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Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

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Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

#1

Post by notuger »

Disclaimer: not looking for a job as my father does not speak english, just want some opinions.

My father used to code in the 80's, assembly, machine language, banking services. He stopped coding in the early 90's and now for some years has been studying and deploying some flutter applications for fun.

He decided last year to return to the market, learned git, dart, state management even how to use figma to try some junior jobs, but he's always failing in the last interview part, where the company has to choose between him and some fresh grads (most of the time the recruiters say that the age is a problem)

See, he is not really trying to get a senior job, he is just hoping to get a job in the area again.

Do you guys have some advice for an older dev starting now or returning after decades?

Re: Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

#3

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

He needs to create a github site with samples of his work while he finds a job. I think the days when you could just say that you can program in a certain language are long gone so a sample site should be his goal right now. Second, he needs to focus on contract work. Look at Upwork and such to see what employers are looking for and focus on that. I've had to deal with finding reliable contract programmers and it's hard. If he can build a stellar reputation, he will have more work than he can handle. Lastly, ask him not to disclose his age unless absolutely necessary. In the internet, you can be any age. Maybe you, the son, can be the front man and subcontract the work to your father. This will also help with the language issue.

If programming random things to create a sample site is not very attractive then copy apps that are useful and hope that one of them hits while he finds paying work. It can't hurt and it will help him get into the cycle of regular work.

FYI, here's a press release by Upwork on the highest paying languages on their site.

https://www.upwork.com/press/releases/upwork-releases-top-pa...

Edit: Added Upwork press release

Re: Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

#6

Post by cl42 »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #3

He needs to create a github site with samples of his work while he finds a job. I think the days when you could just say that you can program in a certain language are long gone so a sample site should be his goal right now. Second, he needs to focus on contract work. Look at Upwork and such to see what employers are looking for and focus on that. I've had to deal with finding reliable contract programmers and it's h…

+1... I coach a lot of new engineers during their job search and good portfolios make a huge difference. You get more interviews, people trust you more, and recruiters are more likely to reach out. If you need help, check this out: https://phaseai.com/resources/portfolio-checklist or email us!

Re: Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

#7

Post by WheelsAtLarge »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #3

He needs to create a github site with samples of his work while he finds a job. I think the days when you could just say that you can program in a certain language are long gone so a sample site should be his goal right now. Second, he needs to focus on contract work. Look at Upwork and such to see what employers are looking for and focus on that. I've had to deal with finding reliable contract programmers and it's h…

An app people are looking for is an open source version of the Hacker News software. Maybe he wants to tackle that? It seems simple but the comments area and the spam filters are probably a bear to duplicate. Anyhow, good luck.

Re: Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

#8

Post by tomcam »

I’m his age. I am independent but for the last 50 years I have been preparing for that very situation because as a child in the 1970s I saw that the tech world was cyclical. I still keep my skills up-to-date even though at this point there is probably no reason to. The thing your father needs to understand is that he can find a job, but it will just take him a lot longer than most people.

That’s because most of the people in this industry are young and old people scare them. They don’t want to work with old people. Which means your father will just have to work extra hard to sell himself. He will have to be appreciably better at something hard to do than the other candidates, so much better that he will be irresistible. It’s not fair, but it’s what minorities and women had to do for decades.

Re: Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

#9

Post by muzani »

It would be funny to be anonymous on a freelancing site like Upwork, and pick some nickname that hints that he's part of some discriminated group, like RebeccaHarris or RainMan. Then in interviews, just hint that he didn't want to get discriminated for his 40 years of experience.

Re: Ask HN: How can my 62 year old father get a job?

#10

Post by anyfactor »

He can do anything but getting a full time job.

What is even a job? It is just financial security. At your dad's age, is he really looking for that financial security of a job? On the flip side of things nobody would be comfortable hiring him as they might think, he might not fit in with the team or he has a higher possibility of quitting because young people could barely survive the grind.

Recruiters/employers are biased and they make binary decisions on first impressions. It would be brutal for him to be in a job first mindset.

Ask him to look into freelance work and cotract jobs. He might even be able to get some advantage because many people subsitute experience with age.

Or ask him to build something. The software industry is obsessed with the under 40 demography so he has insights to a niche that is untapped.

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