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I'm in my mid forties and I've been working for pay in tech since '96, so this puts me in a similar demographic like yours. I think you're being too picky and

I'm in my mid forties and I've been working for pay in tech since '96, so this puts me in a similar demographic like yours. I think you're being too picky and greatly limiting your job choices. I miss the days of private offices, but those days are over in any moderately cutting edge companies. You'll find offices in Cisco, Juniper and Oracle, you'll find open seating at Google, Facebook, and startups. WFH friendly companies generally expect you to become productive before they're ok with fill time WFH. As a senior engineer, you are expected to mentor junior engineers and participate in broad design and architecture, that's much harder to do from home. Unlike you, I have kids, which puts severe constraints on my time, and I find myself WFH quite a bit, but my company is ok with it, since I'm productive. Open offices suck, I agree, but find a coping mechanism - for me it's a noise canceling headset, a pile of music on my phone, and a very careful arrangement of whiteboards to pretend I have some privacy. I'm not doing anything strange at work, just the activity around me is distracting. It's sad, but for the time being, private offices are extinct. As a senior engineer, you also spend more time in meetings - precisely because that's how you disseminate knowledge to other people in a corporate environment. If you've been working for a while, you probably have deep expertise in some area, find companies which need that and are willing to pay for it. No strange startups with low salary and high equity, etc. I don't know about you, but over my career, I've made hundreds of professional connections. It's difficult to walk in the front door with grey hair for a fair interview, since in our field, people view us older folks as has-beens. Call in those former connections. Anyhow, good luck! Try not to get stuck being too curmudgeonly.

kalecserk 8y ago
Hello! I am currently 36, working for pay as a software developer since 1999, father of three -- and I would like to reiterate oppositelock's comment: "you're being too picky" I totally understand your frustration with all this "helping other people" buzz but... Ultimately this is the job to be done by you right now :) About the entire open-office culture, since I am a manager I have been granted a private office - which I have immediately converted into a shared quiet space to work for whoever might need it. I actually prefer to be where things get done. I really think the problem lies in the engineering culture and maturity of the teams you had the chance to work with. Keep on looking! Best,
- person_of_color 8y ago
  You didnt go to college?
  - yhoneycomb 8y ago
    You can work during college
  - kalecserk 8y ago
    I live in Brazil, we have a special kind of high school that will teach you a craft in addition to your tipical scientific preparation. And Yes, I have graduated from college, studied at night ;)
  - allworknoplay 8y ago
    Plenty of talented software engineers didn't go to college. I've got a few close friends who fall into this category. I went to college for something entirely unrelated and self-taught with side projects years after. Not sure where you are, but I've found the industry in the US (my experience is mostly NYC/SF specifically) incredibly receptive to people who are very smart, hardworking, and humble regardless of pedigree. Curious what your experience is that makes you skeptical.
  - gwbas1c 8y ago
    Probably a combination of internships and paid work while in high school
- PopeDotNinja 8y ago
  > I am currently 36, working for pay as a software developer since 1999, father of three -- and I would like to reiterate oppositelock's comment: "you're being too picky" Someone once taught me that effective lists have between three and five bullet points. On the list of A to H, I'd sort them from most to least important, and then focus on the top five. If that doesn't work, maybe the list doesn't really capture what OP finds important, and they need to draft a new list.
binarycrusader 8y ago
Actually, you won’t find offices at Oracle — they have or are moving to open space layouts for the most part.
forgot_old_user 8y ago
Checking in from Cisco, its unfortunately all open space here now

kalecserk 8y ago

Hello! I am currently 36, working for pay as a software developer since 1999, father of three -- and I would like to reiterate oppositelock's comment: "you're being too picky" I totally understand your frustration with all this "helping other people" buzz but... Ultimately this is the job to be done by you right now :) About the entire open-office culture, since I am a manager I have been granted a private office - which I have immediately converted into a shared quiet space to work for whoever might need it. I actually prefer to be where things get done. I really think the problem lies in the engineering culture and maturity of the teams you had the chance to work with. Keep on looking! Best,

person_of_color 8y ago
You didnt go to college?
- yhoneycomb 8y ago
  You can work during college
- kalecserk 8y ago
  I live in Brazil, we have a special kind of high school that will teach you a craft in addition to your tipical scientific preparation. And Yes, I have graduated from college, studied at night ;)
- allworknoplay 8y ago
  Plenty of talented software engineers didn't go to college. I've got a few close friends who fall into this category. I went to college for something entirely unrelated and self-taught with side projects years after. Not sure where you are, but I've found the industry in the US (my experience is mostly NYC/SF specifically) incredibly receptive to people who are very smart, hardworking, and humble regardless of pedigree. Curious what your experience is that makes you skeptical.
- gwbas1c 8y ago
  Probably a combination of internships and paid work while in high school
PopeDotNinja 8y ago
> I am currently 36, working for pay as a software developer since 1999, father of three -- and I would like to reiterate oppositelock's comment: "you're being too picky" Someone once taught me that effective lists have between three and five bullet points. On the list of A to H, I'd sort them from most to least important, and then focus on the top five. If that doesn't work, maybe the list doesn't really capture what OP finds important, and they need to draft a new list.

binarycrusader 8y ago

Actually, you won’t find offices at Oracle — they have or are moving to open space layouts for the most part.

forgot_old_user 8y ago

Checking in from Cisco, its unfortunately all open space here now