Originally Posted by whitelighter
How late is too late, in your experience?
Training/qualifying somewhere new sucks at the best of times, be it ab initio or an experienced controller starting somewhere new. Generally speaking, the older one becomes, chances are there are more external factors that can distract one's attention from the training game......mortgage, paying the bills, wife, screaming kids, screaming ex-wife you're trying to pay to stop screaming. And unfortunately the old grey matter matter does start slowing down the older you get (or the more you've abused it with wine women and song).
On the flip side, maturity, life experience, motivation and exposure to having to actually put some work into something to succeed are all positives that can come with age. I've seen many "just out of their teens" pitch up with an application in their hand that, when asked "So why Air Traffic Control?" reply along the lines of "Six figure job!" or "My mum/dad/friend" suggested I give it a try". They may have a natural talent for the job, but when the going gets tough, they get the hell out of Dodge pretty quick.
Get to a unit. Talk to the guys and gals. Controllers are never backwards in letting folk know if they like something or if they want to set it on fire then p*ss on it (or not if the case may be)