This may or may not be something that would interest him, but OpenStack is written in Python (no Django, but parts of it use MongoDB), and pretty much nobody who is deeply involved in OpenStack development has any shortage of recruiters trying to employ them.
Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
201–210 of 232 posts
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any chance I can shoot you an email too? I'm currently living in Guadalajara and looking for a new gig.
> I'm currently living in Guadalajara and looking for a new gig. Drop me an email; we're hiring.
I'm currently living in Mexico City. I'm surprised to see these many startups in Gudalajara, and yours are not certainly the first ones that I read about. Is Guadalajara becoming the Silicon Valley/SF of Mexico? What are the reasons to establish your startups there?
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
Like other responders, I question your statement "...I might not be as effective as I once was.". Judgement based on long experience can be enormously valuable. You may see in your client's current circumstances a dynamic you worked through 30 years ago. As a result, you may save your client a month or two exploring solutions you know won't work for them. That's incredibly valuable. Consider that when pricing your se…
But how do you sell judgement? People don't want to hear, "That won't work" type of advice. The culture rewards "I can do the impossible" overconfidence. When you find out the project is harder than you thought, you just work nights and weekends to make up for it because you have no spouse or kids to neglect. (Yeah I've used that advantage myself when I was in my 20's.)
Put yourself in situations where "I can do the impossible" overconfidence leads to running up against the brick wall of the impossible and having to start over. Usually that means some form of consulting. A lot of older developers have a lot of luck specializing in fixing problems that have previously been fucked up by junior developers, often using older more-stable technologies or working in tricky problem domains where there are a lot of gotchas.
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
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...
Legal risks... it is Spain.
...which is a member state of the EU
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#205[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#206"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.
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Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#207He should start a business, it's easier than ever: www.ProjectAmericanDream.com Seriously, it could change his life in a major way.
You don't seem to have a history of spamming on HN so serious question, is this spam or are you being sincere?
If the former, given your experience on this site, I don't see how you can not know how wrong that is here.
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#208Luis, We're recruiting for mongo experts—and happen to use django too for other parts of our system. We're an early stage co based in SF & NYC. -- Lindsay (lindsay (at) socialight.io)
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#209Unfortunately if he can't get a job that pays what he's asking for based on experience, he'll need to lower his rate. Outside of getting into a more "senior" orientated industry as joshcrowder has suggested, banking, finance, etc. However Xerox itself is a very senior-orientated company, at least here in New Zealand. Has he reached out to his network to see if there are any positions going where he'll get a palm grea…
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)
>most of his contacts are from a couple decades ago
There is a big lesson here for everybody.
Re: Ask HN: My 56-year-old father is a developer having a tough time finding a job
#210What about freelancing ? Try and connect with people you know who might be looking for a developer like him. If he knows Python/Django, I am sure there are lot of freelance opportunities. Also ask him to post in the Monthly HN thread of freelancers.
Hi where is Monthly HN thread of freelancers? Can you please share?