s/old/experienced
Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
61–70 of 192 posts
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#62The problem with Old Programmers, is not their work. Thats solid. Its the fact that they have mortgages, pensions, health issues, etc. This costs employers money. And employers HATE giving money because they feel like since you are getting a meager salary they are already doing you a giant favor.
Its a management cultural issue, not an older programmer issue really.
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#63I think programmers should reframe the problem. If cognitive decline is real, why would anyone hire anybody over 40? Yet there are plenty managers, politicians, doctors, lawyers, salespeople, engineers, etc. who are over 40. If you want a culture where people retire at 40, go for it. But please don't pretend that programmers are "special" in that the decline in their skills is worse than decline in skills of anybody…
Yea, I feel the cognitive decline is a kind of an excuse, to mask the expense of experienced programmers. Only in the tech industry is this an issue.
No one would complain about a 63yo brain surgeon, who according to some IT HR people would have cognitive decline, but has somehow picked up skills to be a master surgeon.
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#64the article is interesting yet based. Most notably, it's clearly written by an old programmer.
So clearly that the author explicitly states that he is one: "I know this, because I am one."
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#65I think programmers should reframe the problem. If cognitive decline is real, why would anyone hire anybody over 40? Yet there are plenty managers, politicians, doctors, lawyers, salespeople, engineers, etc. who are over 40. If you want a culture where people retire at 40, go for it. But please don't pretend that programmers are "special" in that the decline in their skills is worse than decline in skills of anybody…
Cognitive decline is real but you have to balance it with the increase in experience.
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#66I think, outside of Hollywood. The Tech industry in general is one of the most ageist.
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#67Somewhat related: is oldgeekjobs.com still going? I can't tell from looking at the posts if it's really active.
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Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#68Reason to hire a young programmer based on the confession from CTO: we like college grads because we can drive them hard and pay them minimal salaries. The only thing is they burn out pretty quickly. And yes they also lamented the quality of their software and how releases were buggy and delayed. Not sure they saw a connection there... To attract the candidates they optimized non-salary benefits they thought college…
Low quality - clearly not driving hard enough and not buying enough beer!
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#69Being sweet-talked into raping the world for other peoples awesome profits comes easier when you're 20. The real problem is the messed up priorities of most companies these days; older coders are more likely to call bullshit and demand a fair share of the cake.
Re: Why You Should Hire an Old Programmer
#702 reasons why you will OR won't be hired as an old programmer:
1- "programmer" is the entry level in a software/hardware company. Rising stars move up in the ranks over the years and take more responsibilities. Manager, sr. manager, director, VP, etc. still a programmer at 40?
2- If you're still programmer at 40, you might really like it! We're looking for programmers and need age/exp diversity in our group. You are rare my friend and valuable.