Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#101

Post by katmatt » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 2:59 PM UTC

I studied computer science and got my first SW engineering job in 2001. After 3 years I became Head of Development/CTO of a small startup and still spent 70% of my working time with coding. After 3 years I stepped down and afterwards had a few jobs with SW architect/lead engineer roles. I still code a lot, but also mentor younger colleagues. I‘m now 46 years old and use kubernetes, docker, TypeScript, AWS, GCP and nodejs every day. And my younger colleagues see me as an inspiration, because my coding skills are still amazing. And I help them on their Journey to become better SW engineers. I challenge them and they challenge me.

And I was always curious and interested in new technologies, methodologies and trends. And I think even outside of SW engineering it‘s becoming the new normal to constantly learn and adapt to the ever changing job market.

So it‘s up to you and I don‘t believe the younger folks are better at learning new tech. You just need a solid SW engineering background and need to invest in keeping up to date.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#102

Post by dailygrind___ » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 3:10 PM UTC

I have worked in finance for some years and have seen plenty of coders in their 50s. As many said, it's not a path for everyone as you do need to keep learning till you retire. I think that as remote work becomes more mainstream, ageism will be less of an issue as you are hidden behind a screen most of the time. People will learn more about who you are from your contributions rather than your physical appearance. In this context, staying relevant is what really matters.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#103

Post by mD5pPxMcS6fVWKE » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 3:11 PM UTC

I retired at 51. It became very difficult in the later years, primarily because of declining memory capacity. In software, you need to learn new things all the time, about new technology, as well as information about your local projects, which could be huge, some projects are millions of lines of code and hundreds of services, you should remember all that. Only thanks to timely Netflix investment, I was able to retire early and escape the embarrassment.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#104

Post by Terretta » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 4:12 PM UTC

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #45

First, note you're likely to get some survivorship bias in these responses - older people who left the industry are less likely to comment on HN. That said, as a developer in their mid-40s, here's my take: 1. In general, mid-level engineering management jobs (which I consider Manager to Senior Director level) pay significantly more because they are shittier jobs . Sure, there is the rare soul that loves these kind of…

I’m actively hiring, looking for staff engineers and principal engineers who went this route and acquired a business management toolbelt, while remaining self-driven learners with a sense of professional value based on outcomes that continued to drive evolution of their own hands-on skills.

In other words, I’m looking for people who would like to be employed as #3 after proving #2 no problem and being able to speak that language.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#105

Post by tonyedgecombe » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 4:43 PM UTC

tartoran wrote: post #29

jameshush wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the important part. You _have_ to keep learning. I work with a coworker who's in his 50's, he's flippin' GREAT. Super dependable, takes responsibility, likes to come in an hour early, code, not really talk to anyone and go home at 4. You can give him any project and he'll get it done, with tests and documentation and a one command deploy script. If I ever started a company I'd hire him in a heart beat. I work…

If you have the personality and ambition to be a salesperson you can make a good career out of it. I sometimes thin what else I could do and still earn a living and my introverted personality style gets me back to engineering. It’s unfortunate because ther are a lot of skills to be learned outside of programming.

I've worked with a few successful introverted salespeople. I'm not sure I'd want to do it but they seemed to pull it off.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#106

Post by nnoitra » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 5:10 PM UTC

burntoutfire wrote: post #90

nnoitra wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And to go above that? Grad school and Phd or just very specialized niche knowledge or moving into finance/quant jobs?

Sure, in many careers grad school/phd will help. Not in coding though - in coding, there's nothing grad school can teach you that you can't learn on your own. There are high school graduates who are absolutely top coders.

I don't know of a discipline called "coding". For Soft End. I'd argue that a really strong undergrad degree in CS is a huge advantage.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#107

Post by nnoitra » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 5:11 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #62

nnoitra wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And to go above that? Grad school and Phd or just very specialized niche knowledge or moving into finance/quant jobs?

You can get a new skillset but that may not increase your pay, just your job options, unless you learn a higher paying specialty (like AI or ML or something). Otherwise your options are manager or architect.

Do you need to get Msc to learn a AI/ML to get more monies?

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#108

Post by megamix » Sat, Jun 13, 2020, 11:23 PM UTC

rossdavidh wrote: post #8

I _started_ working as a coder in my 30's, and I'm 52 now. I am still getting inquiries from startups. One thing that trips up some coders as they get older, is that on some level they expect to be able to stop learning new stuff, and settle into the role of grizzled veteran. While that is true in most fields, in software, it just isn't. If you are retiring in 5 years, you'd better be learning some new stuff now to b…

That's the worst part, you never become really good.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#109

Post by UncleMeat » Sun, Jun 14, 2020, 5:17 PM UTC

Aeolun wrote: post #49

jedberg wrote: post #39

I worked with a guy in his 60s when I was in my 20s just starting out. He did good work and was a fine coworker. He also made the same amount as the guys who were senior engineers in their 30s. His salary growth basically plateaued in his 30s, after that it was just COL adjustments. He was perfectly fine with that though. He enjoyed being a coder, got paid enough to support his lifestyle, and liked that he got to shu…

I don’t know, I just cannot see myself not being rewarded with any kind of raise for the next 30 years as a good thing.

It’s a choice. You can choose which direction to push your career.

I do find it interesting that in one breath HN criticizes unions because they will add tenure based pay to the industry and in the other breath complain that if you do the same job for 30 years your income won’t rise.

Re: Ask HN: Is working as a developer on technical route until retirement feasible?

#110

Post by Spooky23 » Sun, Jun 14, 2020, 6:25 PM UTC

mrbonner wrote: post #70

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #45

First, note you're likely to get some survivorship bias in these responses - older people who left the industry are less likely to comment on HN. That said, as a developer in their mid-40s, here's my take: 1. In general, mid-level engineering management jobs (which I consider Manager to Senior Director level) pay significantly more because they are shittier jobs . Sure, there is the rare soul that loves these kind of…

Your points just hit me directly. I consider myself pretty good with my problem solving skill and ability to learn. I feel like I am better as an IC than a manager. Yet, a few times, I got "convinced" into management role because whether manager left or they couldn't find people with enough knowledge for the position. I have always being able to say "nope". I've been working for 10 years, same big tech company but I…

Congrats.

I took the bait and while I don’t regret doing it, it’s definitely not my favorite job. For me, a small team of 4-9 is ideal. I can stay connected to actual work, and get the chance to mentor others.