What do you folks think about consulting as a 'late career' choice? Is age discrimination as much a factor?
Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
191–200 of 304 posts
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#192Anything more than 10 years old on your resume is worthless. Yes, you may have 3 STEM undergrad degrees, but no one cares because it's not relevant anymore. What modern technologies have you recently worked with? What does your resume show, 20 years at the same company, or do you have experience at well-known, "prestigous" companies like FANG? Are you pigeon-holed into a specific area, or are you a generic, back-end…
As a young professional who's realized the importance of maintaining a network, I'd love to learn how you stay in touch with your former co-workers. Do you reach out for weekend lunch dates just to chat? Are people open to that (given work, hobbies, kids, etc.)? I'm having a hard time coming with "excuses" and serendipity to stay in touch with people I'm no longer working with.
Personally, I mostly text (or WhatsApp) and email with them. Sometimes if it's someone I've really lost touch with who seems to be doing interesting stuff now, I'll send them a LinkedIn message including my email address and tell them to hit me up. Sometimes I'll grab a coffee with them, but most of my favorite coworkers don't live in my town, so it's harder to meet in person. But I really think email is sufficient to keep in touch. I'll send links to stuff on GitHub or blogs that I think they would find interesting (or that I think they'd enjoy giving me a hard time for still being interested in). I also know people who set up Slack / Discord channels for keeping in touch. I don't do that, but I could see where it's nice.
Edit: the other thing I do is pass along interesting looking recruiting emails to people who I know are more on the market than I am. I figure they'll do the same for me next time I'm ready to move on.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#193One theory: The Bay Area has become seriously ageist. Many people have a hard time accepting working for someone a generation younger than them, and especially hiring a subordinate a generation older than them. The people reviewing your resume and interviewing you won't say it (they're not allowed to by law) but they'll definitely be thinking it, and it ends up being a huge waste of your time. I genuinely think it's…
There's also confirmation bias. If you go in with a slight bias against age, and you hire someone over 35 who doesn't work out well, you can come up with some reason that's related to their age. What people don't realize is that if they hire an older engineer that does well in the role, their age will also have something to do with it.
In my experience developers under 40 are a cluster fuck. For slightly more money than a stumblebumb 25yr old you can hire a real developer.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#194#1 - find multiple recruiters to be working for you. They already have relationships and can get you in the door.
#2 - Tailor your resume to the job. Remove bullshit and be frank. Show them you're there to kick ass, not play politics.
#3 - Many companies probably think you're going to ask for a ton of money or that you are way too overqualified.
#4 - Join MeetUps for domains you want to be working in, network, make it clear you're looking for work.
#5 - You're a programmer... automate your resume submission. Get your foot in the door.
#6 - Build a business case for something you want to build, or find someone who wants to build something who has money, through the SBA or MeetUps and get to work.
#7 - Consider humbly approaching professors directly (via email) at top tier universities with your resume. They may have ins. I am certain they will have empathy. We all know ageism is rampant.
#8 - Make sure your resume is achievement based and that your objective says what you really want to do. Remove fluff and be specific.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think they mean 'two ways of presenting yourself', or 'two different base resumes to customize for each role'.
Not the GP, but I think they meant - "go beyond two, and create one for each occasion " (i.e., many more than 2). I agree wholeheartedly with that approach. You're more likely to be successful if you tailor your story and experience to each opportunity, particularly if you have 20+ years of experience. Specifically, OP mention about applying to a "Senior engineer" and "VP of engineering". Depending on the size of the…
GGP is advocating separate mindsets, and for organizing them on paper as two separate 'resumes'.
This is before you customize your submission for each job.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#196Find a company you want to work for. Pay for linked in premium. Find engineers there with common ground, reach out, ask for coffee. Tech companies all have lucrative referral systems so you really can network your way in through a person on the team. This is the way to get a good job in SFBA. There is a good chance you are not even passing a recruiting screen.
I think temporarily paying for LinkedIn premium is an undervalued tool when actively looking for work.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#197I've heard similar story from a non coding engineer. He's not that old but getting no responses. Apparently his current pay is too high.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've screened thousands of resumes and I've never searched for gaps in employment. Some companies may do this but I haven't witnessed it. The things I search for all things obviously within a person's control: consistent formatting, sane file format & filename, and flawless grammar.
I want to see if someone had five jobs over the last five years. Clear sign of a shit developer.
It's not really a clear sign of anything. Many other things could cause that, such as a desire to learn new things often or changing jobs to increase pay after gaining experience. Technical work can be interesting and exciting at first, but become tiresome after a year of repeating the same shit.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've screened thousands of resumes and I've never searched for gaps in employment. Some companies may do this but I haven't witnessed it. The things I search for all things obviously within a person's control: consistent formatting, sane file format & filename, and flawless grammar.
I want to see if someone had five jobs over the last five years. Clear sign of a shit developer.
Or someone who lives in SF and likes doing startups, or someone who is terrible at finding a position that is the right fit for them, or someone who is terrible at recognizing terrible working environments, or someone who...
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#200With 35 years experience, I expect that you have a pretty wide professional network - consider whether you're using those connections to get warm introductions and pointed to good-fit jobs to the greatest degree possible. My apologies if this is stating the obvious, but if your applications are starting with just a resume, you're already at a disadvantage at any age. And I suppose that effect only increases with year…
Doesn’t that break down a bit when you’re trying to stay relevant by branching out?