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Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

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Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#161

Post by yitchelle »

csbrooks wrote: post #156
Kurtz79 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm working as a SW Engineer in Spain. None of my acquaintances in the sector (with relevant experience) have any problems in finding a job. Even people that got laid off were able to secure a new position in a relatively short time. My guess that the problem is more related to prejudices about his age, as the op says. I have a co-worker that is 50+ years old and entered the company a couple of years ago. He is a bri…

Fight with HR to hire him: Is age discrimination not illegal in Spain?

The legalities of age discrimination is one thing, and what actually happen on the ground is an entirely different matter. They don't even have to give a reason why he is not hired for the positions he has applied for.

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#162

Post by icantthinkofone »

I have a friend who's about 60 here in the US. He doesn't have to work cause he's all set but he wants to. He's brilliant. Has wide ranging experience but, if he's not used your tech in the past, I guarantee he'll pick it up quick.

If you ever had eye surgery or used a vending machine, you've probably used his equipment. You've probably visited a couple of web sites he created for large companies. He's worked on Hollywood movies and you can see his face in some of them. I would almost go as far as say he's the most interesting man in the world.

Over the past year, he's gotten zero replies to any of the resumes he's sent out. Two companies complained they needed their sites updated and managed in their want ad yet, today, those same sites have changed little and are still awful.

Yet, I look out my home office window and see him working in his garden this morning.

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#163

Post by johnward »

yitchelle wrote: post #161
csbrooks wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fight with HR to hire him: Is age discrimination not illegal in Spain?

The legalities of age discrimination is one thing, and what actually happen on the ground is an entirely different matter. They don't even have to give a reason why he is not hired for the positions he has applied for.

Even in the US. If you feel like you've missed out on a job based on discrimination you still have to prove it and no employer is going to actually put "too old" in writing.

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#164

Post by wilhow »

Self Marketing. Age is definitely a road block, it might be worse in spain, but it happens everywhere else.

The thing is that if you provide nothing for potential employers to see, then all they would see is resume and eventually your age. Make him get out there, make friends, build connections, show case what he has done online, get potential employers to see past his resume and age. When you provide nothing for them to see, they'll see what's in front of them. That is an older man trying to live in a young man's world.

When you are an older developer, it'll definitely take more work to get hired. You have to do more to stand out. Just sending out resumes isn't gonna do much good in this day and age. Your connections is what going to get you hired. It's true in Spain, London, EU, Asia and everywhere else.

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#165

Post by johnward »

Mandatum wrote: post #46
luisivan wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was really funny because he almost went to work to Xerox New Zealand when he was an executive. He has been trying to contact people from his network, but they have all changed from company, role and even industry (most of his contacts are from a couple decades ago)

Haha, well the work environment at Xerox here in New Zealand is actually really good. Too bad he didn't, I've met with a lot of their senior engineers (also at Konica) and they're extremely knowledgeable and friendly. Unfortunately the pay would likely be why he turned it down.

A coworker is doing a project in New Zealand and he loves it. It seems like the overall work environment in New Zealand is pretty good. When he told me the office didn't have free coffee a thought it was terrible. Until he explained you actually have time to take 15 minutes and go and buy a cup of coffee and take an actual "coffee break" a few times a day. That's kind of rare in the US. We usually get free coffee and enough time to walk over to the machine and back to your desk.

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#167

Post by easytiger »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #138
lacker wrote: post #86

"Spain" seems like the magic phrase here. Unemployment in Spain is 24.5% right now. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e... Meanwhile unemployment in the UK is 6.2% right now. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&e... I suggest looking for a job in London. A lot of tech companies are hiring there.

I'm working as a SW Engineer in Spain. None of my acquaintances in the sector (with relevant experience) have any problems in finding a job. Even people that got laid off were able to secure a new position in a relatively short time. My guess that the problem is more related to prejudices about his age, as the op says. I have a co-worker that is 50+ years old and entered the company a couple of years ago. He is a bri…

Your HR people could be exposing your company to huge legal risks. They should be treated as any other employee who tries to take illegal actions inside the company.

It is illegal under EU law to discriminate against age in an employment context. And well played for the EU for taking this stand.

http://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/files/age_and_emp...

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#168

Post by easytiger »

yitchelle wrote: post #161
csbrooks wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fight with HR to hire him: Is age discrimination not illegal in Spain?

The legalities of age discrimination is one thing, and what actually happen on the ground is an entirely different matter. They don't even have to give a reason why he is not hired for the positions he has applied for.

> They don't even have to give a reason

Yes they do.

There is a lot of legislation about employment and documentation of the processes. Lots of smaller companies don't bother but larger companies are obsessive about it because they wouldn't risk exposing themselves.

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#169

Post by joslin01 »

snarfy wrote: post #152
gridspy wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't undersell your experience. You might not realise it, but occasionally an insight to use a particular approach might shave days to weeks off the development timescale. It's not all about how fast you can hammer out bits and bytes.

"Weeks of programming can save hours of planning." This is where experience really counts. Younger developers who don't know any better will invent another logging framework, I guarantee it.

Haha, I did this (created another logging framework) at 23. It was a plugin-driven Python framework and it was beautiful (at the time), but was it necessary? Most probably, certainly not. Ah but I loved writing it. Really made me a better coder.

Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job

#170

Post by patkai »

yitchelle wrote: post #161
csbrooks wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fight with HR to hire him: Is age discrimination not illegal in Spain?

The legalities of age discrimination is one thing, and what actually happen on the ground is an entirely different matter. They don't even have to give a reason why he is not hired for the positions he has applied for.

You are right, the practical side is a bit different. Another angle: which unemployed person would like to take the drudgery of a legal action when she has all kinds of other problems? It's easy for us to say he can take legal action but it's great emotional investment in the process, which might be used in job search instead. For society it's best if we sue, but for the individual it's very straining.
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