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working on old software doesn't help your career as much as working on new software from my experience, the job market is too tough as it is, time is more well
by ojr 8y ago
working on old software doesn't help your career as much as working on new software from my experience, the job market is too tough as it is, time is more well spent in new technologies, nothing is ever binary but I can strongly agree old software is almost certainly a bad situation to be in but not everyone can explore alternatives because of costs and other factors
- maxxxxx 8y agoThat’s the perverse nature of our industry. On the one hand you are told to provide business value but if the most value comes from keeping old tech you are pretty much killing your career if you go that route. Nobody will hire a “dinosaur”.
- ghaff 8y agoYou might be surprised at the demand for at least some older techs. The demand just won’t be from the “cool” SV companies.
- magduf 8y agoOh, there's plenty of demand for older techs. The problem is that the pay doesn't match. The demand for people with experience with older tech isn't in the more desirable cities; it's in crappy rust-belt cities, or small towns in the middle of nowhere. And the pay is generally very poor; you'll do much better pay-wise to stick to newer technologies, even if the stuff you're working on is total crap.
- coldacid 8y agoThat low-pay job in the Rust Belt probably comes with a better cost-of-living than a $150k job in San Francisco. Don't knock the inlands with coastal elitism thanks.
- noir_lord 8y agoOr assume that everyone is in the US either. I work on crappy legacy code (and some nice shiny new stuff or I'd go insane) for what would be considered in SF a crazy salary (but by UK standards and particulary where I live, decent). Quality of life matters as well, Mon-Fri 9-5 with overtime been a once/twice a year thing.
- leetcrew 8y agothere's no way to conclusively settle this debate. it totally depends on your savings ratio (if high, better to work in high COL high salary place; if low, better to live in low COL low salary place), which itself depends on your lifestyle choices.
- magduf 8y agoGood comment. Personally, I have a very high savings ratio and live well below my means (esp. in terms of housing), so it works out much better for me to live in a high-CoL high-salary area, which is currently DC. It usually seems to me that the people who favor the low-CoL lifestyle are people who value having a giant house. I want more money for things like foreign travel; I don't care about having a giant house.
- magduf 8y agoIt comes with a lower cost-of-living, but also a lower quality-of-life, and also, the pay they offer isn't enough to give you enough disposable income after adjusting for the difference in CoL. Amazon isn't going to charge you less just because the housing costs less in your area, and grocery costs are usually the same everywhere.
- thfuran 8y ago>That low-pay job in the Rust Belt probably comes with a better cost-of-living than a $150k job in San Francisco. That's putting it mildly. I make over $100k where my three bedroom house cost me $165k. I guess the weather is worse than the bay area, but I have a 10 minutes commute to an affordable house.
- maxxxxx 8y agoThere is also a lot of anxiety in working with legacy code. You may get laid off and finding another job with the same skillset may be very hard.