Look for an engineering services firm and work as a subcontractor. We're currently employing several guys who are 60 (+/-5). Also... sorry... but try the defense industry. They have insanely low standards.
Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
181–190 of 304 posts
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#182I want to say that people might feel intimidated by your resume. Maybe try excluding all but the most relevant degree and heavily tailoring the rest.
I have run into this in the past. Usually a Technical Lead or Director of Engineering is grumpy, gives me a very perfunctory 5-minute interview, has clearly already made up their mind. It was just a waste of time for me and their company.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#183One theory: The Bay Area has become seriously ageist. Many people have a hard time accepting working for someone a generation younger than them, and especially hiring a subordinate a generation older than them. The people reviewing your resume and interviewing you won't say it (they're not allowed to by law) but they'll definitely be thinking it, and it ends up being a huge waste of your time. I genuinely think it's…
There are companies that take this the other way. Companies where everyone is over 40 and has kids. And stability of the prod systems is highly prized. Nobody wants hackathons , we all leave at 5:30pm each day. These companies exist in Bay Area.
> There are companies that take this the other way. Companies where everyone is over 40 and has kids. And stability of the prod systems is highly prized. Nobody wants hackathons , we all leave at 5:30pm each day. These companies exist in Bay Area.
I'm in Chicago at an agency, and our company is more or less just like this. Moreover, the average age on the team I direct is ~43--not by intention or design; it just happened over the course of inheriting the team and hiring since then. We have safe, risk-mitigated times for deployments, solid production systems, and unless something unexpectedly tanked or you're on flex time, we're all out at 5:00pm.
They're out there, but they're not always easy to find.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought people don't really use resumes any more
What do they use instead?
I haven't updated my resume since ~2005; when I re-entered the market looking for a new gig in 2010 and ever since, it's been LinkedIn curation and getting opportunities passed to me from my network 100%.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#185I think a part of it is that resumes are more or less dead for a lot of roles; you need a referral from someone (don't even have to know them) in the team to land the job. It seems that having a jobs listing is similar to having to put newsprint ads for two consecutive sundays to get an H1B through.
That said, drop me a line (email in my bio) with your resume, happy to forward I know a few places that might be interested!
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
You need dates on jobs because they want to identify gaps in employment. The only exception would be if you are a contractor and all of the engagements were under your company. You would list the start and end of your consulting practice in that case.
I've screened thousands of resumes and I've never searched for gaps in employment. Some companies may do this but I haven't witnessed it. The things I search for all things obviously within a person's control: consistent formatting, sane file format & filename, and flawless grammar.
I want to see if someone had five jobs over the last five years. Clear sign of a shit developer.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#187I feel like Google / Amazon / IBM / any of the larger companies would love to have you on board. Maybe look bigger instead of going for start-ups which are often run by children. Anymore people like hiring young inexperienced devs they can abuse and pay poorly. And then they wonder why we have to take months and months to pay off technical debt... Hiring managers and inexperienced management think anybody can learn t…
>Maybe look bigger instead of going for start-ups which are often run by children. If you are personally having difficulties interacting with people <30 years old a good first step would be not to patronize them.
I know what you mean but you'd be surprised about how your managers think about you, or how you would think about your younger self when you're 50.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#188Anything more than 10 years old on your resume is worthless. Yes, you may have 3 STEM undergrad degrees, but no one cares because it's not relevant anymore. What modern technologies have you recently worked with? What does your resume show, 20 years at the same company, or do you have experience at well-known, "prestigous" companies like FANG? Are you pigeon-holed into a specific area, or are you a generic, back-end…
As a young professional who's realized the importance of maintaining a network, I'd love to learn how you stay in touch with your former co-workers. Do you reach out for weekend lunch dates just to chat? Are people open to that (given work, hobbies, kids, etc.)? I'm having a hard time coming with "excuses" and serendipity to stay in touch with people I'm no longer working with.
I have a personal Slack instance of all the people I've worked with and/or managed--and have earned my trust--over the past 7-8 years. We're close-knit and look out for one another in the Chicago market. We've landed each other new gigs, swarmed to help when someone's in need, etc.
That and we're always bouncing news, advice, and helping one another in said Slack instance. Safety in numbers.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#189Earlier quoted context omitted.
Two resumes? Granted, I'm only 43, but each and every resume I send out is tailored to the role I'm applying to. I make sure to highlight experience relevant to the role. Now that I'm mostly on the management side of things, I emphasize outcomes over languages and skills (they're in there, but not as prominent as they once were).
I think they mean 'two ways of presenting yourself', or 'two different base resumes to customize for each role'.
Not the GP, but I think they meant - "go beyond two, and create one for each occasion" (i.e., many more than 2).
I agree wholeheartedly with that approach. You're more likely to be successful if you tailor your story and experience to each opportunity, particularly if you have 20+ years of experience.
Specifically, OP mention about applying to a "Senior engineer" and "VP of engineering". Depending on the size of the company, these are very different roles. A killer profile for one could be terrible fit for the other, and vice-versa.
Re: Ask HN: Over 60 = no engineering jobs?
#190Why aren't you running your own business, maybe as a consultant? You shouldn't be selling your services but your knowledge.
Actually, I would appreciate some advice on this. I truly don't know what services to sell. I can set up machines, design databases, write graph algorithms, train machine learning models, design web services, etc. But I'm not a "leading expert" on any of those things. I'm a generalist and usually have an answer for any problem I run into simply because I've run into it before. How do I market myself as a general problem solver?