Starting a Career in Science at Age 38?

A Science Nostalgic writes "I'm 38, have a successful career as a software developer but feel the all-too-similar enterprise apps are boring my brains out, and I'm intensely missing the world of science, which I didn't pursue in favor of programming when I got my engineering degree. Now, I'm contemplating a job in research, but fear the age and the lack of 'exercise' with math and physics would pose an understandable handicap. If I study math seriously, I can realistically shed the 'rust' in a year, maybe two, but I still fear I'll be considered too old for research. I graduated abroad so I don't have any old contacts at the local universities (there are a few in my city). I checked their job boards, and they have no positions for research, just the usual ones in software development that I could use as an entry point. Do you have any experience with such a career change? Is it feasible at all to get into science once you approach 40? I feel my brain is still alive and kicking, and years of debugging have taught me a few things about investigating causes and correlations, which are useful skills in research."

Comments

no

[stoolpigeon]

Do you have any experience with such a career change?
 
no - it's weird you would even ask.
 
  Is it feasible at all to get into science once you approach 40?
 
like i said, i'm probably not the best to ask but my guess would be no - it's not. i've never found taking risks or pushing for change to be worthwhile.

Physics

[trip11]

In my field of high energy physics, there is a large need for good programmers who know some science. Almost all of my work involves writing code to try to solve a specific physics problem. You're experience in this would probably give you a nice advantage over a lot of us who are learning to code as we go. And even though it is just writing code, there is something satisfying about writing code to solve your own problems that you are interested in, not just writing code to make a buck.

Also, I know when I was taking my classes in physics as an undergrad, there were several people in your situation. People who wanted to get into a new field at 30 or 40 and picked physics. I would say try to find a field that your coding skills will shine in, but where you can use them in a way that doesn't bore you to tears. You're experience should serve you well.

Of course you may be taking a pay cut starting in a new field and all....

Re:Physics

[chandar]

I would second this opinion. I am a Biologist with, as I sometimes say, "a penchant for the virtual". I have spent much of the last 8 years writing programs, sometimes rather clumsily, to answer questions or demonstrate complex concepts. I have often wished I had a programmer to help me. I cannot pay one now, but I do write $$ into grant applications for someone with more programming chops than me. Your age would not affect my willingness to hire you.

My suggestion would be to look at Bioinformatics. There is more money in that field now and a huge need for programmers. Also check http://www.nescent.org/ for an example of a broader effort to develop software to deal with rapidly growing large sequence and gene expression datasets to answer evolutionary questions. The hire people like you fairly often.

Age may be benefit

[daeg]

Your age may be a benefit, actually, if you play your cards right. You may not have the knowledge that someone fresh out of graduate school would have, but you have maturity and (hopefully) stability.

Have you considered keeping your job but getting into teaching? Your company may like it and let you do both--it's good PR and a great opportunity to get quality employees. From their perspective you're basically giving your students a 4 month interview process. Teaching can be a great challenge and may be more fulfilling than trying to advance yourself enough to do research. Good teaching will also advance your own skillsets, too.

Re:Age Irrelevent

[NewWorldDan]

Wow, like my horoscope this morning totally said like the exact same thing. Are you a Taurus?

Indirectly, age is a factor.

[xplenumx]

To some extent age will be a factor. I've served on the admissions committee for a number of years at a major university for the biological sciences (not computer sciences), and to some extent, indirectly at least, age is taken into account. While experience trumps all (except letters of recommendation), when someone in their late 30s / early 40s applies (and they do) we have to wonder why. What is the applicant trying to gain by applying now? Do they know what they're getting themselves into? Will graduate school really benefit this candidate?

In the case of the biological sciences, if you want to run a lab, you need to put five years into your graduate career and have a ~five year successful post-doc. If the applicant is 40, that means they won't be able to even apply for a faculty position until they're 50. If the applicant is looking at industry, then five years of experience is equivalent to a PhD (in order to get top industry job you still need that successful post-doc position) and graduate school won't help them. If the applicant "simply wants to learn", they they appear to have no focus. We have picked up older applicants, though they all had very good reasons for seeking an advanced degree (for example, in two cases they wanted to teach at the community college level). If you apply to graduate school, you must address these issues in your essay. Also, when you write your essay, focus on your work/research experience (this goes for all applicants) as we don't care about 'how you've dreamed of being a scientist since you were two'.

