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Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

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Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#131

Post by IshKebab »

austin-cheney wrote: post #117
yodsanklai wrote: post #99

I don't think anybody can answer this question for you. At 40, you can still do the exact same jobs as someone who's 25 (at least in tech) if you put your heart in it. I don't know what's the expiry date for a SWE, but it's not 40. I'm a median IC in big tech at almost 50 and don't feel discriminated against yet, and for the most part, don't feel incompetent or behind, and feel I'm having the greatest time of my care…

While many people talk about a bias against hiring ICs over 40 I also wonder if there is a bias to favor people over 40 for promotions.

In my experience the only bias against hiring ICs over 40 (at least in the UK) is

* They tend to get stuck on old technologies that nobody uses any more. I don't really care about your Perl skills, sorry.

* They expect higher salaries.

If you keep up to date with your skills (Rust, Typescript, Nix, etc.) and aren't precious about your salary increasing forever then I don't think there's an issue. I've worked with plenty of very skilled ICs into their 60s.

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#132

Post by yodsanklai »

austin-cheney wrote: post #117
yodsanklai wrote: post #99

I don't think anybody can answer this question for you. At 40, you can still do the exact same jobs as someone who's 25 (at least in tech) if you put your heart in it. I don't know what's the expiry date for a SWE, but it's not 40. I'm a median IC in big tech at almost 50 and don't feel discriminated against yet, and for the most part, don't feel incompetent or behind, and feel I'm having the greatest time of my care…

While many people talk about a bias against hiring ICs over 40 I also wonder if there is a bias to favor people over 40 for promotions.

Probably depends on the company. I think it's not in those big tech companies where everything is quite standardized. In my case, besides my manager, most of the guys discussing my promotion wouldn't even know me personally. Evaluation is very factual. It's more about picking the right projects so you can check all the boxes, also not pissing off colleagues.

Same goes for interviewing. I passed several FAANG interviews when I was 45. I just practiced Leetcode like anybody else. Leetcode has its flows, but solving leetcode problems isn't out of reach for an older candidate. Could be harder to find the time to practice, but solving problems in interview situation is a matter of practice. The problems are pretty much known in advance.

Edit: Now that I'm an interviewer, I really just ask my questions, and check boxes based on the candidate performance. We're also trained to avoid biases and so on...

That being said, I very rarely see "older" candidates despite the constant reminder we're an inclusive place.

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#133

Post by 9rx »

quesera wrote: post #129
9rx wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In context, "desire" is defined as what one would prefer to do absent of any financial constraints. With the stated acceptance of reality, one can want financial independence out of need without it being their desire (per the given definition). It may be true that some definitions of "want" and "desire" prevent coherent differentiation, but as we established, and you willingly agreed, words do allow for more than one…

I cannot think of a single case where the words "want" and "desire" are not interchangeable. One might connote a greater or lesser longing or preference in a given context, but I think that will also vary. To the point: > one can want financial independence out of need without it being their desire (per the given definition). This sentence works equally well with the words swapped. ... Anyway, this is not an interest…

By strict application of the most common use, that is effectively true. But in that case needing financial independence before seeking more lofty careers goals is a desire like any other. The premise introduced in the first reply is a false premise if you want to take that angle.

However, to do so shows a gross misunderstanding of the English language. Meanings are not set in stone like that. Meaning is fluid and can change with context. Said reply defines "desire" to exclude financial concerns, but maintains "want" in the original sense. The intent of the comment is quite clear. It fails by false assumption.

With that contextual defining of "desire', these words are no longer interchangeable. "Want" includes the case where one wants financial independence, while "desire" is defined, in context, to exclude wanting financial independence.

