Has anyone felt the difficulties of starting work at a very young age? (1-3 years younger than my peers at school)

I finished college and my masters degree by the time I turned 21 and went straight into consulting. I was fortunate enough that my peers never really showed any significant issues with me being 2-3 years younger then the others. However, managers and partners always told me to never tell the client my age and even when asked somehow get around the answer. As long as you put in the same work as the others you should be fine.

TBH, I’m in the same boat, I’m 23 when most other associates are 27-30. Realize that the imposter syndrome really gets to you sometimes because most of us are self-aware enough to realize we really haven’t done much in life yet. If you feel like you’re not experienced enough, it tends to come out in your actions and the image you project internally as well. Would suggest just focus on improving yourself so you can be comfortable at work.

Oh boy yeah, if you’re younger than your peers; expect a lot of unconscious bias against your age.

I started job in foreign country right after high school.
Currently all my peers are finishing bachelors and I’m having 3 years of work experience and one year of part time studies behind me.

My only regret is that I didn’t started part time studies before to get them checked off the list.

Sometimes it’s hard to relate to anyone because my coworkers are much older, have families and all that while people my age are just getting first internships and have full time student life.

It feels whole system was not made for my path as I’m either too experienced or too young for many scholarships, projects etc

As it’s also “road less taken” there’s not many people that can mentor you and suggest right solutions. So there’s lots of figuring things out on your own.

I started working at 15 and joined EY at 18. Didn’t go to college. I’m 24 now.
Sometimes it’s hard. It feels weird to be younger than some folks at a lower/same level. But I don’t care, age is just a number.

In terms of dating life it’s odd, most people my age are still in college and I feel a big disconnect.
I also earn way more than friends that are the same age.

Most of my friends are 4+ years older though. And it’s good.

I’m a high performer and colleagues love me. Being remote allows me to “hide” my age as it’s harder to tell. And people always think I’m 28+. Until they see me in person lol. I feel like it would be harder to progress if we were on-site though. (Due to age bias and also I’m short-ish).

But overall, I love it and I’m so glad I started early because I’ve learnt so much so quick and I’ve been able to travel so much

I look at it as an accomplishment to be proud of!

I’ve had a job since I was 12, and was making money shoveling neighbor driveways in the winter at a much younger age.

What are difficulties you speak of?

I completed my dual studies bachelor (German construct, half of the time working, half of the time studying) and joined Accenture after with 24months of experience credited. At the company itself I have experienced no age bias but for the customers its seemingly hard to get someone deeply experienced with AWS (Solution Architect Professional) and cloud and not fall into age bias and a bit of age harassment..

I graduated at 20. Not that much different than 22 🤷‍♂️