One thing to take into consideration is that some of the older cyber workforce grew up as the discipline matured. The first reactions to cyber protection was "NO!" and regulation with strict compliance. As the discipline grew and matured we realized that we needed to think about being flexible as well as secure.
Being one of the younger older cyber professionals myself I have seen many of my counterparts still clinging to that old mindset of "No" and remain rigid in their cyber decisions. I have seen it affect their careers more than just their age does. So if you are at the upper age range, make sure you are flexible enough to change with the times. Also I have seen some, but not all, of the older workforce being reluctant to learn new skills. I have seen that kill careers as well.
SO my advice to you is not to look at your age as the limiting factor but make sure that you are not rigid in your approaches, you are not unwilling to learn, that you are picking up new skills and certifications, and that you practice interviewing well. I am not saying age discrimination doesn't exist, just make sure it isn't something else first.
I once ran a resume writing business that specialized in government resumes. I had a client who was a protected minority come to me and say this " I don't know why I'm coming to see you, my resume is making it past the computer filters and I am making the selection lists and I'm not getting hired, but a friend recommended you to me." She explained that she had already filed a racial discrimination suit against the person who was selecting the other people but not her. I took one look at her resume and couldn't believe it. She had over 160 spelling, grammatical, and other errors. I printed it out and took a red pen and circled all of the errors. She was making it past the computer because the computer was just looking for keywords, which she had managed to spell correctly, but the resume was a mess. I called her back in and showed her her resume and said "This is why you aren't getting hired!!!" Now you just called the selecting official a racist without having evidence to back it up. If I were you I would go in and revoke my claim against him, apologize profusely and let me fix your resume. I said "He might never want to hire you because of this!" This was at the largest employer in the region so it is not like she had a lot of other areas that paid as well to choose from.
I point this situation out so that if you are thinking of filing an age discrimination suit against someone, make sure your situation is correct and you have all the facts. I also want you to make sure that you are presenting yourself as the best candidate that you can be. I interview well but don't always get every job I interview for because I know sometimes I might not have all of the qualifications the company is looking for and sometimes there are more qualified candidates. I do worry about age discrimination as I get older and yes it probably will happen. I can't change that but I can change my qualifications so that it will be hard to pass me by.
