In Western Europe at least, I think you would have a much better chance if you were applying for a .NET, Java, or PHP position (which given your C experience, you should be able to master any of them). Golang has a much smaller market share here, so that is very limiting (even for younger devs). Most .NET and Java companies I work for would still happily hire experienced senior developers in their 40s or 50s.
Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
51–60 of 83 posts
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#52Based on the grammar and spelling mistakes in your post, I suspect that your written communication skills might be holding you back. It's quite easy to paste those paragraphs into ChatGPT and say "rewrite this." It will provide you with a clear and error-free version. I recommend doing this for every email you send. It can significantly increase the respect you receive from both your current coworkers and potential employers. Even though I have good grammar, I still use it for half the emails I send to see if they can be improved.
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#53You could spend some working hours brushing up your knowledge about whatever tech stack companies nowadays ask for. You don’t need to become an expert in X, Y and Z, a bit of exposure and understanding of the fundamentals is enough to put it on your CV. I have done this many times. For example, I didn’t know k8s, and I wanted to switch jobs: I spent around 1-2 months learning k8s at work and at home, I learnt the fun…
As a Founder , I believe it is not fair for someone to look for job applications on company time and sharpening your skills for next job - in time and resources that your company had paid for. Since you have problems with upper management - tough it up , talk about it face to face in a polite manner and highlight their toxic behavior . Tell them you don't like the way you are being treated and you can't continue this…
I do sharpen my skills every day at work. Sometimes the skills I sharp are used at work, sometimes they are not (but they are still relevant to my career and so relevant to any software-related job)
How else are we going to keep ourselves sharp? Besides, is on the benefit of the current company that I become more knowledgeable. Crazy to hear this retrograde way of thinking.
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#54I don't think you're toast. Experienced engineers will always be in demand but this is masked by current economic conditions.
I am working on a project (https://flyingcarcomputer.com) and struggling with C at the moment. If you want to chat, email me at hackernews.vudcc@passmail.net.
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#5546 here and broadly experienced across multiple stacks. My last job ended 3 months ago and the market has been rough in the US at least. I struggle to get interviews. It’s not just you.
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#56Lie about your age and fabricate new skills on your resume/CV. Put “I code in C/Java/Go/Python/Javascript/whateverYouNeed”. Also you’re in the EU so could feasibly move to where needs your exact skill set. But web/frontend/backend is needed everywhere so it’s likely worth adding that to your C skills.
This is a horrible advice. Don't lie about anything in your resume/CV. If you get called out, your whole reputation and your whole CV then is in Question.
There are lies and there are "lies" waiting to be truths. If you can back it up on the fly, what's the harm?
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#57Your complaint that jobs are for the specific tech stack is spot on. Employers are currently treating every job as a specialization. It's a combination of a filtering technique (because there are too many candidates for every job right now) and complete stupidity (Because there are too many options for tech stacks so that, sometimes, your pool is very shallow indeed).
I'm older than you are and have been out of work for longer than ever before in my life. BUT I finally got a decent offer and will be starting a new job soon. There is hope.
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a horrible advice. Don't lie about anything in your resume/CV. If you get called out, your whole reputation and your whole CV then is in Question.
There are lies and there are "lies" waiting to be truths. If you can back it up on the fly, what's the harm?
You can't back up lies on the fly. You're contradicting yourself now.
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#59It's the old "why train an employee (or let them learn on the job) if they could quit and go to our competitors" coupled with employee loyalty to the company going down (probably to match low company loyalty to employee levels) and companies want people pre-trained and ready to go. It's up to the employee to ask for a premium for this, and most can't.
So you're not wrong. It's where things are going not only in software engineering but other professions as well.
Re: Ask HN: Am I dead meat already?
#60Lie about your age and fabricate new skills on your resume/CV. Put “I code in C/Java/Go/Python/Javascript/whateverYouNeed”. Also you’re in the EU so could feasibly move to where needs your exact skill set. But web/frontend/backend is needed everywhere so it’s likely worth adding that to your C skills.
This is a horrible advice. Don't lie about anything in your resume/CV. If you get called out, your whole reputation and your whole CV then is in Question.
It's horrible advice yeah – but it deals with the reality of the situation. If you're freaked out by being 50 in a field that for some bizarre reason values youth and inexperience, then be 40. Nobody cares, particularly if you're working remote.