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Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

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Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#81

Post by dave333 »

Flankk wrote: post #4

Big tech is very much ageist. It goes beyond discrimination during the interview process. Companies like this will take steps to weed older folks out of their company for good, it's awful. What programming languages and skills do you have on your resume?

Whenever companies lay off a significant amount of people they have to be very careful they don't fire more older people or they run into problems with Dept of Labor. Most FAANG big tech hasn't had to layoff much if ever yet but it's true for older companies like Sun, Cisco, Yahoo etc.

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#82

Post by adamredwoods »

therealdavesky wrote: post #73
luhego wrote: post #18

Practice Leetcode for a couple a months. Then apply again to Facebook, Google and similar companies. There is a lot of luck involved when passing those interviews. So to increase your chances, increase your interview skills and increase the number of interviews. Good luck in your search.

i did that for the first FB interview, spent 6 weeks writing leet puzzles down by hand, thinking them over 3X before coding, and then solving the problems. But then the interviewer hit me with a topic i didnt cover. wups!

I can relate. I don't enjoy the "pop quiz" type of interview questions, asking weird coding questions that never come up in the job. If it was just to find out how extensive my knowledge is and use it to converse on topics, that's fine, but they (Ama$on) use it as a all-or-nothing filter. One miss and you're out. We all have gaps.

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#83

Post by therealdavesky »

aaronrobinson wrote: post #6

Build a side project using modern tech. You’ll learn a bunch and then you can put those skills on your CV. I’m happy to look over your CV and guide you on stuff I would look out for. There are also programmes for people that have been out of the industry for a while.

here are two side projects, please let me know what you think:

huedoku.com (and the app on itunes)

oogiecam (on itunes)

thanks!

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#84

Post by therealdavesky »

octobus2021 wrote: post #55

My situation is somewhat different but there's similarities. Also over 50 (barely), skills are not exactly outdated (Azure data engineering/analytics), but been looking for a job since being laid off early in the pandemic (going on 1.5 years gap on the resume). Took a few months hiatus in 2020 since the job market was pretty much dead and got a few certifications. Just this month got 4 rejections, partly because of b…

that was a great way to describe the jobs paradox right now

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#85

Post by therealdavesky »

cyb_ wrote: post #60

In addition to the other great suggestions: think about how you present your attitude during the interview process. IME, many hiring managers want to see passion (desire to focus on the user/mission), drive (evidence you will work hard), and humility (ability to be a team player), in addion to technical skills. Displaing corresponding negative traits can really undermine their view of you. For example, cynicism, igno…

ummm. also i have an iterview with meta tomorrow morning.

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#86

Post by fxtentacle »

There's a lot of banks in Europe that have Cobol and M4 legacy systems which need maintenance. Banks tend to pay well and there's few young people competing for these boring jobs.

I'd say double down on the fact that you have experience with old technology. Then find a good headhunter / recruitment firm to work with you. If you're willing to start out as an external contractor, they might get you started working without any interview at all.

Also, do some projects just for fun. Nothing screams "fake" like a self-proclaimed experienced coder with no battle stories.

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#87

Post by therealdavesky »

ivanhoe wrote: post #47
icsa wrote: post #8

The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…

> As such, good or great interview skills (i.e. algorithms, data structures, time & space complexity) are a pre-requisite to getting a job. This is so wrong. Headhunters are acting like typical bureaucrats and instead of adapting their approach to make it better at finding the actual talent (the whole point of their job), they push for developers to fit their stereotype tests better. Just like back in the school when…

absolutely on the skills evaluations! delivering code cant be summed up on a spreadsheet

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#88

Post by therealdavesky »

gregoriol wrote: post #29
icsa wrote: post #8

The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…

If you "have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews" then you are the problem. Change the way you interview.

thanks. that is a good observation. tomorrow i will be talking with a meta recruiter who has already emailed me that i am "100% what they are looking for" ...but ... maybe would you like passing these coding tests first???

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#89

Post by dbs »

octobus2021 wrote: post #55

My situation is somewhat different but there's similarities. Also over 50 (barely), skills are not exactly outdated (Azure data engineering/analytics), but been looking for a job since being laid off early in the pandemic (going on 1.5 years gap on the resume). Took a few months hiatus in 2020 since the job market was pretty much dead and got a few certifications. Just this month got 4 rejections, partly because of b…

Where are you based?

Re: Ask HN: Been writing code for 40 years and can't get hired

#90

Post by therealdavesky »

icsa wrote: post #8

The churn rate of current software development practice is quite rapid. When you took several years off, you "fell out of the job market". In effect, you need to reboot your skill & tool set to make current. In addition, you must reboot your interviewing skills. I've been a professional software interviewer (600+ interviews) and have seen most very experienced software developers do quite poorly during interviews. Th…

you are right, but maybe if they asked me "whats your best area"? and then asked me to do something imaginative in that area then perhaps that would reveal more of a developer's talent than mere algorithm testing...??
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