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" you are on average just as capable to change careers as you were when you were twenty." Maybe you are capable but the job market is much less welcoming in yo

" you are on average just as capable to change careers as you were when you were twenty." Maybe you are capable but the job market is much less welcoming in your 50s compared to being in your 20s especially if you are trying to get into something new. You certainly can learn new things though. No doubt.

chrisweekly 9y ago
Trying to get a traditional employer to hire you is a radically different proposition than entrepreneurship -- which holds vastly more appeal for older people, who are possibly wiser, and probably more financially secure, than their younger selves.
jacquesm 9y ago
The job market is never very welcoming there is always going to be a lot of competition, either from peers or from abroad. I stopped being employable somewhere in my early 20's and I still think that is the best thing that happened to me. It made me think of life not in terms of jobs but in terms of capabilities. You can learn new things and you can pick up new marketable skills and change careers. I did it when I was 42, I see no reason why it could not be done at 50 or older. In fact I know a couple of nice examples of people older than 50 that made radical (and lucrative) career changes. It's really up to you, your appetite for risk and how much energy you can muster. At 50+ you probably have an advantage over 20 year olds trying to do the same except for the energy factor.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  Can you be more specific what this change was?
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    I used to be a programmer, decided after burning out that I did not feel like chasing tech stacks for the next two decades and recycled my knowledge to set up a service for venture capital. I've been doing this for a decade now and it is slowly taking off. In a nutshell, me and my little band of friends help VCs to evaluate the companies they have the option to invest in. Our 'work product' is a report, which it takes about a week to put together. There were many other options to choose from this one I had a bit of a taste from by accident and I decided to see where it would lead. In the meantime I'm firing off all kinds of crazy projects whenever I have some spare time (less so every year due to the service company doubling in size year over year for the last 5 years or so). It makes good money too, and the customers I have are a lot more appreciative than any of the start-ups (b2c) customers that I had. Also there is enough time left over for a life rather than to be in the rat race all the time. All in all it suits me well, I should have probably done it earlier but apparently I had to run into the wall first before I got the message. I still code, but only when it suits me and I have fun doing it.
    - jtrtoo 9y ago
      Do you have website describing this work? I poked around a bit and found your blog, but not one specifically describing your work for VCs. --A fellow techie that has done a wide variety of freelancing and consulting the past decade or so; your transition comment caught my eye...
      - jacquesm 9y ago
        Yes, but I don't like to advertise on HN. If you want you can mail me. There are two articles on the blog regarding this: https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide-part-ii-nuts-and-bolts https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide-par... Those are already more than 6 years old but they aged quite well.
        maroonblazer 9y ago
        Good articles. If you're someone who is not selling a business but simply running a project your "Some Tips" can be useful to smaller scale projects that have run into trouble. Replace "business" and "company" with "project". Replace "due diligence" with "someone higher up is suddenly interested in what's actually going on": >Know your business (from a legal, technical and financial point of view) >If there is bad news get it out of the way as soon as possible, well before the due diligence process starts >Be truthful and honest >Don’t fall into the trap of ‘dressing up’ the company, it will come back to bite you during due diligence >Make sure that those that talk to the people doing due diligence know their stuff to avoid miscommunication It's surprising to me how few projects - even ones going well - can meet these criteria with a high degree of fidelity.
- amorphid 9y ago
  I transitioned from technical recruiting to software development at age 40.
ams6110 9y ago
I think there is always a market for someone with demonstrated competency an an in-demand skill. I've never had a problem getting a job in tech. Last time I was hired was in my late 40s; I'm now early 50s. I don't work the 50, 60 hour weeks that I used to when I was younger. So if that is what someone is looking for in a candidate I can see why an older person might get passed over. But I accomplish more in 20 hours now than I did in 60 hours when I was 25. The kind of jobs I would want, would not hesitate to hire a 50 year old. At least in my experience.
- nikanj 9y ago
  You’d be surprised how many companies choose “culture fit” over skills.
  - pleasecalllater 9y ago
    I'm almost 40, and I have problems with getting through the recruiters wall. They usually tell me two things: "the company is looking for someone more culturally fit (younger)" or "you are almost 40, and you still are not at manager". The thing is I want to be a programmer :) So looking for a job is harder, but when I finally get one, it's funny to work with those young people, who usually have no idea of many things. Example from this week: when you connect to 127.0.0.1 from your machine, it's not connecting you to the testing server. I think that if you are "old" and you are looking for a job, just don't give up, and ignore all those "young" companies. Btw, I was always wondering what they will do in 10 years, when all those "young" people will be "too old for them to hire". Will they fire them?
    - ozim 9y ago
      Nope all those young guys after 2 years will move somewhere else for better salary. Then they will recruit new young ones. Seems like long term employees are burden. They get old, sick, know their rights. Maybe even start having demands and don't just leave when those are not met making them grumpy.
      - 9y ago

chrisweekly 9y ago

Trying to get a traditional employer to hire you is a radically different proposition than entrepreneurship -- which holds vastly more appeal for older people, who are possibly wiser, and probably more financially secure, than their younger selves.

