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I have decided to stick with writing code rather than progress my career. Consequently I am that minority in the team delivering features that customers use. I
by Theodores 9y ago
I have decided to stick with writing code rather than progress my career.
Consequently I am that minority in the team delivering features that customers use. I take personal pride in that and keep quiet about it. Those reports, those plans, the documentation, the mock ups, the meetings and the emails are not in the final product, all that work counted for next to nothing. Ultimately it was mostly two of us working away and refining the specs by collaboration with stakeholders on an informal basis. Because we understand the problem space we are able to ask the important questions and I think stakeholders prefer working directly with programmers rather than have messages related via management channels with costs plucked out of the air and relayed back.
With stakeholders I find I am talking their language and a lot of ground gets covered in a working meeting, where some fixes are done during that meeting with anything requiring more time speced out. With management intermediaries they think everyone thinks like how they think so they can't imagine that it would be safe to have the programmer talk in a mix of trade jargon with a client. Usually this is part of the gig, many people make a cushty living coasting between meetings. What do we do so as to get on with the job but not enable this coasting that goes on with freeloading management types?
- 0xbear 9y agoYou'll be out of a job by your mid-40's. I suggest you reconsider your decision to not "progress your career".
- pjmlp 9y agoThankfully the rest of the world is not like SV.
- 0xbear 9y agoI'm not in SV. Just a general observation. Younger people know _how_ to do things, but they don't know _what_ to, and even more importantly what not to do. As you age, you will discover that junior devs are much faster at accomplishing well defined tasks, but, as a rule, utterly helpless with anything open ended/complicated/requiring foresight and experience. Your value will be in helping them navigate things they can't navigate themselves.
- Clubber 9y agoYes, that's not anywhere close to true. It might be in SV, but most businesses just care about how well you solve problems.
- 0xbear 9y agoSays someone who's not 40 yet. Tech is notoriously ageist.
- Clubber 9y agoI've heard the rumors, but I haven't had a problem with it yet. I've been building systems with, not bleeding edge, but relevant technology for 20 years. By building systems, I mean I either do it solo or lead the team with the design. I specialize in back-end automation engines, but can do a good front end as well. I usually don't adopt a technology until it's obvious it's stuck. I primarily do Microsoft stacks. I talk well on my feet, am good talking with clients, and understand the needs of business. I haven't had to use a recruiter in 16 years. I hope it never happens, but I haven't seen any evidence of it. I'm also never the oldest person in the group. I hope this helps. Good luck.
- closeparen 9y agoMost people in programming entered it recently, so while an ageism problem is possible, programmers skewing young is not, by itself, evidence of ageism.