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Ageism in tech is just ageism. It's not (fundamentally) about money and not (fundamentally) about skillset. It's about tossing out any resume of a 40+ year ol

Ageism in tech is just ageism. It's not (fundamentally) about money and not (fundamentally) about skillset. It's about tossing out any resume of a 40+ year old because tech is "a young man's game". Why is it "a young man's game"? Because that's the current perception and that's it.

scarface74 8y ago
Ageism is exaggerated outside of the startup SV culture. I’m in my mid 40s and have never had a problem finding a job. My former manager is 60 and he self demoted to being a developer after putting his kids through college. Every developer I know over 40 is able to get a job if they kept thier skills current.
- dunpeal 8y ago
  I would not want to be over 40 and interviewing for a almost any startup, anywhere in the US. More broadly, I would not want to be the over-40 guy trying to interview for any team where hardly anyone is even close to 30. Such teams are quite common, especially in startups everywhere, and not just in SV, unfortunately. I'm not affected by ageism myself (yet), but even if it was only in SV, which is the biggest tech hub in the US, then it would be a huge problem. But ageism is rampant outside of SV as well.
  - sumek83 8y ago
    Now that I'm out of my 20s I wouldn't want to be interviewing at almost any startup, anywhere in the world. I'm now wiser. Startup culture is toxic and I prefer to stay away ...
    - scarface74 8y ago
      There was an article recently on HN that the average age of an entrepreneur is somewhere in thier 40s. But, I’ve worked at startups since I was 35+. Many startup jobs outside of SV are just like any other corporate environment. It’s just the HN/SV bubble that makes people think that all developers are under 30.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    More broadly, I would not want to be the over-40 guy trying to interview for any team where hardly anyone is even close to 30. After staying at one company way too long and becoming an “expert beginner” in my mid 30s, I had to basically start over and work my way back up to an architect level position. By “Architect level” I mean either officially by title or by responsibility and respect over the last 10 years. I had no problem getting development jobs. The issue I found isn’t ageism with people over 40, it is that they haven’t kept their skills current, are stuck in thier ways, and/or don’t respect thier younger team leads. I'm not affected by ageism myself (yet), but even if it was only in SV, which is the biggest tech hub in the US, then it would be a huge problem. But ageism is rampant outside of SV as well. Despite the common perception on HN, there are plenty of places outside of SV where a software developer can make a high enough salary to live an upper middle class lifestyle in a lower cost of living part of the country. $135K-160K goes a long way in most of the country and there are literally millions of jobs out there for software developers at profitable companies not looking to be part of the “bro culture”.
gaius 8y ago
It's about tossing out any resume of a 40+ year old because tech is "a young man's game" People become managers, generally, because they want to be managers. Why do they want to be managers? Well some are just assholes who like to boss people around but for most it's because their definition of career success is "becoming a manager". Those people look at people who have similar years of experience but aren't managers as "losers", and don't care about or don't understand the reasons, i.e. many people actually prefer to remain ICs.

scarface74 8y ago

Ageism is exaggerated outside of the startup SV culture. I’m in my mid 40s and have never had a problem finding a job. My former manager is 60 and he self demoted to being a developer after putting his kids through college. Every developer I know over 40 is able to get a job if they kept thier skills current.

dunpeal 8y ago
I would not want to be over 40 and interviewing for a almost any startup, anywhere in the US. More broadly, I would not want to be the over-40 guy trying to interview for any team where hardly anyone is even close to 30. Such teams are quite common, especially in startups everywhere, and not just in SV, unfortunately. I'm not affected by ageism myself (yet), but even if it was only in SV, which is the biggest tech hub in the US, then it would be a huge problem. But ageism is rampant outside of SV as well.
- sumek83 8y ago
  Now that I'm out of my 20s I wouldn't want to be interviewing at almost any startup, anywhere in the world. I'm now wiser. Startup culture is toxic and I prefer to stay away ...
  - scarface74 8y ago
    There was an article recently on HN that the average age of an entrepreneur is somewhere in thier 40s. But, I’ve worked at startups since I was 35+. Many startup jobs outside of SV are just like any other corporate environment. It’s just the HN/SV bubble that makes people think that all developers are under 30.
- scarface74 8y ago
  More broadly, I would not want to be the over-40 guy trying to interview for any team where hardly anyone is even close to 30. After staying at one company way too long and becoming an “expert beginner” in my mid 30s, I had to basically start over and work my way back up to an architect level position. By “Architect level” I mean either officially by title or by responsibility and respect over the last 10 years. I had no problem getting development jobs. The issue I found isn’t ageism with people over 40, it is that they haven’t kept their skills current, are stuck in thier ways, and/or don’t respect thier younger team leads. I'm not affected by ageism myself (yet), but even if it was only in SV, which is the biggest tech hub in the US, then it would be a huge problem. But ageism is rampant outside of SV as well. Despite the common perception on HN, there are plenty of places outside of SV where a software developer can make a high enough salary to live an upper middle class lifestyle in a lower cost of living part of the country. $135K-160K goes a long way in most of the country and there are literally millions of jobs out there for software developers at profitable companies not looking to be part of the “bro culture”.

gaius 8y ago

It's about tossing out any resume of a 40+ year old because tech is "a young man's game" People become managers, generally, because they want to be managers. Why do they want to be managers? Well some are just assholes who like to boss people around but for most it's because their definition of career success is "becoming a manager". Those people look at people who have similar years of experience but aren't managers as "losers", and don't care about or don't understand the reasons, i.e. many people actually prefer to remain ICs.