Age-friendly companies for older developers?

The problem is there is so much average and below average talent out there, even with 10 or 20 years experience. Work ethic also counts for more than experience.

It is hard to sort the chaff from the wheat, so you are presumed to be shit/average until you can show otherwise. And any mistakes you make in the interview put you straight in the shit category.

Im currently doing desktop Java and getting paid well for it and loving it.

The last time i did desktop Java was back in 1998.

So it's like going back in time.
 
Maybe the only reason I still work with / like C++ after seeing much much better is this old joke you probably haven't heard.

A middle-aged mildly successful Romanian guy judging from the Tesla he descended from near Amsterdam's Red District goes to a known very pricey house, precisely because by price comes quality at least as rated from finding a solution to even the most weird requests.

So guy says: I want a woman 5 feet tall, very muscular, hair on arms, feet and chest, smelling like sweat after a day cutting wood in the woods. Receptionist, slightly embarrassed asks him: but Sir, may I ask why?

Guy replies: I miss home.
 
Yeah there is also the old saying 'You cant teach an old dog new tricks'.

Also the nearer anyone gets to retirement age the less motivation there is to learn something new.

If you are 55 and want to retire in a few years. Whats the point of learning new skills or working hard for that promotion.
 
southall said:
If you are 55 and want to retire in a few years. Whats the point of learning new skills or working hard for that promotion.
More...

Good point, never even thought about it. Like Gaussian, I don't plan to be still begging for bread on a monthly basis at 50. But like Gaussian, I'm 15 years short of the threshold you mentioned. And if and when I'll cross it, it's gonna be ME calling the shots.

Which reminds me of another experience from high school. Like I saw in American high school / college shows, there's a lot of bullying here too. So when one of those guys bullied me, I asked: why? He said "coze they also did it to me".

Evil begets evil on and on. If I could have stopped evil in high school I would but I couldn't. College, again. 20 years later same thing.

Eventually if you wanna live, gotta accept it's just the way it is.
 
gaussian said:
You age out of the industry around 40-45.

There is no respect given for people with significant experience because the stacks change so frequently these days there are no real experts anymore. Older senior developers don't want to put up with the bullshit run around that comes with interviewing now because they have lives, houses, and kids to worry about. It's not enough to be hired on your merits. Junior developers will cut your throat for a chance to develop a shitty CRUD app for a company.

What's my experience? I'm not 40 yet. I don't plan on being in the industry after I turn 40 and am actively learning other skills to pivot in case the industry ages me out quicker. I'll continue to consult where I can but I fully expect to be unemployable after around 45 years of age. I can already see it coming. I know a handful of languages very well. I don't want to learn whatever is the new hotness anymore. I want to focus on actually having a life and living it. I have no time to study for leetcode anymore. I've been in the industry 10 years and I still feel like I'm starting from ground zero with every single company's interview process.
More...
What are the skills you see emerge that will give you an advantage in your industry?
 
You have to know how to write software but you also need to know how to market yourself. As I embarked on my last job search late last year I positioned myself as a tech lead. Though I never officially had that title, I had the experience and was able to articulate it when interviewing. As an older developer, there are really a few categories for you.

1. Coding machine - you can be dropped into any situation and crank out a massive amount of quality code.

2. Tech lead - you can code and lead a team of developers.

3. Domain expert - you have expert level knowledge of a particular type of technology.

The above is how Facebook categorizes their top developers.
 
Yeah I'm getting up there in age and really have to light it up on the interviews.

As an older Dev, the only way to get hired is to demonstrate utter mastery of the subject at hand.

Be able to expand upon the interviewer's questions, turn them around, puzzle them with deeper knowledge thereof.

That being said, consulting roles are usually significantly easier to get (as opposed to full-time).
 
kmiklas said:
As an older Dev, the only way to get hired is to demonstrate utter mastery of the subject at hand.
More...

If you go that route, you might have missed the part of my post where I made clear that THE MOMENT YOU MISS A QUESTION IN THE 5-STAGES LONG, 3-HOURS PER STAGE WITH MULTIPLE TEAMS INTERVIEW PROCESS, YOU'RE OUT OF THE DOOR WITHOUT SECOND THOUGHT.
 
fan27 said:
You have to know how to write software but you also need to know how to market yourself. As I embarked on my last job search late last year I positioned myself as a tech lead. Though I never officially had that title, I had the experience and was able to articulate it when interviewing. As an older developer, there are really a few categories for you.

1. Coding machine - you can be dropped into any situation and crank out a massive amount of quality code.

2. Tech lead - you can code and lead a team of developers.

3. Domain expert - you have expert level knowledge of a particular type of technology.

The above is how Facebook categorizes their top developers.
More...

Pretty spot on, Fan27, you may still have a future in the industry at least for the time being :)

Unfortunately for now I'm still making a buck almost solely as #1. Aiming for #3 though, with my trading ideas ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top