I am turning 43 and trying to figure things out as well. I am at the point in my life where the most important thing to me is not work. I just want a balanced 9 to 5 without toxicity or high demands. Is such a thing possible in this industry? If so where?
Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
81–90 of 283 posts
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#82I 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…
My longest employment stint was at such a company and it was a very good experience for me. That said, even though I worked at such a company for a while, I don't have a very good idea how I would go about identifying other such companies with open roles. Any suggestions on how to do that?
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#83> 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...
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#84I am at Google (and have been for quite somewhat over a decade now), and am over 40 too. Despite a lot of internal criticism about "the old Google" and how things have changed, they are still a very good company to work for in my opinion. Lots of well-known benefits, decent comp, and critically a very good work-life balance (no mandatory work-from-office so far, I probably average about 0.5 to 1 days a week in the of…
To be fair, it seems like getting Google to interview you is a challenge.
Not saying that it is an easy place to get in to - the bar is high, but if you are good enough to get in it is fairly chilled.
FWIW I interview a lot of candidates and there is quite a broad range of ages from college grads up to and including folks older than me. The hiring process is flawed in many ways, but they do seem to go out of their way to be fair and equitable regarding age race gender etc. It is no longer "culture fit" examined during interview for example, but now "culture add"
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#85> 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…
1-2% at a FAANG seems way to high. There are a lot of other companies out there hiring people. Some of them are great places to work, some of them are not.
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#86This should be about what you want in your career now, and not about your age. Once you can clearly answer the first question, it will be easy to find the right place.
That actually distills it down pretty well. What's your financial position? What do you want/need your financial position to be once you (maybe, largely) stop collecting a paycheck? Are you OK with not working for a company vs. maybe doing some stuff on the side?
Especially once you've thought about your finances, your horizons may open up a lot. I know people who largely retired in their 40s and that may be for you or may be hell.
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#87> 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...
https://about.google/belonging/diversity-annual-report/2023/
In 2023, 31.7% of the workforce was white males (page 15).
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#88I'm in the same situation, 41 and just folded a startup in November after six years and looking at what to do next. My concern is if I jump on another startup and it doesn't go well, I will have even less chance to land a decent gig afterwards. Who knows what AI capabilities will be five years down the line? I have some friends that work in government that could help me get a job there where you are basically unfirea…
I think you mostly only run the risk of pigeonholing yourself as a “startup person” if you jump on another startup. But startup people value startup experience, so as along as you enjoy startup work and are making solid contributions, I think you have a long career ahead, with the caveat that options to work in a bigger company may be diminishing. Even then, it’s not all that uncommon for big companies to try to bring in startup types to breathe some life into a stagnant culture. Not so much FAANG but there are a lot of other big tech companies with good comp.
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#89I accidentally fell into working for state government. Small state relatively and it has been one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. I am able to help people, again, use technology to make things easier. It is very enjoyable. I can see myself working here until I am no longer able to keep up. I enjoy programming, but more importantly solving problems, and really hope that I don't have to retire.
Re: Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?
#90I am similar demographics. In parallel to my regular job I am registering myself as self employed electrician (in Germany). For couple hours a week at the beginning and let’s see how it evolves later.
Out of curiosity: did you already have an education that certified you for the job, or is it something you acquired recently?