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#134

Post by 93po »

austin-cheney wrote: post #117
yodsanklai wrote: post #99

I don't think anybody can answer this question for you. At 40, you can still do the exact same jobs as someone who's 25 (at least in tech) if you put your heart in it. I don't know what's the expiry date for a SWE, but it's not 40. I'm a median IC in big tech at almost 50 and don't feel discriminated against yet, and for the most part, don't feel incompetent or behind, and feel I'm having the greatest time of my care…

While many people talk about a bias against hiring ICs over 40 I also wonder if there is a bias to favor people over 40 for promotions.

There is probably bias in that social skills tend to be better as you get older, which makes you a better leader and manager in many cases.

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#136

Post by [deleted] »

lazycog512 wrote: post #83
weatherlite wrote: post #29

> Google is the place you go to retire after 40 I don't get this honestly. About 1%-2% of devs will manage to work at a FAANG, that's it (correct me if I'm wrong). The rest of us will grind code somewhere else. I'm 40 and I'm staying put in the startup I'm currently working for because I like the people and it's not a sweatshop. Eventually I'll find something else. I'm more worried about A.I making me irrelevant than…

Where do white males go? Obviously they can't go to Google...

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#137

Post by jb74427442 »

InsideOutSanta wrote: post #66
scrumper wrote: post #30

I have a couple ideas for you from my own experience. There's about a bajillion C/D+ stage 100-500 person software companies in any B2B vertical you could mention who would fight hard for your type of experience. Not necessarily SaaS click-and-drool tools for corporate drones, but unique and opinionated products that have some significant engineering innovation inside. Those companies have essentially no ability to a…

This. I'm now working at a small- to mid-sized (~80 people) local B2B company. Pay is fine, they offer 100% WFH if you want, but they also have nice offices, they make good and stable revenue with reasonable growth targets, the actual work is somewhere between interesting and mind-numbingly stupid (e.g. integrating with poorly documented enterprise software - can be fun, but can also be aggravating), people are mostl…

Hi InsideOutSanta,

This sounds like a place I'd enjoy working at.

Email is HN username at gmail.

Thanks

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#138

Post by 93po »

tyrust wrote: post #87
lazycog512 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do white males go? Obviously they can't go to Google...

https://about.google/belonging/diversity-annual-report/2023/ In 2023, 31.7% of the workforce was white males (page 15).

i dont want to contribute to crying over the difficulties of white men, but the more honest stat would be what percent of the hiring in 2023/2024 was white men

https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/about.google/en//...

the hiring of white people is about the same, and the hiring of men is actually a little bit higher between 2022 and 2023

the interesting take-away here is mostly that there is an increase of hiring of people who are asian while people who are black or latinx are in decline

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#139

Post by drchopchop »

justanother wrote: post #50

As someone comin up on 50 myself, I have to say age has yet to be an issue with my career. Maybe I don't go out of my way to advertise it (cut the resume down to the past 10 or so years, don't have a face full of white hair), but I'm still landing plenty of the same ole gigs with Typescript, Ruby on Rails, Python, whatever the flavor of the month is. So I guess my advice is to just ignore it? Of course, trying not to…

Not advertising it is key. I'm also coming up on 50, and people constantly are surprised when they inevitably find out how old I am. Ageism can unconsciously creep in when you have more than 15 years of experience visible on your resume, even for higher management-level positions.

Also - if you're a mid-level IC in your 40's you should start asking yourself what's stopping you from being higher up on the IC or management tracks. "Career senior engineer" is not a great place to be, long-term.

Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

#140

Post by PaulHoule »

brainwipe wrote: post #112
InsideOutSanta wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. I'm now working at a small- to mid-sized (~80 people) local B2B company. Pay is fine, they offer 100% WFH if you want, but they also have nice offices, they make good and stable revenue with reasonable growth targets, the actual work is somewhere between interesting and mind-numbingly stupid (e.g. integrating with poorly documented enterprise software - can be fun, but can also be aggravating), people are mostl…

This has been my life for the last 10 years and I know who my children really are. They're evil and I love it.

If you let that (evil) go too far you'll regret it.
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