Are you ready for the fall TV season? Despite my deep disappointment in the cancellation of “Veronica Mars” (VM fans, I know you feel my pain), the fall TV lineup doesn’t look completely bleak for me … Kristen Bell (Veronica herself) is going to be on “Heroes”! When I heard she signed on for a 13-episode arc, I was hooked. The only problem: I didn’t watch “Heroes” last season.

So I did what any other die-hard fan would do — I rented all seven “Heroes: Season One” discs, and had a nail-biting, edge-of-my-seat, 23-episode marathon this past week. I’m watching the last two episodes tonight, and I can’t wait to find out what happens. Will the bomb blow up NYC? Which exploding man will need to be stopped: Peter? Ted? Sylar? Who will finally kill Sylar?

To the rest of the world that has known the fate of the heroes for months, my questions might sound lame. But I’d like to point out a parallel between my “Heroes”-latecomer status and the plight of a career changer. Humor me.

If you’re a career changer, you might feel like a latecomer in the game of life. Maybe all your friends have secure and satisfying careers, but you still haven’t found your niche. You went into business, but you really wanted to teach. You became a nurse, but you’ve been developing an interest in yoga. You work with computers, but you’ve always wanted to try your hand at the culinary arts.

I’m here to tell you that it’s not too late, and you’re not alone. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, by 2010, 16 million people in the country will be enrolled in colleges and universities. More than half of these students are baby boomers. With this education investment, adult career changers are poised to penetrate the workforce en masse. When you consider previous experience and workplace skills, these adults may even be a hotter commodity than the young, newly minted grads making that first foray into the world of work.

Back to TV: You could say that I missed out by not watching “Heroes” last season. But in actuality, I saved myself from some late nights and was able to experience the whole season at once, without waiting a week to soak up the next installment. (A bonus for me, who hates when those three little words appear at the end of a TV show: “To be continued.”) Instead of watching in drips and drabs last season, I didn’t start until I was committed to the show.

That’s not to say that those who have already happily found their career (or those who watched “Heroes” last season) got the short end of the stick. In fact, there is no short end of the stick. It doesn’t matter when you make a career commitment, whether you’re 20, 30, 40, 50 or older–it only matters that you make the commitment at all.

The fact is, it’s never too late for you to find the career of your dreams. And it’s never too late for me to catch up on an amazing show. The experience is still fresh, new, and exciting for us, and that’s all that matters.

Just don’t let anyone give away the ending!

Photo: NBC/John Russo

-Robyn Tellefsen

You might know how to put Flash animation into your MySpace profile, link up a podcast to your homepage, or have the most Facebook friends, but will all that tech knowledge help you in the workplace?

According to the second-annual IT Proficiency survey from Cengage Learning — formerly Thompson Learning, which provides learning solutions for educators and organizations — students seem to lack knowledge of professional applications, like word processing and spreadsheets. That’s a whopping 46 percent of them who had limited or non-existent experience with spreadsheets, and 68 percent with minimal knowledge of database applications.

The bad news: Unless you’re a bloggin’ fool like me, most of your work day will revolve around said spreadsheets and databases. Actually, when I’m not writing or editing, so does mine. In other words, don’t rely on your YouTube or WordPress prowess to understand your company’s weekly ROI report, or help you to manage your client database. No matter which career route you choose, work in some training time on computer applications that you can actually list on your resume.

I’d venture to say that along with communications skills, good manners, and a strong work ethic, such technical expertise will make you an asset at your next job. You don’t want to be that annoying co-worker asking how to sort columns in Excel or merge files in Word. And a snazzy Powerpoint can go a long way if you’re trying to impress a client or your manager with a presentation.

Of course, in today’s world, as long as you protect your online persona, having a great looking MySpace doesn’t hurt either.