I'm 40, worked in the SF bay area, San Diego, Vienna, and now Portland. Office cultures are definitely different in each city, but the chances of running into a

I'm 40, worked in the SF bay area, San Diego, Vienna, and now Portland. Office cultures are definitely different in each city, but the chances of running into a major-league asshat goes up significantly in the areas where there's a ton of money and risk taking. Things often become wacky are when you have a massive glut of growth, thus, you get a ton of people hired into "senior" positions without actually having to know anything. I remember my first "senior" title was after having about 1-2 years of experience. Everyone was like that, they threw titles around like mad, in part because I think it made the company look smarter on paper for an acquisition. Anyhow, I avoid places that seem to inflate egos and expectations, and I've had far fewer issues with age-ism. You just have to be prepared to move on when the environment gets toxic in any way.