>>At age 56, it is very difficult to stop everything going on in my life and retrain mself to some other software development tool and who is going to hire a 56-year old man who just started learning C#?
>>
>>Cecil, I'm a full time instructor these days...I've been teaching different SQL Server classes for 2 years....I have students in their 30's, 40's and 50's....they wind up getting jobs afterwards....so age is not really relevant (ok, if you were 90,it might be different)....I've never met you, but from your picture, I'm gonna take a guess you have some fire in your belly.
>>
>>So here's my answer to your question...."who is going to hire a 56 year old man who just started learning C#?"....simple.....those who spot someone who has spent time busting his ass successfully getting from point A to point B...(and also someone who can apply the way they've solved problems in the past, to new situations).
>>
>>You learned Fox...I'll spare you the lecture about waiting this long before looking at other technologies, becuase you've likely learned that lesson that you ALWAYS should be in learning mode. Robert Heinlein said it best...the more you are learning, the more you CAN learn later. You're at a big advantage over someone trying to learn C# seven years ago....there is a TON of information out there, for very little or no cost.
>>
>>So stop playing the age card, sonny :)
>>
>>When I started training, I was all technical expertise but zero finesse as an instructor...I was the "My Cousin Vinny" of instructors......and the place wondered in the beginning if they'd made a mistake...but it was important to me, and so I worked as hard as I could to turn it around. I'm now the top trainer in our company - because I busted my butt and I made it my #1 focus.
>>
>>Phillippe K. (of Borland fame) once observed that Americans were afraid to work 12-14 hour days if they wanted something badly enough. So there's some motivation for you (providing some lard-ass Frenchman wrong).
>
>I disagree with you there, KG. Age is definitely a factor. 50 seems to be a magic number, especially if you are trying to make a career shift. My C# knowledge is credible and I am not getting anywhere. The rotten job market is part of it but I don't think that is the whole story. I graduated from an intensive C# course at DePaul at the beginning of this year with a 98.8 grade average and am not even getting nibbles. Companies who say they want 3-5 years of experience really mean it. And they can get it with all the laid off workers.

Go find work for yourself as a direct consultant. Hit local businesses and offer to develop custom apps for them. Keep your rates real cheap while you get experience (for that matter, offer small projects for free to get a foot in the door). If you can get a project or 2 under your belt (any size), you are in a much better position to market yourself to headhunters and consulting companies.

I started doing serious .NET work when I was 50.