You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway. Sooner or later it has to end.
If you are a young programmer and your salary merely covers your costs of living (including leisure etc), it seems to me that you need a plan.
Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
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Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#12I think that the "Bay Area scene" is different from much of the world. I think that part of human nature is that people like people who are like themselves, so you sometimes get these insular / discriminatory sub cultures that judge people on superficial traits instead of the quality of their minds. From both this article and the tales of many friends, San Francisco strikes as one of these low-tolerance / high-discri…
Problem with your solution is that you already now people, if you don't you have to rely on websites like freelancer that pretty much are the same as paid-to-win-the-bid in modern mobile video games and it's sad when people all over the world bid really low those making the website effectively racist regarding devs that to this for living instead of side jobs.
Also, the way to compete with someone who's charging $10/hr for crappy code is to do what they can't or won't do:
* be an excellent communicator * be high bandwidth. F2F, skype, etc. * be a whole stack developer * manage "up". Think of things before your manager does, alert the manager to dangers and problems, give expert advice, avoid the problems. Managers love people who solve the total problem; they hate people who solve one very very narrow niche problem and then leave them (the manager) dealing with a leaky bag of shit. Saying "well, that wasn't in scope!" does not make them happier about holding the leaky bag.
I guarantee you that no one bidding $5/hr and working on a timezone 12 hours away delivers this.
So, to recap:
1) work in a city when young 2) make contacts 3) be good at what you do 4) manage up ; solve the REAL problem
Do that and you'll have lots of work and make good money.
Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#13You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway. Sooner or later it has to end. If you are a young programmer and your salary merely covers your costs of living (including leisure etc), it seems to me that you need a plan.
I've been a coder.
I've been a manager.
I've owned a firm that had 15 employees.
Of all of these, I prefer to be a coder.
I'm just 5 years away from 50, and let me tell you: not only do I want to be a developer at 50, I want to be a developer at 70.
Being a developer means getting paid good money to work on problems that are perfectly suited to my INTJ / spergy personality. There's nothing else I'd rather do with my (work) time.
Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#14You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway. Sooner or later it has to end. If you are a young programmer and your salary merely covers your costs of living (including leisure etc), it seems to me that you need a plan.
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Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#15You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway. Sooner or later it has to end. If you are a young programmer and your salary merely covers your costs of living (including leisure etc), it seems to me that you need a plan.
> You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway. Sooner or later it has to end.
Why not? One of my favorite coworkers ever was over 50 and he still seemed to very much enjoy coding.
Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#16You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway. Sooner or later it has to end. If you are a young programmer and your salary merely covers your costs of living (including leisure etc), it seems to me that you need a plan.
> You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway.
Yeah, I kind of do.
> Sooner or later it has to end.
Why? It doesn't for doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants... programming is the only job I've ever heard of where decades of experience is somehow a sign on incompetence.
Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#17I think that the "Bay Area scene" is different from much of the world. I think that part of human nature is that people like people who are like themselves, so you sometimes get these insular / discriminatory sub cultures that judge people on superficial traits instead of the quality of their minds. From both this article and the tales of many friends, San Francisco strikes as one of these low-tolerance / high-discri…
Seconded. I operate out of rural Arizona and travel to California (where my business is located) as needed. Thirty second commute, time with my family, and the opportunity to interact with people whose lifestyle concerns actually seem grounded in reality.
You couldn't pay me enough to live in a place like SF.
Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#18When you are young you can get by as "just a developer". Luckily, for most of us, you end up honing into a specific technology given enough time.
Employers are willing to go great lengths to find the right kind of experience. Combine this with 100% remote jobs and you don't need to worry about getting old in this industry.
Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#19You don't want to be coding by age 50 anyway. Sooner or later it has to end. If you are a young programmer and your salary merely covers your costs of living (including leisure etc), it seems to me that you need a plan.
Why not? I like writing code, understanding code, and solving problems by using my skills to code.
I have a plan that includes retirement savings. At my current rate, I could comfortably retire by the time that I'm 40, but I like working with complex systems, in particular complex computer systems. I tend to write code to understand and modify those systems. Why can't my plan include continuing to convince people to pay me to do what I like and have acquired skill in?
Re: Old Geek Jobs: fighting against ageism in the industry
#20I'm no quiche eater, I will code until I die