Is software development really a dead-end job after age 35-40?

The answer is pretty reasonable in the Quora post (Answer: no). In my experience, people who get something more out writing software than a salary tend to stay in software development, at some level, for their entire career.

That said, if you're a software developer and you're also good at communicating and managing people, seriously consider moving into management. While I think the stories of the '10x' developer are true, I also think a good manager can double or quadruple the effectiveness of their entire team. That has a huge impact both on the careers of the people being managed, and at the company.

Re: Is software development really a dead-end job after age 35-40?

#5

Post by ryandvm » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

If you decide to stop learning new technologies - yes.

If you want to continue learning new tech and position yourself as a truly experienced engineer, there is plenty of headroom for developers willing to continue to grow.

I'm 40 years old and I just had my best year yet - by far. Obviously a big part of that was the decision to move into contracting, but I'm not particularly worried about getting put out to pasture just yet...

Re: Is software development really a dead-end job after age 35-40?

#6

Post by throw-away-8 » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

brianwawok wrote: post #3

bamboozled wrote: post #2

Ask Linus Torvalds

You cannot prove the goodness or badness of a thing by a single data point.

You can if that data point happens to be Linus Torvalds. Or Ken Thompson.

Re: Is software development really a dead-end job after age 35-40?

#7

Post by maxxxxx » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:45 PM UTC

I am 50 and I do OK. I also see people around my age and older who do well too. It seems to me that a lot of people who get filtered out in their 30s should never have been in the profession either for lack of motivation, interest or talent. If you are not self motivated to constantly evolve you have a problem. Moreso than in a lot of other professions.

Re: Is software development really a dead-end job after age 35-40?

#8

Post by codewritinfool » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:46 PM UTC

Not in my opinion. 51 here and doing better than ever. I don't know how long it will last, but the trend for me at least has been better every year for a decade or more.

Re: Is software development really a dead-end job after age 35-40?

#9

Post by indogooner » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:50 PM UTC

The answer depends on location, company and job role. There are some companies (Big 4) where there is a path to growth as an individual contributor even after 35-40. Please remember though you tend to spend a lot of time in meetings in these companies as you grow. A lot of popular Open source projects have senior developers as contributors and these people are sought after by multiple companies.

I have also seen a lot of senior developers go into consulting although they have to do a lot of other stuff than coding. I think as a senior developer you do need to be good at little bit of project management (ex: guiding junior devs, de-risking a project completion, contributing to product management decisions). If that is the case and you have a leadership who can recognize the technical value you bring to table, you should be handsomely rewarded.

Re: Is software development really a dead-end job after age 35-40?

#10

Post by mandeepj » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:50 PM UTC

Depends. If you look up to - John Carmack, Jeff Dean, Jon Skeet (a lot of more names), and keep learning, growing and outpacing yourself from yday then sky is the limit.