I’m quickly approaching 50, and work as a tech lead/developer at one of the top few companies in the world earning well.
Age may make it more difficult, but in the end what you’re able to do matters most.
Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
31–40 of 446 posts
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#32Mid-40's here. I'm in management but considering getting back into development/architecture. I've kept up with my skills in Java and DevOps and Kubernetes so I have a breadth of knowledge and skills that I know people are looking for. Management was my plan B and honestly I hate it.
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#33Anyone have more data on this? What happens to programmers as they age, are they in fact unemployable?
I myself am 40 and am gainfully employed and paid well in a top SF tech company, I have several mid to late 40s friends who are highly paid and appreciated at their jobs and have turned down offers from FAANG. I think the key is realizing what more jr engineers able to do well and compete at something else, like depth (or extreme breath) of knowledge, soft skills, organizational skills, and of course leadership.
I wish this comment would get more visibility. Experience is extremely valuable when building, maintaining and scaling software systems. The caveat here is of course that you actually spend your early years learning rapidly and not just doing mundane tasks. Self study and keeping up with technology isn’t easy but it’s doable, not impossible. And great engineers with tons of experience will get hired regardless of age.
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#34Older comments:
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9361580 (351 comments, 2015)
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=65043 (112 comments, 2009)
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16934500 (107 comments, 2018)
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10290637 (2 comments, 2015)
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20564970 (1 comment, 2019)
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#35There’s a trap in software dev careers. If you fall into it, you can really get stuck post 40.
If you work at a small-ish dev organization - especially in-house dev in a non-tech company - you can rise pretty far and become pretty senior, and your indispensability can net you a decent income. But on the open job market those skills don’t transfer as well. The senior roles in small dev shops are filled by promoting from within (because they value in house knowledge), and the senior roles in BIG dev shops are filled by hiring people who know how to operate in a big company, and you don’t have those skills.
Best way to avoid the trap is, try to work somewhere big for a bit before you get to 40, to keep that door open and make it possible to be hired into a senior role.
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#36What others have said about keeping up with technology is certainly true. However, I've found the opposite to be true -- there are many more young programmers because the industry has expanded so much in the past twenty years, there is a relative lack of more senior people, and in my experience they are in high demand. That said, if you're going for a straight individual contributor role rather than a lead or manager…
>That said, if you're going for a straight individual contributor role rather than a lead or manager, there may be questions about why you haven't moved up and whether that might indicate a lack of ability to learn new things that might make you a less valuable individual contributor.
Continuing as an IC (doing things) rather than becoming a manager where you help people do things indicates a "lack of ability to learn new things"?
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll second that. I'd also add that most programmers have high fluid intelligence. This makes it rather easy for them to retool into another field and end up being talented at it. Industrial psychology has very consistently found that fluid intelligence is a stronger predictor of job performance than even experience. It's often the case that the software engineer who becomes a manager at 45, ends up being better at i…
Any source for your last statement?
> Over time, the validity of job experience for predicting performance declines, while that of ability remains constant or increases. Path analyses indicate that the major reason ability predicts performance so well is that higher ability individuals learn relevant job knowledge more quickly and learn more of it.
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#38Plan B:
Stay a developer but don't do it in the narrow-minded valley. Work in industries that favor maturity and stay gainfully employed doing what I love.
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#39Older comments: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9361580 (351 comments, 2015) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=65043 (112 comments, 2009) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16934500 (107 comments, 2018) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10290637 (2 comments, 2015) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20564970 (1 comment, 2019)
Meta: I really wish HN had some way to automatically aggregate and display this data when a link was previously posted, so you had some sort of temporal representation of the various thread discussions that took place, adding a "+" expander and drop down to "past". I'm aware "past" takes you to HN search results for the link, so it's mostly good enough, I'm just throwing a wish into the ether :)
Re: Programmers: Before you turn 40, get a plan B (2009)
#40There are many domains esp. Finance where you move up or move out. Programming also tends to be one of them.
Scott Adams wonderfully says develop a talent stack, Programming is just one of them. Add Math, Sales, Communication, Leadership etc. Become a triple threat! Being above 80 percentile of 3 skills put you at a unique place. Many people here have the mental mechanics for it.
This one thing is true, I resisted.. learning is a life long thing! after 5-10 years of graduation your credentials do not mean one damn thing (with some exceptions).