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

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

#191

Post by wimagguc »

From this blog post: MIT alumni in their 50s (http://blogs.harvard.edu/philg/2015/04/30/mit-alumni-in-thei...)

"Lesson: Unless you are confident that your skills are very far above average, don’t take a career path that subjects you to the employment market once you’re over 50 (and/or make sure that by age 50 you’ve saved enough for a retirement that begins at age 50 or 55 and during which you won’t have employer-provided health insurance for up to a 15-year gap between age 50 and Medicare age)."

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

#192

Post by tptacek »

pw wrote: post #186
tptacek wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every senior developer in the market who codes at all in your platform is going to represent themselves as a subject matter expert in that platform. To make matters worse, developers will disagree with each other about what the Right Answers are for a given platform or language or engineering approach. Cryptographers (as a counterexample) also disagree with each other about the Right Answers in crypto. But serious cr…

Thanks so much for the response. Can you say any more about what kind of domains tend to be lucrative? It seems like all your examples (distributed systems, sensor fusion, software security, OS kernels) seem very “technical”, for lack of a better word, compared to, say, knowing a lot about the health club industry (a different example mentioned in this thread). Do you think that’s an important distinction?

I think knowing a lot about a particular vertical is hugely distinctive and valuable, often more so than technical specialties.

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

#193

Post by wils1245 »

iamcasen wrote: post #163
pmoriarty wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"If you are not self motivated to constantly evolve you have a problem. Moreso than in a lot of other professions." I was self-motivated to constantly learn, and had no trouble doing it... when I was young. It was the right profession for me then, when I had the interest and passion. After a while, though, much of it starts to seem the same. The towering vistas that were once full of mystery, adventure, and discovery…

I have already felt the way you do and I'm only 31. I think 90% of that feeling comes from the type of problems your job is asking you to solve. It's definitely tough to keep the interesting work flowing in, and avoid the tedious "hey build yet another crud app!" My strategy for my career is to try and position myself into a position of enough authority to decide priorities around software engineering, and what my te…

Do you take vacations? It's a wonder what it does for your state of mind.

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

#194

Post by pw »

tptacek wrote: post #192
pw wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks so much for the response. Can you say any more about what kind of domains tend to be lucrative? It seems like all your examples (distributed systems, sensor fusion, software security, OS kernels) seem very “technical”, for lack of a better word, compared to, say, knowing a lot about the health club industry (a different example mentioned in this thread). Do you think that’s an important distinction?

I think knowing a lot about a particular vertical is hugely distinctive and valuable, often more so than technical specialties.

Thanks :-)

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

#197

Post by HumanDrivenDev »

watty wrote: post #56
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.

Younger ... will voluntarily work longer hours for free.

TBH I've only ever seen this from middle-aged company men.

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

#198

Post by Keyframe »

EADGBE wrote: post #70
maxxxxx wrote: post #7

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.

What if one evolved into another career?

i did just that, but kept programming as a 'hobby' (a real engaging one, time-wise and all). I feel, as older I get (turned 37 a week ago) that more power I wield. Tasks that were daunting when I was younger now seem trivial, new technologies are understood with more in-depth views and I grasp them faster than ever. Focus is much more intense too. I feel it's not even my proverbial final form. Age is an advantage as much as youth is regarding energy (although I still haven't noticed a drop in work stamina yet).

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

#199

Post by brooklyn_ashey »

cgh wrote: post #74
marktangotango wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Java and Spring, or C# and .net. Java is derided as the next cobol, but there is a lot of new development, lots of jobs, and strong demand for senior talent. Source; me, been doing java since 2003. Age 40+.

Can confirm. Also, I suspect a lot of this "there's no life after 40" stuff mainly relates to startups and certain small companies. It certainly doesn't apply to BigCorps.

Actually, we all need to grapple with the fact that big corporations are behaving more and more like startups because they can. If Google has a higher standard (as has been reported by Google SWEs who perform interviews at Google right here on HN) for entering SWEs based on their age, then we need to take a hard look at that. Yeah, it's illegal and unfair, but no one over 40 and really over 35 is allowed to be a great "junior dev" - they are only comfortable w over 35 who have been in the industry. The ladder is pulled up at most places for even excellently skilled beginners after 35. One should be able to enter if one has skill at a higher level, but we all need to face that the level one must hit at 35+, as a woman, as a person in any underrepresented category in this industry is much higher than it is for those who are a good "culture fit".

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

#200

Post by HumanDrivenDev »

I'm just about to turn 30 and I'm looking for a way out. One issue is that it's simply less lucrative where I am (New Zealand) than it is in the US. Here it's a solidly lower middle class career trajectory.

Another reason is I don't think software development is very respected. Look at job advertisements - the most important skill you can have is to already have experience with a given tech stack. This trumps domain knowledge, communication skills, or even total experience in the industry. How much more clear can society make it? We're highly replaceable cogs who need to have limited responsibility and autonomy.

My job is half business analyst, which is a good thing, but transitioning to pure BA would mean starting again at entry level. To me my options are pursue management aggressively, start my own business, or accept that I'll have about the same standard of living as blue collar workers a generation ago.

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