281–290 of 308 posts
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I read #2 about kids and beer bonding and it really irks the heck out of me. This is our industry? A bunch of selfish immatures? Nice.
Yeah it irks me when people with kids think they are better than people who don't too. ;)
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That wisdom makes you of negative business value to your manager, since he still believes 60-hour gauntlets are an intrinsic part of being on time and under budget. Hence, you won't get hired.
I disagree. I have read articles like http://lifehacker.com/working-over-40-hours-a-week-makes-you... which claim that over 40 hrs a week on average, for average people, will have lower productivity. I get that sometimes people have to work over 40 hours a week, and then follow it with extended periods of rest. An example is tax accountants. But for continuous producers like executives or engineers imo they are more…
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my only point is that the supply at that price is greater than 0 - that some people will do it. who are in their twenties. you won't find someone even over thirty willing to do it though. it's a descriptive statement.
Seems to me that the number of retired engineers working as Wal-Mart greeters is actually more than one, and has been for a while.
Maybe they just want to get out of the house and do something useful?
Otherwise if it was for $$$s, and they aren't poor without a safety net, seems like they'd be better off learning higher value skills and getting a better job.
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…and not an "unknown," perhaps laid-off, looking for work, correct?
So, look, it could be that I have a lot of extra self confidence because my career has been decent to this point. But really, I mean I don't feel even slightly threatened by the technical ability of 20-something coders. I was warned throughout much of my career that I'd eventually have to head off to management to keep afloat, but, nope, that was bogus advice. I can go into more detail here but I'm derailing things s…
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my only point is that the supply at that price is greater than 0 - that some people will do it. who are in their twenties. you won't find someone even over thirty willing to do it though. it's a descriptive statement.
Seems to me that the number of retired engineers working as Wal-Mart greeters is actually more than one, and has been for a while.
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Seems to me that the number of retired engineers working as Wal-Mart greeters is actually more than one, and has been for a while.
Why would they do that? Maybe they just want to get out of the house and do something useful? Otherwise if it was for $$$s, and they aren't poor without a safety net, seems like they'd be better off learning higher value skills and getting a better job.
I've considered it, but I don't think I can do that work.
I'm not actually retired, and may never be able to, because of a catastrophic health event around twelve years ago. I get paid very well when I'm working, and that plus learned frugality and a supportive family has enabled me to get by pretty comfortably, but the same health catastrophe created a situation in which it's quite difficult to find people who want to hire me. That difficulty is increased by a couple of other personal limitations that don't hamper my productivity (I can be outstandingly productive given the right tools, goals, and situation), but the right combination of things is just a little different from and more specific than the common default, and that's enough to have a strong negative effect on my chances of being hired. I'm a white crow, is what it comes down to--or a nail that sticks up.
My solution so far is to take work I'm likely to excel at when I can get it, and especially when people are comfortable paying me on par with what I've been usually been paid before (because it's good pay), but to be open to any steady work of any kind that I think I can do, because I also often have to weather extended periods of no work. The longest so far has been a little over two years.
Oh, and of course I'm always working on projects meant to become things that will generate residual income in the long run.
I would certainly work as a Wal-Mart greeter if I thought I could do it. There are a lot of other low-paying jobs that I would do if I thought I could do them. The main problem with low-paying jobs is that a lot of them require sustained physical exertion that I can't do, or rigid work schedules that I can't observe, or both.
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So, look, it could be that I have a lot of extra self confidence because my career has been decent to this point. But really, I mean I don't feel even slightly threatened by the technical ability of 20-something coders. I was warned throughout much of my career that I'd eventually have to head off to management to keep afloat, but, nope, that was bogus advice. I can go into more detail here but I'm derailing things s…
Sure, but I find the problem isn't competing against twenty somethings once you're hired (could be done with one lobe tied behind your back, haha). It's getting hired by them at all, and very difficult if you're not "internet famous."
Perhaps the problems are more at the margins (junior level devs, choosing between people of similar ability), but unless the market changes drastically, I can't see a competent engineer having too much trouble regardless of age, at least in locations with a big enough tech scene.
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There's not much more, it was a very general lecture touching on many topics, it was merely an anecdote.
Is it merely an organizational statement that over-30's are worth less and need remedial training? No that was not the point. The point is that new employees, students, practically live in a different world that older employees. The point of the system was that students would teach older employees how to operate within this "new world". It's an approach to make sure that older employees don't get stuck in their ways…
What kind of organization is it (what's the business).
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Professional Engineer. It's an anointed position from an association of engineers, like an old-time guild. There's a duty to mentor youngsters, and a requirement for youngsters to spend time being mentored before getting PE status themselves.
I don't believe the concept of PE extends to software. I know its true for architecture, you need a PE to sign off on big structures. I would LOVE to have it in software.
Sounds good at first thought. Reliable quality and ethics for software engineers, right?
On the other hand, you're inviting a special interest group to restrict the supply of software engineers and dictate university curricula. These professional programs/societies tend to be very conservative (engineers, doctors, lawyers) and have their members' interests possibly before society as a whole. Overall it probably still makes sense for the traditional professions.
But as a CS prof watching my engineering academic neighbors struggle with scheduling, staffing and difficulty updating things, I really don't want the external constraints on our academic program.
Overall, the community has not yet agreed that professional software engineering is a thing, though there have been several attempts to kick start it.
So, I'm not an oldster, not a young'un, but somewhere in between in my mid 40's, and I've been in this industry for over 20 years at this point. I see my friends from the same age group go different ways; quite a number stay in tech as employees, getting more senior and climbing the engineer ladder. They're the ones who are affected by age discrimination, particularly as they get into their 50's and over. The other g…
How have your colleagues who became managers fared?