Live data from Hacker News

64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

cbc.ca

61–70 of 315 posts

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#61
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sincerely hope you were just being facetious in the last line. There's a ton someone with your experience could do such as write books, consultation, coaching, etc.

Remote work too. Your employer doesn't need to know your age.

Do you say that from experience? I've always wondered how the legal stuff works in remote work, including, for example, international workers. I mean, how anonymous can one be in one of those jobs?

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#62

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

So did you try finding a job just in Silicon Valley on the West Coast at a FANG or did you expand your search? It’s hard to believe as hungry as people are for developers that no one in the entire US including remote work, contracting, or consulting would hire you assuming you had marketable skills.

I’m in my mid 40s, was just looking for a job last year and it took me two weeks and from the time I started looking until I had an offer.

That’s been about the speed for the last 10 years across 5 jobs.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#63
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Divorce or family illness are two things you can't plan for, either one of which could wipe you out no matter how much you saved.

It's easy to say crap like have 6 months of savings. My partner was laid off during an industry-wide crash. She was unemployed for a year, and it took her 7 years (a complete career change) to regain anything like her former earnings. Very few people have the savings to be out of work, or earning 1/4 of what they used to, for years on end. Meanwhile, you've accumulated a life dependent on a certain income level. That…

> a different gym

Perhaps no gym?

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#64

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

Link to your resume and I'll take a look.

All this bullshit about inclusivity.

What we SHOULD be doing is blinding the candidate and interviewer.

No name. Just the last 2 years of job history. That's it.

You don't know their gender. Don't know their age. Don't know their race.

Just complete meritocracy.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#65

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

Have you ever tried creating your own community? Like through meetup?

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#66

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

We're at that point too. My solution is a combination of downsizing our life and making my own app business. So far the only app I released (Autumn) was a bust because I stupidly released it on New Year's Eve so practically nobody knew about it, also it's too niche. But everyone loves the quality, so I figure I'll just keep writing more apps. I've got a lot of ideas and a lot of energy. I may have to work at Walmart or something, but I can keep doing this in my spare time. As long as there's at least some food on the table, even if ramen noodles, my family can keep going.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#67
post #31

So far, this hasn't been my experience. I've written books. I have a very strong network among funders and experienced management. I'm probably in the top few percent of candidates my age because I consciously built those advantages, some of which can't be reproduced by everyone in my age cohort looking for a job. But, just because I saw ageism coming at me, doesn't mean that it is excusable. Age discrimination is so…

Indeed. By definition, not everyone can be in the top few percent.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#68

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

Link to your resume and I'll take a look. All this bullshit about inclusivity. What we SHOULD be doing is blinding the candidate and interviewer. No name. Just the last 2 years of job history. That's it. You don't know their gender. Don't know their age. Don't know their race. Just complete meritocracy.

Will this work for on-site, particularly because "do I think I could get along with this candidate/does this candidate seem like a team player/can this candidate communicate effectively" is a significant part of the hiring process? I think many teams may struggle to have completely anonymous hiring due to the desire to meet their potential teammate and assess based on the teammate's easyness to get along with.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#69
post #24

It's tragic and I wish younger devs could have even a small understanding of how pernicious this phenomenon is. No, you won't escape it because you're awesome, or because you love learning new things etc etc. I'm lucky: I switched into a role where deep domain experience is essential, I did a PhD, I'm one of the top experts in a growing field - I'm more or less insulated from this. Indeed, now I hire people and I'm a…

I'm a (relatively) young developer, and I already worry about it. I enjoy and love working with new tech, I jump to new frameworks and ways of working quite often because it's good fun. I don't think that'll ever change. I'm already worried for the day where I won't be able to do that because people won't perceive me as a young, hungry up and comer wanting to attack problems, and instead they'll see me as an entrench…

Ageism is overblown. The way to get a job for an older worker - I’m in my mid 40s - doesn’t change no matter what your age is. Make sure you have skills that the market wants, don’t get complacent at one company and keep your network warm including local recruiters.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#70
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it disturbing he can't find work as a project manager. If anything, that's one role where the practitioners typically know fuck-all about nothing and where good ones are worth their weight in gold. I LOVE to work with ADULT project managers who have a clue about how projects actually unfold and how things actually get done with a wide variety of personalities in the mix. Instead, more often than not, you get 2…

In today's world of agile development, I haven't met any project managers worthy of anything. I feel that strong product managers are capable of managing development as well. I can't believe there are actual people getting paid to move JIRA tickets around full-time.

Good project management is invisible. They just make projects happen. They make sure everyone is talking. They make sure decisions are made. Everyone knows what to do when to do it. Etc.

I seen good project management. It is magical. Then the manager left. Everything slowed down to a crawl.

Post reply on HN