jacquesm 9y ago

The job market is never very welcoming there is always going to be a lot of competition, either from peers or from abroad. I stopped being employable somewhere in my early 20's and I still think that is the best thing that happened to me. It made me think of life not in terms of jobs but in terms of capabilities. You can learn new things and you can pick up new marketable skills and change careers. I did it when I was 42, I see no reason why it could not be done at 50 or older. In fact I know a couple of nice examples of people older than 50 that made radical (and lucrative) career changes. It's really up to you, your appetite for risk and how much energy you can muster. At 50+ you probably have an advantage over 20 year olds trying to do the same except for the energy factor.

maxxxxx 9y ago
Can you be more specific what this change was?
- jacquesm 9y ago
  I used to be a programmer, decided after burning out that I did not feel like chasing tech stacks for the next two decades and recycled my knowledge to set up a service for venture capital. I've been doing this for a decade now and it is slowly taking off. In a nutshell, me and my little band of friends help VCs to evaluate the companies they have the option to invest in. Our 'work product' is a report, which it takes about a week to put together. There were many other options to choose from this one I had a bit of a taste from by accident and I decided to see where it would lead. In the meantime I'm firing off all kinds of crazy projects whenever I have some spare time (less so every year due to the service company doubling in size year over year for the last 5 years or so). It makes good money too, and the customers I have are a lot more appreciative than any of the start-ups (b2c) customers that I had. Also there is enough time left over for a life rather than to be in the rat race all the time. All in all it suits me well, I should have probably done it earlier but apparently I had to run into the wall first before I got the message. I still code, but only when it suits me and I have fun doing it.
  - jtrtoo 9y ago
    Do you have website describing this work? I poked around a bit and found your blog, but not one specifically describing your work for VCs. --A fellow techie that has done a wide variety of freelancing and consulting the past decade or so; your transition comment caught my eye...
    - jacquesm 9y ago
      Yes, but I don't like to advertise on HN. If you want you can mail me. There are two articles on the blog regarding this: https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide-part-ii-nuts-and-bolts https://jacquesmattheij.com/due-diligence-survival-guide-par... Those are already more than 6 years old but they aged quite well.
      - maroonblazer 9y ago
        Good articles. If you're someone who is not selling a business but simply running a project your "Some Tips" can be useful to smaller scale projects that have run into trouble. Replace "business" and "company" with "project". Replace "due diligence" with "someone higher up is suddenly interested in what's actually going on": >Know your business (from a legal, technical and financial point of view) >If there is bad news get it out of the way as soon as possible, well before the due diligence process starts >Be truthful and honest >Don’t fall into the trap of ‘dressing up’ the company, it will come back to bite you during due diligence >Make sure that those that talk to the people doing due diligence know their stuff to avoid miscommunication It's surprising to me how few projects - even ones going well - can meet these criteria with a high degree of fidelity.
amorphid 9y ago
I transitioned from technical recruiting to software development at age 40.

ams6110 9y ago

I think there is always a market for someone with demonstrated competency an an in-demand skill. I've never had a problem getting a job in tech. Last time I was hired was in my late 40s; I'm now early 50s. I don't work the 50, 60 hour weeks that I used to when I was younger. So if that is what someone is looking for in a candidate I can see why an older person might get passed over. But I accomplish more in 20 hours now than I did in 60 hours when I was 25. The kind of jobs I would want, would not hesitate to hire a 50 year old. At least in my experience.

nikanj 9y ago
You’d be surprised how many companies choose “culture fit” over skills.
- pleasecalllater 9y ago
  I'm almost 40, and I have problems with getting through the recruiters wall. They usually tell me two things: "the company is looking for someone more culturally fit (younger)" or "you are almost 40, and you still are not at manager". The thing is I want to be a programmer :) So looking for a job is harder, but when I finally get one, it's funny to work with those young people, who usually have no idea of many things. Example from this week: when you connect to 127.0.0.1 from your machine, it's not connecting you to the testing server. I think that if you are "old" and you are looking for a job, just don't give up, and ignore all those "young" companies. Btw, I was always wondering what they will do in 10 years, when all those "young" people will be "too old for them to hire". Will they fire them?
  - ozim 9y ago
    Nope all those young guys after 2 years will move somewhere else for better salary. Then they will recruit new young ones. Seems like long term employees are burden. They get old, sick, know their rights. Maybe even start having demands and don't just leave when those are not met making them grumpy.
    - 9y ago