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Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
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Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#2Me Too.
I'll be 51 in a couple months.
Age discrimination is widespread in this industry. I get lots of interviews, but quite commonly I find that my interviewer starts finding reasons not to hire me, the very instant they see me in person, and so can see I have grey hair.
Discriminating against employees or candidates over 40, for reasons of age, is flatly illegal under US Federal Law, as well as the laws of all the States that I know about. However, such age discrimination is quite widespread.
Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#3Not to downplay the age discrimination angle (because I believe it is a real problem) but what constitutes a "better" job?
Is it a compensation issue, a work/life balance thing, a new technologies thing?
Conversely, are you willing to lower your compensation, work/life balance, technology choices, etc. to accomplish that?
Hard for Santa to fix these problems without knowing the tradeoffs...
Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#4Not to downplay the age discrimination angle (because I believe it is a real problem) but what constitutes a "better" job? Is it a compensation issue, a work/life balance thing, a new technologies thing? Conversely, are you willing to lower your compensation, work/life balance, technology choices, etc. to accomplish that? Hard for Santa to fix these problems without knowing the tradeoffs...
That sounds like you want him to have a worse job.
Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#5This resonates profoundly.
But I'll tell you who I REALLY feel sorry for. I feel sorry for today's 20- and 30-somethings who will likely never know the $1000-$2000 days many of us knew in the 80's, 90's and 00's.
Back in the days when FedExing diskettes across the planet was a normal thing.
Take today's 20 and 30-somethings and project forward 20-years, I wouldn't want to trade positions.
Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#6Me Too. I'll be 51 in a couple months. Age discrimination is widespread in this industry. I get lots of interviews, but quite commonly I find that my interviewer starts finding reasons not to hire me, the very instant they see me in person, and so can see I have grey hair. Discriminating against employees or candidates over 40, for reasons of age, is flatly illegal under US Federal Law, as well as the laws of all the…
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Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#7I certainly don't want to debate that there is age discrimination in this industry. There is. It's entirely illegal. I worry about it myself, a lot! However, a few key people in the industry are amazing and give me hope. In no particular order:
Israel Gat, Diana Larsen, David Spann, Woody Zuill, Ward Cunningham, Robert Martin
Actually, as I make the list, it just keeps getting longer. Those are all people I have worked with or associated myself with in the last 12 months professionally. They are all extremely fantastic engineers as well as speakers, managers, and educators. Each one of them. The difference between them and the standard engineer is they have built a personal brand around themselves. They write, speak, and help with open source projects. Instead of being thought of as "older" they are thought of as the sages of the industry, filled with wisdom that can only be purchased with decades of industry experience. And companies bang down their doors to hire them. I happen to personally know that one person in that list makes a day rate of $10,000 and honestly, that person wishes they would get FEWER calls for work.
Keep going! Build your personal brand and you'll get the job you want.
Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#8That is why i'm working to get all the certifications I can to become a full time DBA (database administrator). For some reason companies want young programmers, but old time database administrators. I guess when it comes to data integrity, experience and being stuck in your ways counts more.
Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#9Not to downplay the age discrimination angle (because I believe it is a real problem) but what constitutes a "better" job? Is it a compensation issue, a work/life balance thing, a new technologies thing? Conversely, are you willing to lower your compensation, work/life balance, technology choices, etc. to accomplish that? Hard for Santa to fix these problems without knowing the tradeoffs...
Hi Santa, thanks for asking.
It's a lack-of-challenges (read culture) thing. My employer unfortunately tolerates mediocrity & isn't under investor pressure to improve. It drives me crazy, but can't leave until I have a new gig lined up.
I live in Austin & work as a product manager, FWIW.
Re: Santa, I'll be 55YO in a few days. All I want is a better job. Thanks.
#10This resonates profoundly. But I'll tell you who I REALLY feel sorry for. I feel sorry for today's 20- and 30-somethings who will likely never know the $1000-$2000 days many of us knew in the 80's, 90's and 00's. Back in the days when FedExing diskettes across the planet was a normal thing. Take today's 20 and 30-somethings and project forward 20-years, I wouldn't want to trade positions.
I would trade a position with a 20-year old. They have a bigger chance of becoming immortal.