131–140 of 186 posts
To be good in it takes years. Playing around with it in the past doesn't mean you can develop software.
And with his age I have the feeling that the time and effort is wasted when he retires.
I'm even a open person and wouldn't care but a old manager of mine wouldn't even hire a 50 year old software engineer because he was worried if he fits in with us.
The age bias is real and I think it would frustrae your dad.
Its not what you see in most schools where it mostly coding. However thats improving as students put stuff on github in a turnkey state.
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I'm in my mid-50s and while I'm definitely not a high-flyer, I've found work for the last 15 years as an FTE of state gov't in the U.S. I've had friends who've been let go in the private sector as they passed 50, but government employers don't typically do such purges. It may not be easy to get into gov't service at your age, but it's worth a shot. Also, I wonder you should create your own 'Ask HN' to uncover whether…
Do Gov firms hire people without degrees?
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Also thinking out loud... I started teaching my self to code w/ the intent of getting a coding job at age 38, and I got my first coding job at 40. Breaking into coding was brutal for me. I couldn't get taken seriously as a junior. I just had to keep grinding until I was good enough that someone would take me seriously as a mid-level. The way I did that was go super deep on learning Ruby super well. Then I found a com…
I about to turn 37 and just got my first full-time job as a junior. I actually think my age has given me an edge, but one thing I do have going for me is that I look much younger than I am.
it's not only doable, but exciting if he is able to get into in.
also, i would in the first stage drop the professional from professional programming. He needs to grok what programming is at a newbie/hobby level first and needs to enjoy it before even thinking about anything professional.
he also needs to understand that this is a long journey (ie it will take years to be any good and/or have someone pay him to write code). If he has the patience and determination to do it he will be successful.
My father worked into his 80s and I saw firsthand how once he hit 60 years old how much harder it was for him to land a new job. As such, I’ve always gone out of my way to ensure such folks get a fair shot in my ~25 years of being a people manager.
And every time I’ve hired someone 60+, even if they are new/junior for the role - it’s worked out in spades.
The unique perspective, what’s seems like a “new” problem is often an already solved problem from decades ago, just the wealth of knowledge … and again, this surprising still applies even if the individual is junior in their experience.
What’s best is the work ethic & respect. It’s sad but true, that individual knows you could have easily hired a 20 year old kid but didn’t. And the thanks, trust and respect you immediately gain with them often translates into them becoming a dedicate individual who goes above and beyond in their job.
So just saying, please actively give these folks their fair shot and not just hire the new kid straight out of college.
And that 61 year old might be you some day.
There's a huge media frenzy around a) when in fact we don't need as many software developers, as we need people in b) and c). Product managers, project managers, service managers, IT risk and governance ... there's a whole world of opportunity. Best part? Doesn't take hours of work, experience/people skills is an advantage and you won't be up against coding geniuses.
It makes sense for him to go into 'tech'. It makes no sense for him to try and be a professional programmer competing with people a quarter of his age. Of course if that's his passion, fair enough. But if it's just a question of time ROI, nope. There are better ways.
Also check out supply chain and logistic experts
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Accepting some advice or input on an individual item vs having someone 'manage' you are different beasts. As I come up to 50, and work with a group of folks ranging from 28-32... the age and experience gaps are highlighted often. I'm happy to contribute, and I do occasionally learn something from someone (often some specific tool I'd not seen before). But there's a resistance to 'learn' from me. We're 'equalized' on…
Hi! Thanks for the honest response. I'm your age, and find the same reluctance from young people to listen to me when I've been down that road before. They really do have to learn from making mistakes, as they keep telling you, and can't learn from your experience. I'm not defending them for not taking advantage of the diamonds right in front of them, but I also understand their need to experience things for themselv…
It's not so much that "these young kids won't listen" that's annoying, but this mantra of "we're all here to learn from each other - that's how we grow!". Except... if it's me. Then you choose not to learn from me. Or older people in general. Just drop the "feel good we're all a team" facade, because it doesn't represent what you're actually doing. The disconnect is the problem, not the actual behaviour.