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Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

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Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#31

Post by mikestew »

Silhouette wrote: post #24
mikestew wrote: post #9

Hi, kids! Oldster here. Y'all really need to quit with the "oh, $DEITY, I'm looking at the wrong end of 40 and I'll never work again!" Yes, you will. Yeah, give up that dream of game development (which you should have done anyway, regardless of age). Some brah with his half-assed "Uber for..." won't hire you, sure. But there are plenty of places that would love to have someone that comes in before noon, does the work…

(As a sidenote, the author just comes across as whiny because he's not treated as the special snowflake he really is. If you're so insulted by being asked to do FizzBuzz, then you ought to be able to knock it out in Brainfuck if required. But maybe you can't, eh, Mr. Hotshot?) I remember going through a phase, probably around my mid-20s, when I got quite insulted by being asked to do such simple tasks in interviews.…

It's a little surprising to me that someone with as much experience as the author describes here hasn't realised this yet.

Bing-m'f'ing-O, and you summarize better than I. If one has not only been around the block, but has worn ruts in the sidewalk, then you know exactly why you're being asked to write FizzBuzz. I was actually once asked to reverse a string. "Optimized for memory or speed?" was my response, not a feeling of insult. I guess when I think about it, thanks to your prompting, that's my actual complaint with the article.

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#32

Post by Silhouette »

curtis wrote: post #28
Silhouette wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's actually a real problem because [professional HR hiring people] aren't, in general, competent to be screening applicants, and indeed can't be, unless they are former software engineers themselves. Bingo. Unfortunately, in a situation where it is typically in both sides' best interests to play to their strengths and hide their weaknesses as much as they reasonably can (and sometimes more), it is hard to see h…

I suspect the rules of the game need to change, so that technical experts are involved much earlier in the process, even if it means staff with software development or related roles have to step away from their normal work now and then to participate in recruitment activities. I totally agree with you. In an ideal world (at least a better one), I imagine it would go something like this: Engineering: We need to hire s…

Curiously, that is how it's usually worked in the smaller companies I've worked for over the years. There might have been some sort of external recruitment agency involved in some cases, but the in-house people driving the process were always people like team leaders or department heads where the new recruit would be working, and typically the CVs were triaged or reviewed by a couple of other senior people within those teams or departments.

I've never applied to a very large company via the equivalent process myself, only wound up in them through other means. However, seeing from inside how things have sometimes been handled, with HR/legal driving the process and technical people taking a back seat, I can't say I'm regretting my life choices here. :-)

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#33

Post by shaftway »

earcaraxe wrote: post #4

"There were also a couple of companies that assigned me coding tests where they asked me to “print a ladder” and “find repeating numbers.” I rejected those tests not because of arrogance but because my skills were beyond what they thought is needed from the role. And yes, the roles were for a Software Architect. However, instead of testing my skills in architecture and logic, I had to print a ladder on the screen." T…

3. Software Architects don't get to spend all day every day building sandcastles of the mind; sometimes they have to get down in the trenches and write some low-level code. If they won't do it during an interview, they probably won't do it on the job either.

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#34

Post by flukus »

earcaraxe wrote: post #4

"There were also a couple of companies that assigned me coding tests where they asked me to “print a ladder” and “find repeating numbers.” I rejected those tests not because of arrogance but because my skills were beyond what they thought is needed from the role. And yes, the roles were for a Software Architect. However, instead of testing my skills in architecture and logic, I had to print a ladder on the screen." T…

> how are functions and variables named, does it take in args, what style is the commenting, does it do error handling, input validation, which language features are used to solve it etc, etc?

A lot of that is going to depend on the test. For fizzbuzz using functions at all would be over complicated, if it's timed then I'm not going to bother with comments and variable naming.

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#35

Post by mcv »

mikestew wrote: post #9

Hi, kids! Oldster here. Y'all really need to quit with the "oh, $DEITY, I'm looking at the wrong end of 40 and I'll never work again!" Yes, you will. Yeah, give up that dream of game development (which you should have done anyway, regardless of age). Some brah with his half-assed "Uber for..." won't hire you, sure. But there are plenty of places that would love to have someone that comes in before noon, does the work…

> Yeah, give up that dream of game development

Ha. I'm 42 and currently working on an online version for the card game Dominion. Paid. So it's not a game I invented, but still pretty cool, and very different from the work for banks I've done the past couple of years.

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#36

Post by mcv »

I don't recognize this at all. 42, working as freelancer, and I'm regularly swamped with offers from recruiters. And yes, there is plenty of junk among them, and most recruiters suck, but I've found plenty of decent contracts within bicycle distance, and each one paid better than the previous one (except the current one, but that's because I'm helping a friend build a game).

This is Netherland, though. The situation could very well be different in other countries.

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#37

Post by gozur88 »

mikestew wrote: post #9

Hi, kids! Oldster here. Y'all really need to quit with the "oh, $DEITY, I'm looking at the wrong end of 40 and I'll never work again!" Yes, you will. Yeah, give up that dream of game development (which you should have done anyway, regardless of age). Some brah with his half-assed "Uber for..." won't hire you, sure. But there are plenty of places that would love to have someone that comes in before noon, does the work…

Yeah, there are still jobs.

On the other hand it's going to be harder to land them. My sister, who looks younger than her mid-30s, was at a job interview wherein the founders told her they didn't want any "old people", meaning people over 30.

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#38

Post by mcv »

dickbasedregex wrote: post #13
dozzie wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [...] it will be another 5 to 7 years before I am truly proficient. Just in time to be obsolete. How do I combat this? Better networking? Starting my own business? Consulting? Judging from how you use it, I think that under the word "obsolete" you mean something different than how I understand it. Care to clarify?

Spend N years getting to be proficient in a technology. N+1 years later most have abandoned that tech. Do you jump techs or go into management? I assume that's what he/she means.

Learning new technology is part of the job. Though there are still tons of companies stuck with older technologies. Ancient, sometimes.

Re: Is Software Development Really a Dead-End Job After 35-40?

#40

Post by sharemywin »

gozur88 wrote: post #37
mikestew wrote: post #9

Hi, kids! Oldster here. Y'all really need to quit with the "oh, $DEITY, I'm looking at the wrong end of 40 and I'll never work again!" Yes, you will. Yeah, give up that dream of game development (which you should have done anyway, regardless of age). Some brah with his half-assed "Uber for..." won't hire you, sure. But there are plenty of places that would love to have someone that comes in before noon, does the work…

Yeah, there are still jobs. On the other hand it's going to be harder to land them. My sister, who looks younger than her mid-30s, was at a job interview wherein the founders told her they didn't want any "old people", meaning people over 30.

Age discrimination is illegal. And I wouldn't want to work for the next Theranos or zenefits anyway.
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