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Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

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Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#111

Post by major505 »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #43
drillsteps5 wrote: post #9

Multiple issues. One of them is reluctance of younger hiring managers to hire older people. At 35 you don't necessarily see advantages that hiring 50 year old will bring you, as you don't have experience to be able to see that. Not sure if there is a "solution" for that as a 35 yo hiring manager will probably have an easier time managing under-35 individual contributor comparing to a 50 yo one. Different perspectives…

When the CEO is 28, it is the head where the fishrot starts. In The Days of Old, the folks running the corporation were almost always in their 50s. They might have been prejudiced towards folks my age (60s), but they didn't have issues with hiring what are now considered "older" folks (40s and 50s), with the only issue being cost (they might be ageist, simply for cost reasons). The prejudice from younger folks is cul…

Thats why, me at 40`s, now am I working in a german auto industry where they still got more traditional views and p promote people with time inside the company.

Hip companies dont hire me, maybe some tech consultants, that would not be considered cool, like accenture or IBM.

A few years ago I was one of the first people in my country tomigrate my company android app to Kotlin, this helped me land in the app development team of a big bank in my country and I was by far the oldest dude. Everybody called me "uncle" there, very common to young people in my country to call older people that, because most where college kids.

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#112

Post by seadan83 »

saulpw wrote: post #70
iknowSFR wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn’t the same true of his original attire selection, though? If he wore jeans in the 2000s, he would have faced consequences. So he wore slacks. What’s really changed?

As the parent comment said, he stood out for dressing nicely those years ago. Wearing jeans in the 2000s was not just tolerated or accepted, it was expected. I remember feeling wary of engineers who dressed up for interviews then, like they were trying too hard.

My impression is dress-culture was (and still is somewhat) different on the US East vs West coast. The tech company I worked for in the mid 2000s on the East coast explicitly forbid jeans in the dress code.

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#113

Post by beng-nl »

goatlover wrote: post #83
ilc wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I call this "Wearing your uniform." You need to look like you are a person who would be doing the job. You wouldn't hire a gardner with smooth hands, clean shoes, and no dirt under their nails would you? Car mechanics, you can see it in their hands, and the way they act around cars. Every profession has its tells, from what we wear, to our physical traits etc. After a while, you know if someone adds up or not. But pa…

Don't understand what physical appearance has to do with tech.

That’s the exact thing that GP is trying to spell out.

They’re not saying that how you look impacts your real ability; or vice versa.

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#114

Post by major505 »

MongooseStudios wrote: post #2

Job boards aren't the problem. The problems begin and end within the boundaries of companies. ATS, recruiter, hiring manager, 6 30-60 minute interviews. Those things are the problem. If I had the money I could go hire a half dozen solid software engineers and at least 2 solid DevOps/SRE types today. I'm betting people in other fields could do the same. And yet, good people remain unemployed and scared.

Everybody want their company to be a google where you are willing to waste that mauch time to get hired.

In the end, HR hiring team fails to recruit because in makes the process to expensive for candidates, and the CEOS hire more HR recruitment becasue they think the problem is the lack of people to hire. HR needs to justify the salary, and makes hiring more a pain in the ass, feeding the vicious cycle.

I miss the times where HR only responsabily was to process salary payment.

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#116

Post by pixelready »

bsenftner wrote: post #33

Ageism is looking a one tree in a forest of extremely similar problems. We have a othering at scale issue in the species. It's fundamental. It needs to be recognized as an issue of, a problem with self determinism itself, the othering of those we are not intimate is a serious species-wise issue. There is another science here, waiting for formalization.

Yes, I think othering at scale is the root of most of our societal ills. It was likely a useful heuristic when we were sparsely spread out tribal creatures, similar to always assuming the rustling in the bush was a tiger and not just the wind.

In a tightly woven, interdependent system like modern civilization, it is placing a huge strain on us structurally as well as psychologically. Add to this it is an easy exploit for power ala “my leadership is great, over there is your problem”, combined with mass media platforms and the whole thing is cracking at the edges.

How do we mitigate this though? It seems to take a massive concerted effort for a person to overcome those implicit biases. I was speaking with a family member the other day who is clearly primed by media in their country to assume that all current structural ills are caused by immigrants, and when probed about people of that same group that were actually in her life, she said “Well, Mr. so and so that works at the school is just a lovely decent hardworking man.” But she couldn’t take the leap that there are statistically more Mr. so and so’s in the group than the “bad ones” she was hearing about in the news. I’ve seen this pattern across all of business and politics.

Don’t even get me started on the whole “culture fit” hiring standards.

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#117

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

michaelt wrote: post #28
vergessenmir wrote: post #10

get work done, look younger and slice off the first 5 years of your experience because it is "not relevant". I look about 10-12 years younger so I am able to slip under the radar but it makes me wonder how my peers who look visibly their age fare? The job market is london, sector: Hedge funds, asset mangement tech etc.

Do you list the year you graduated on your CV?

I do, but if they're being ageist, it means less because I didn't finish my degree until I was 32 because I wasted the first 9 years of my adult life before starting college.

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#118

Post by deadbabe »

chucksmash wrote: post #60
deadbabe wrote: post #34

There is all kinds of ‘isms in tech. Pretty much the only people who don’t have to worry are young straight white males. I suspect before ageism disappears it will first swing the other way where older tech workers snub young people entering the industry writing them off as vibecoders who don’t know anything and are easily replaced with an AI.

You just did an ism...

pessimism

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#119

Post by hintymad »

softwaredoug wrote: post #44

I experience it differently. As an IC that’s relatively respected it my field, I think my seniority seems like a threat to some leaders. Because my word carries weight and I tend to be less obsequious with little to lose in these interactions. I have less of a problem to saying “the emperor has no clothes”. Younger ICs don’t have this luxury. They go along despite their reservations and often feel they don’t know bet…

> Because my word carries weight and I tend to be less obsequious with little to lose in these interactions

This may well be the value of a senior IC. You will be neutral in most of the situations, so VPs will be more willing to trust you as they know you don't have a hidden organizational agenda.

Re: Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem?

#120

Post by seethishat »

When the 20 something 'senior' engineers and 'consultants' don't know how to test network connectivity by using openssl, telnet and ping, you don't won't to work there. It's more like a day care than college or high school ;)

How can a 20 something with very little experience actually consult? Based on what experience?

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