One other piece of advice, if you want a job in research, don't look at the job boards. Find a lab that interests you, and contact the PI directly. People come and go all the time and if I don't have a position open, I typically know of someone who does. I've never hired someone through HR, but only hire people who are interested in my research as I don't have enough time to focus on someone who 'simply wants a job'. Best of luck to you.

Most of these people are high

[solussolus]

I guess I'm the guy designated to piss on your parade.

You're vague in your post, but to me "doing research in science" means either academia or working in an industrial research lab. What "science" means is harder to say, but I'll assume it's one of the traditional sciences, and not computer science, for which your prospects might be better depending on the flavor of CS you want to do.

All that said, the truth is that you're in for an uphill battle, and you will have to REALLY want it. I'm in the CSCI PhD program at a top 10 university and can tell you unreservedly not to bother with any of this unless you want your quest to be the principle thing in your life. One might debate whether this need be true for a person who's gone the traditional route, but PhDs are hard, and you need one to do what I've described above as "science research."

Let's assume you're a passionate guy, you work sixty hours a week anyway, and this is a well thought-out dream you're on the cusp of pursuing. Here's what I'd recommend:

0: Buy a bunch of Schaum's outlines in pre-calculus, calculus, differential equations, probability, and statistics. Beginning working through them. Somebody posted on here that he's a scientist and rarely uses anything above algebra. That's probably true, but irrelevent. You don't have that luxury; you have to be better than everyone else or nobody's gonna bother with you. Regaining the math chops will be easier than you imagine if you're diligent, by which I mean you work on it everyday for a couple of hours, as if you were taking a class. If you're not diligent you're fucked anyway.

1: Enroll in a decent public institution. Not necessarily in grad school; I took some classes post-BS w/ my status as "Adult special" which is for people who just want to learn stuff, not worry about a degree.

2: Take classes in your area of interest. You'll probably have to start w/ undergrad classes. Prepare to feel weird among all the 18 year old hotties.

3: MAKE CONNECTIONS. Be the guy who asks questions in class, and make them good questions. Get to know the teachers, and make them like you. This is a critical step. Make them know your name, and know you do excellent work and are a smart guy.

4: When you know some profs who are doing research things that you're interested in, ask them if you can help. Researchers love this; that's how our group gets new people. You get involved, you do whatever they tell you to, you PRODUCE. After a history of successes you can make inquiries about whether this person would support your attempt at admission.

5: Apply for admission. You will need to have taken the GRE by this point, and probably a topic test, which your studies should have prepared you for. You'll need letters of admission, which your schmoozing, ass-kicking performance in class, and volunteering should make easy.

Like I said before, all of this stuff will consume your life. If you're the sort of guy whose life is consumed already, then this might be OK. If you expect to dick around for a little bit, and then somehow get everything you want, well, it's not going to work.

If you REALLY want it it can be done, but if you don't REALLY want it then you should find some way to get the satisfaction you're looking for from less drastic changes. I went back to school at 32, so I want to support the underdog. Good luck.

Re:Advanced Degrees

[kebes]

As someone involved in academic research, I have to agree with the parent comments.

Basically, science nowadays is very much an "advanced degree" field. From your post I'm guessing you have a B.Eng. Unfortunately even with a B.Eng. and lots of years in software development, you do not yet have the qualifications to be hired as a research scientist.

It also depends, however, on whether you want to be "involved in science" (as a technician, programmer, etc.) or whether you want to be "a research scientist" (planning experiments, interpreting results, etc.). If you want to be involved, then I'd say with your current qualifications you should certainly be able to find a neat job at some university or research institute. Your programming skills will be quite valuable, in fact. Yes, you will take a pay cut, but the environment may be much more stimulating. In this kind of post, you'll end up being connected to a wide range of different science projects, which can be really rewarding. (You may end up in a job where every day a Grad Student comes up to you and says "would it be possible to program something to do..." which could be alot of fun.)

If you want to really "be a scientist" then I'm afraid your only option is to get another degree. The upside is that while getting such a Masters of Ph.D. you'll be "doing science" which can be alot of fun. This will also let you know, immediately, whether this is something you want to do for many years to come. The downside, of course, is that you will be spending another 5 years on education, and receiving a rather small stipend while doing it. (Also, keep in mind that many of your fellow grad students will be about 20 years old.)

I wish you the best of luck. Personally I love science, and getting an advanced degree has been "worth it" for me. But given your situation, it might make more sense to try and find a job, with your current qualifications, that is closely tied to science.