131–140 of 190 posts
Nobody else will tell you the truth: nobody will ever hire you as a software developer. You will never get past the filter. I tried to enter the field at 35. I couldn’t get an interview with a CS degree. I did everything right. Good GPA. Portfolio. Professional resume help. Sent applications for two years and heard nothing. Now I’m 45 with nothing to show for it. All those late nights studying coding interview questi…
Nobody else will tell you the truth: nobody will ever hire you as a software developer. You will never get past the filter. I tried to enter the field at 35. I couldn’t get an interview with a CS degree. I did everything right. Good GPA. Portfolio. Professional resume help. Sent applications for two years and heard nothing. Now I’m 45 with nothing to show for it. All those late nights studying coding interview questi…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The hard part is proving it. They’ll say it’s culture fit, or there’s a more qualified candidate. Being fired for any reason other than the real reason gives them indemnification should you say otherwise.
I’ve had exactly one job where I mentioned having a disability to HR and also one job where I got summarily fired for no apparent reason. Keep your mouth shut about disabilities, and edit your resume so you look to be age 25-30. For interviews etc style yourself so you don’t look “old”.
I want to call out something here. I’m all for learning to code at any age but companies need to stop being ageist and discriminatory towards older coders and workers. I’ve started to see this myself. I’m certain it’s ageism. To the OP, if you’re passionate about it, don’t let anyone/thing stand in your way.
i've never discriminated. I don't wanna know your name I don't wanna see your face. Pass the test pass the interview. we can use chat if you want to I don't care. Well maybe now I care because of ChatGPT. you also have to pass all the criteria from HR, but that could have anything to do with your right to work or criminal record. That's not my concern either. On my last job the first person I hired was 67 years old a…
However, it was a hard road, and I travelled it when conditions for developers were much better. Along the way, I made some missteps, and followed the wrong path a few times out of sheer lack of industry experience. I had to make the kinds of mistakes you usually make at 22, but at that age everyone you know is also going through the same experience so it feels like everyone is going through it together. It’s a lonelier road when everyone you know is hitting senior/executive/management/ownership level and you’re back trying to figure out how to find your footing on the first rungs of the ladder. I didn’t love the work I used to do, but I was becoming respected when I left it and would have done quite well, so for _years_ I had the constant nagging doubt that I had made the wrong choice and that maybe the grass wasn’t greener after all.
That’s my experience. If you wanted advice (which you can ignore a la “wear sunscreen”), I’d tell you to keep your current job while you work on your passion projects. Try to get involved with dev meetups. You want to see if you want to become one of those people, and you want to see if the stuff you’re doing gets any kind of traction. Meetups will help you figure out how to sound like a developer, which can be more important than it should be. You will have to fit in with developers to get past interviews if you’re looking for a job.
Whatever you decide to do, best of luck. I hope it all works out for you!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
i've never discriminated. I don't wanna know your name I don't wanna see your face. Pass the test pass the interview. we can use chat if you want to I don't care. Well maybe now I care because of ChatGPT. you also have to pass all the criteria from HR, but that could have anything to do with your right to work or criminal record. That's not my concern either. On my last job the first person I hired was 67 years old a…
This is how it’s done.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you share that strong evidence?
Oof, no, I can't. I'd edit my comment, tempering that certainty, if I could. I recall multiple therapists telling me precisely that, according to the research, people are less likely to accomplish or make progress on passion projects when they quit their jobs with that goal in mind. I have memories of finding papers on this, too. Now I can't find them, and I'm questioning the accuracy of my memory. Disheartening and…
I'd encourage you to find a local user group in your area. You need a few people that can help you avoid dead ends of which there are many when you are starting from a blank state. In general there are going to be a couple of people that enjoy helping people learn. I've run a local user group for a quarter century and I always have gone out of my way to help newcomers.
My experience is that it is far easier than asking questions online. There are people for whatever reason love to criticize folks asking beginner questions. I have never understood that behavior but it serves to discourage people. I've experienced it myself when trying to learn something new and it is counterproductive.
In a good economy, one year is more than enough time to get a job (considering most bootcamps are 12 weeks, and I know a lot of bootcamp graduates who are employed as developers.) Learning on the job can be beneficial as you usually have others to learn with, and learning is contextualized. Good luck with it!
Are boot camps still a thing? I thought the bloom was off, as documented here many times in recent years. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15095805