My father started feeling this in his 50's, then he got his master's degree and his callback rate increased significantly. Now he's in his 60's he's getting a PhD so he'll be marketable as an old guy, even if that is just as an adjunct professor.
64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
101–110 of 315 posts
Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Health insurance is a son of a bitch when you're older, though =[ it's not necessarily a bad plan, but those insurance rates go through the roof.
He's from Canada. We get basic medial coverage for free. Well, if you are not working it is free, if you are working it is like $50-100/month (depending on your pay level). This is often covered by your employer too, again if you are working. So, there is no real issues there as he gets older.
Oh, that's awesome! Remind me to move to Canada... Vancouver isn't too far from Seattle =) tax rate isn't that much higher, these days, either from my understanding (depending on your income).
Edit: Though, you guys aren't taking us in anymore as easily, these days, though huh? =) I say this all mostly in jest. I do think things will even out here and cooler minds will prevail, eventually.
Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#103When I was in my upper 30s I was mistakingly included in a reply-all email from someone who interviewed me and said I seemed kind of old for the position. I was ready to lose my shit on them but my wife made me wait a day before responding when she saw how angry I was. I was considering hiring a lawyer to sue the shit out of them for discrimination, but at the end of the day I brushed it off with a snarky "at least I…
I’m pretty sure protections against age discrimination only kick in federally if you’re 40 or older, though some states may expand it to younger workers.
Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#104Just for a counterpoint that I know will be attacked - Why not create plenty of jobs? Let's say we want programming jobs for everyone, just start adding constraints to what can be sold in the country based on whether that company hired programmers in the country. Are there people who want to do more woodwork? Well then start adding some limits to importing products built with woodworking skills. It doesn't have to be "all or nothing", it can target creating the jobs desired by the community.
I know this would take a lot of work to get right, and there would be costs, but it sure seems like it would be worth it to create a society where everybody could do the type of work that they desire.
Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#105I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…
You could also look to start your own business to not require the approval of any hiring committee. Customers are not going to care, and you can probably get them to buy into your product/service without them even knowing much about you, let alone your age. The difference between being hired into a business and working on your own is that you'll have to create stability on your own, but the benefits seem worth it. Ma…
It’s not easy to start your own company. Sometimes you have no choice but it’s not for everyone.
Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#106I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…
By graceful exit, do you mean Smith and Wesson retirement plan ? I think it's still better to become a street beggar.
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Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#107When I was in my upper 30s I was mistakingly included in a reply-all email from someone who interviewed me and said I seemed kind of old for the position. I was ready to lose my shit on them but my wife made me wait a day before responding when she saw how angry I was. I was considering hiring a lawyer to sue the shit out of them for discrimination, but at the end of the day I brushed it off with a snarky "at least I…
I’m pretty sure protections against age discrimination only kick in federally if you’re 40 or older, though some states may expand it to younger workers.
Maybe, but that seems kind of crazy as I had tangible proof of age discrimination. It's not like they'd say someone who was 38 was too old and someone who was 42 would suddenly not.
Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#108It's tragic and I wish younger devs could have even a small understanding of how pernicious this phenomenon is. No, you won't escape it because you're awesome, or because you love learning new things etc etc. I'm lucky: I switched into a role where deep domain experience is essential, I did a PhD, I'm one of the top experts in a growing field - I'm more or less insulated from this. Indeed, now I hire people and I'm a…
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Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you had a 100% stock allocation for your 401k, you still would be fine, provided you picked broad market indexes. In fact, you'd have beaten most other portfolios. It's not that 100% stocks doesn't give you long term return, on a 30 year spread, it gives better returns (although more volatile) than more balanced portfolios. 10% bonds, while you're young, is mostly just to keep you from freaking out and selling at…
I think its considerably easier now to not freak out when the market crash but back in the 80s ?
Perhaps, but the financial world is so much more complex now. All sorts of crypto currencies, tens of thousands of EFTs and index funds. Lots of FUD via social media and the internet. A million and one ways to lose your money.
That being said, indexing is common now but Active was more common in the 80s, so who knows how much money was lost on ineffective managers.
Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it disturbing he can't find work as a project manager. If anything, that's one role where the practitioners typically know fuck-all about nothing and where good ones are worth their weight in gold. I LOVE to work with ADULT project managers who have a clue about how projects actually unfold and how things actually get done with a wide variety of personalities in the mix. Instead, more often than not, you get 2…
In today's world of agile development, I haven't met any project managers worthy of anything. I feel that strong product managers are capable of managing development as well. I can't believe there are actual people getting paid to move JIRA tickets around full-time.
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