I graduated with a degree in Computer Engineering when I was 36 years old. Except for a couple of year break when I was running a pottery shop/art gallery I have worked ever since. I tell the other 50 something guys I work with that I am in a better position than they are. A quick glance at my resume, someone thinks I am about 38 due to my graduation date. This gives me a chance to at least get an interview.
Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
41–50 of 75 posts
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#42You don't mention if you have other skills you could use in a software development job. I think that's something many older employees can bring to the table. It might be harder to work for a social/mobile company than a company in a vertical that requires other knowledge.
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#43It's not about age, it's about skill. It can be hard to find honestly skilled programmers, even with how many coders are out there. Know your tools (the whole ecosystem, including version control, testing, profiling, etc). Know your languages. Know how to estimate your work (which only really comes with experience, but you don't need to wait for a job to build that experience). Know how to communicate what you are do…
thanks for the piece of advice.
I am sure a lot of people young and old will find it useful
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#44tl;dr - Ship something, THEN look for a job. In the real world, your age is a handicap, no matter what people say. Look for differentiators. A great one is the ability to point to something reasonably complicated that you built from scratch and shipped. Very few programmers can do that, and the ones that can are a class above in the eyes of many employers. One thing you have going for you is actual life experience th…
Knowing the entire JVM spec is frequently less useful than being able to code a for loop whose contents do some domain specific thing that a 22 year old ninjedi will, with diligent study, understand in ten more years.
You mean, be able to come up with in ten years, or understand in ten years?
The former is good. But in case of the latter, I wouldn't want to touch your code with a ten foot pole. (Even complicated Haskell type trickery, or, say, mathematical optimization algorithms shouldn't take longer than a few weeks to explain.)
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#45Consider getting a low-level job in a shop which is doing Java/Android work (presuming this is your interest). You might at first do 2nd-level customer support, testing, or other non-programming things. However, especially if you position yourself to employers as someone taking on such a role so you can learn on-the-job, you'll be able to finagle your way into more challenging work. Maybe there's some manual testing…
Mathworks might fit that bill.
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#46Wow! I am amazed by the overwhelming response. Thank you guys!
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Knowing the entire JVM spec is frequently less useful than being able to code a for loop whose contents do some domain specific thing that a 22 year old ninjedi will, with diligent study, understand in ten more years.
You mean, be able to come up with in ten years, or understand in ten years? The former is good. But in case of the latter, I wouldn't want to touch your code with a ten foot pole. (Even complicated Haskell type trickery, or, say, mathematical optimization algorithms shouldn't take longer than a few weeks to explain.)
"domain specific" means something like, your code implements the thing you spent the last 10 years becoming an expert on, which you hopefully understand to such a degree that expert coding will be no help in trying to replicate it.
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#48well, if you would put a contact information in your https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=rburgosnavas HN profile (in the about field) i would contact you for a freelance project (if you do freelance). i recommend to stop seeing age as an obstacle, see it as an asset - what did you work before? see your new programing experience in context of your previous work experience. note: i'm 35, i love starting over
Thanks for the tip about updating my profile. Sure, I would be interested in freelance. Like a lot of people have mentioned, it would be a great opportunity to get the exposure and knowledge I need.
I currently work for a non-profit as a "database administrator" which actually translates to MS Access manager, and I do other things like update their website, edit, write, etc. I've been able to use a lot of the skills I learned from my MySQL classes with Access, and web development from doings lots of Google searches about PHP, CSS, etc.
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#49Something to consider: a lot of the reason people discriminate against older programmers is because it's a signaling quality for other, harder-to-measure qualities that are really important for programmers. When someone sees a 37-year-old mediocre programmer who's been programming since he was 22 and spent 10 years at his last company, they think "Why haven't you advanced? Why are you still doing the same stuff you w…
The inability to keep up with new technologies is something that ended even by my own generation (I'm 30 now). I can't think of anyone under 40ish that hasn't been able to grasp some new concept. People like myself who have been programming or working on computer tech stuff almost their whole life would have learned how to consume and adapt new technologies simply as a way of life. I think the whole ageist concept is…
That's a good point. If one is passionate about what they do and considers it innate, then I guess the only way to stop progress is by making a conscious decision to quit, or by an unfortunate event.
Re: Job market for a 30+ person learning to code?
#50I became a startup founder when I lost a position at a startup because they hired a younger (cheaper) person. I have 20 years of experience with several patents, etc. Literally we were expanding the team, I interviewed the person, he got the new position, then I was let go. Totally age discrimination, but I couldn't prove it, of course. Even 20 years ago, Microsoft, et. al. focused on hiring kids right out of college…
If a company thought someone could do your job for less money and let you go that is not discrimination. That's a healthy labor market. They may have, mistakenly, undervalued your experience but that's a bad leadership decision, not discrimination.
You can't legally be fired for that reason though.