
Ask HN: Will I be accepted for engineering internships as a 28 yr old undergrad? - aphextron
I&#x27;m a military veteran, and I&#x27;ve recently started my undergrad education in computer engineering. I&#x27;m really hoping I&#x27;ll be able to get involved with industry&#x2F;government internships down the road. Will I be at a disadvantage for my age?
======
wmf
Just to be safe, don't list your age on your resume. Personally, I've hired
interns of various ages but that was in an "age-tolerant" environment.

------
kat
That's actually one of the neat things I discovered when I moved to the
States. Its not uncommon to meet a fellow developer that started after
servering in the military. I've also met a lot of developers who started out
in QA and other positions, so they were older when they got their first
developer job. Any reasonable company will see your life experience as a
advantage .

------
brudgers
[US centric opinion]

I don't think it will be an issue in general. In part because of the type of
industry I imagine you are referring is probably similar to government where
maturity is valued. In part because 28 is only likely to be an age issue to
someone really young or in an organization that chews up young people. Mainly
it is because internships are academic and blatant employment discrimination
is less likely to occur in that context.

Good luck.

------
sndean
> industry/government internships

I work at a government lab [0] that regularly has interns that are a bit older
than an average undergrad, and vets are preferred. This extends to people the
lab employs (a percentage, myself included, are former interns).

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_laborat...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_national_laboratories)

------
afarrell
I doubt it, but I'm not old enough to have encountered agism yet.

If you are willing to try out the Boston area and you like maps or UI/Human
Factors, email me so I can introduce you to a contact of mine who commanded
medievac helicopters near Basra and is building a startup.

------
webaholic
I am a 31 year old grad student and I still do internships. I am guessing it
should not be such a big deal for you too.

------
kevindeasis
No, maturity is an asset

