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

quora.com

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

#51

Post by nvarsj »

elliottcarlson wrote: post #46
swah wrote: post #31

This is depressing. I'm 33 and still haven't really find a niche inside software dev that I'm willing to stay... On the other hand, nobody asks doctors and lawyers if their are planning to retire at 35.

I'm 37 and would rather not stick to a niche personally. Being able to quickly adapt and grow keeps the job interesting to me.

Yeah, niches don’t last in our field. Sure, become an expert in akka, kubernetes, or whatever tech is fashionable now - in 10 years it will be like you were an expert in CORBA.

It’s a little annoying how you have to chase tech fashion to remain employable though. As if simply being a good engineer isn’t enough to pick up these techs and contribute meaningfully. You need to spend your free time learning the tech, or be at the right company, to even be employable. As we get older and have families, this becomes more difficult.

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

#52

Post by ComputerGuru »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

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 ar…

Why, though? I mean, you’re looking at the best case scenario: developer turning manager boosts productivity of company X.

But what’s in it for the developer? If the developers is happy and well-compensated bad has no managerial/executive ambitions/fantasies, why ruin a good thing (with a gamble, at that)?

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

#53

Post by darethas »

myth_drannon wrote: post #38
mandeepj wrote: post #10

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.

These are genius level people, not someone we can actually ever become one.

Most of the recent psychologists who study expert performers all tend to agree that "genius level" just like "innate talent" is a cognitive distortion and discredits the amount of actual effort, practice, and honing of their craft these individuals put into it.

We are all born with the same brain* (edit: see the ted talk on the "After 83,000 brain scans"). Some of us just aren't born in the right environment to curate it and never learn the best ways to use it ("learning how to learn") given the current dominant socio-economic factors. It gets harder as you get older not because of age but because your anxieties, fears, and distortions become more reinforced, so breaking down those thought patterns becomes harder

*: I mean this more or less, not literal. To clarify, I am speaking more specifically to neuroplasticity and neurogenesis. Maybe some things come easier for other people out of the gate, but this wasn't because of some "innate" talent, but rather some factor of their development, both internal and external, provided the acuity and propensity towards excelling that specific thing, but if you molded another brain from scratch this same way, you would more or less get the same result.

edit: With the TED video,I was again referring to the take away: "You are not stuck with the brain you have, you can make it better." So if you were "never born with the ability to be good at math" this is a distortion, just as much as "I am only mediocre at math and will never be great at math" is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPRsT-lmw8&t=599s

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

#54

Post by zoul »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

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 ar…

Isn’t it a big loss to move into management when one loves to code?

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

#56

Post by watty »

everyone wrote: post #43

I'm frankly flabbergasted why silicon valley (apparently, from reading articles here) has this youth fixation. In my software dev experience the least useful people on the team have invariably been the youngest. My pet theory answer for my own question goes thusly: Young people are more easily indoctrinated / brainwashed and dominated and thats what Google and whoever really want in their employees.

It's not rocket science. Younger devs can be paid less and generally will voluntarily work longer hours for free.

Sure, you need some senior developers mixed in as well but young energetic devs are more bang for the buck.

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

#57

Post by jonnycoder »

pavlov wrote: post #18

Definitely not, but you should steer clear of the baseline jobs at large corporations. They usually have generic titles like "Software Developer" or "[Technology] Engineer" (iOS Engineer, Android Engineer, Front-End Engineer, Node.js Engineer, whatever). Those jobs are designed to be filled with recent graduates who will be doing rote implementation work using a specific technology. They'll give you a pointless white…

How does one get into consulting work? Do you have any blog or book recommendations?

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

#58

Post by michael_storm »

ComputerGuru wrote: post #52
ChuckMcM wrote: post #4

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 ar…

Why, though? I mean, you’re looking at the best case scenario: developer turning manager boosts productivity of company X. But what’s in it for the developer? If the developers is happy and well-compensated bad has no managerial/executive ambitions/fantasies, why ruin a good thing (with a gamble, at that)?

Then don't. GP said "seriously consider moving", not "move". Presumably the developer would do it if they value potential impact over the risk.

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

#59

Post by watty »

swah wrote: post #31

This is depressing. I'm 33 and still haven't really find a niche inside software dev that I'm willing to stay... On the other hand, nobody asks doctors and lawyers if their are planning to retire at 35.

To be fair many doctors are just starting to make a real salary and can be a half a million in debt by 35.

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

#60

Post by hfourm »

myth_drannon wrote: post #36
toomuchtodo wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish I had more than one upvote. If you have no management experience, and no mentorship in managing, you have no business managing people. Managing requires empathy and a desire to help your subordinates level up, not SWE skills. Your job is to deliver value to the org and to your individual contributors in equal parts. At least as a software developer, you're only breaking code. But you start affecting people's l…

This is a big problem in startups. Developers with very little to nothing of not only management experience but even development experience become VPofE/Directors/CTOs and wreak psychological havoc on people they are supposed to manage. Sometimes they do it on purpose because of insecurities or many times just unintentionally.

Usually the bigger problem there isn't as much the individuals, but why the startup needed that role to begin with.

A lot of times early companies will go through the motions of, "needing" a VP of Engineering, or CTO, or whatever. In reality their process does not need that, and those roles are either meaningless titles at best or cause unnecessary process to crop up and hinder productivity.

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