon]

I'm in my early 30's and a Director here. Coming from the US I suffered from ageism heavily when I lived in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Here I haven't seen it all. Its about qualifications and personality.

[Syed]

I was a bit curious too ... thanks NZ