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Sucks to be an old engineer

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Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#21

Post by lobotryas »

dyno12345 wrote: post #10
onemorepassword wrote: post #5

A 40 year old degree in anything alone isn't good enough to stay employed in any field. Except maybe teaching.

You make it sound like these people haven't been working in the field since they got the degree

They may have been working, however there's zero guarantee that they have been learning anything new or even spending hands-on time doing engineering work (as opposed to shuttling between meetings).

I interview 2-3 candidates a week, including many people almost twice my age. While these older engineers have impressive-sounding resumes (IBM, Sun/Oracle) most struggle to code anything more complex than fizzubzz. In my case I make it as easy as possible for the candidates by allowing them to use any IDE they can install on my Macbook and encouraging them to search Google/StackOverflow if they get stuck because I want them to be comfortable and actually complete the task. Majority still end up with trouble implementing a simple JUnit/Selenium automation test for a login page.

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#22

Post by cunac »

kjackson2012 wrote: post #8
jlas wrote: post #2

This article is incredibly terse and uninformative. Why are older engineers having such a hard time? Are they keeping up with new technologies to remain competitive? What kind of engineering are we even talking about?

The problem of ageism is pretty well documented in engineering, especially software engineering. I'm in my 40s, and I've been programming my entire career. I'm trying to get into management so as to extend my career into my 50s and 60s. The realities are that I likely won't be able to compete against kids 1/2 to 1/3 my age in the next 15 years, so I need to use my experience to my advantage. It's too bad because I wo…

why you think you will not be able to compete? I am similar age and really don't see age as issue if you can do the job. Even money is not something you need to compromise

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#23

Post by 3327 »

SLAPs OP in the face come to your senses man! Old is wise harness your skills to develop new ones. The dodo that can not fly shall go extinct no matter what the profession.

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#24

Post by timr »

frostmatthew wrote: post #13

I've never understood why for many professions age/experience is coveted but engineers are assumed to have such a short shelf life. Nobody prefers a 30 year old lawyer or doctor over a more experienced one but an engineer of the same age needs to start planning a career transition...where is the logic in this?

Doctors and lawyers gain skill as they get older because the problems and solutions don't change quickly, and the fields have such depth that expertise takes decades to acquire. We work in an industry where the state-of-the-art is perpetually accessible to 20-somethings who haven't done anything, because the technology gets blown up once a decade (or so). Even if you stay up to date, why would anyone pay you a salary commensurate with your experience, when a total noob can do the same work for half as much?

For example, it's pretty embarrassing that we're re-inventing databases because today's generation of "experts" can't be bothered to understand SQL. And don't get me started on how an entire generation of coders will be able to work professionally without knowing how to manage memory. It isn't difficult to find examples of youth and exuberance trumping wisdom in this field -- I've already encountered working developers who are happy to tell me how technologies invented in the early part of this decade are "totally outdated".

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#26

Post by varjag »

jlas wrote: post #2

This article is incredibly terse and uninformative. Why are older engineers having such a hard time? Are they keeping up with new technologies to remain competitive? What kind of engineering are we even talking about?

I witnessed three different engineers in two different companies turned down late in the interview process by upper management due to their age.

Prior to that I ran the technical part of interview and green-lighted the candidates. The problem is real and when it happens, whatever skill set you have is irrelevant.

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#27

Post by losethos »

http://www.templeos.org/Wb/Demo/Lectures/64BitAsmQuiz.html

I wrote a 64-bit assembler and compiler. Lots of people know 16-bit. Nobody knows 64-bit.

God says... shonest banished ON cause digits Shut Who Angels sovereign tosses because_I_said_so awesome project Ambrose fine lastly pwned Replacement searched suck

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#28

Post by MetaCosm »

MaggieL wrote: post #4

It doesn't suck to be an old engineer. It sucks to be an engineer with outdated skills. I learned FORTRAN in 1968. I learned Scala in 2012. I'll be 61 this week...and I just started a new job developing in Scala.

One of the sharpest developers I have ever worked with -- was 63. He did only mobile development and only would agree to work 30 hours a week. When I pressed him on it, he explained that he liked to constantly be working on both Android and iOS projects, 30 hours a week each, and that kept his backlog of waiting clients happy.

EDIT: He completed the iOS application under budget with wonderful tests.

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#29

Post by gruseom »

morganwilde wrote: post #17
MaggieL wrote: post #4

It doesn't suck to be an old engineer. It sucks to be an engineer with outdated skills. I learned FORTRAN in 1968. I learned Scala in 2012. I'll be 61 this week...and I just started a new job developing in Scala.

You should write a counter-post expanding on what you've said, because this, especially the ending "choose yourself a new profession", is super out-of-whack. All the power to people like you, Ma'am!

I'm guessing MaggieL is not a Sir? All the more interesting if so.

Re: Sucks to be an old engineer

#30

Post by rayiner »

gems wrote: post #25
klochner wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

non-managing software engineer - you write code.

Is it looked down upon if you don't go up in the ranks as you age?

This is true in most fields. In the officer ranks of the military, you're generally forced into retirement if you're passed up for promotion twice. In many government jobs, you're forced out if one of your former subordinates is promoted past you.
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