4 ms·

A lot of the coders over 40 that I know who are experiencing difficulty finding work are coders who spent years working at the same place and chose specializati

A lot of the coders over 40 that I know who are experiencing difficulty finding work are coders who spent years working at the same place and chose specialization over staying current. They chose to become the J2EE guy with 10 years experience at a fortune 500 or the off the shelf ecommerce specialist. Being overly loyal to these companies and seeking job security left them with little career security at companies who are quickly being convinced to hire young former Amazon and Google employees to replace them. Based on their experiences I think the best advice is to stay current in your skills, find ways to apply those skills at work so you can get those lines on your resume, and choose to be a generalist rather than specializing. Don’t be loyal to your language or framework, demand for skills in software is more a function of whats fashionable than anything else. Look at where Perl is, many Perl coders were loyal to Perl instead of learning Python. Most importantly, take a look at the ages of your coworkers. Is it really smart to be loyal to a company where there’s few people over 40 working your job? My Dad stayed at a company for 10 years and only got a raise once. Be smart, at some places you’re just a line item.

ghaff 7y ago
Some companies are definitely friendlier to older and longer-tenured employees than others. I've been at my current employer for quite a while and even I was a bit surprised at the number of 20 year anniversaries shown at a recent meeting.
- mgkimsal 7y ago
  Many companies people apply to work at haven't even been around 20 years, let alone have staff with 20 years at the company. There's a whole subset of folks looking at 'tech' as 'startup', and the goal of those companies is often to get acquired, so, the company won't necessarily be around in 8 years, let alone 20. I've resigned myself to the notion that I'll never get a '20 year anniversary' at a company at this stage of my life. I don't mind, but it was one of those things when you're younger that does seem achievable. Most of the companies I've worked at in the past 25+ years aren't even in business any longer, except for 1, which was already 15+ years old when I started, and that was 15 years ago - had I stayed, that might have been the one chance to hit a '20 year' mark someplace (and I have one colleague who started with me and stayed there, so he might make it).
  - ghaff 7y ago
    >I've resigned myself to the notion that I'll never get a '20 year anniversary' at a company at this stage of my life. I won't either. But I was at one company about 13 years, another about 8, and just over 10 at my current one.
deleted 7y ago
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tharne 7y ago
This is really good advice. Outside of a few specific areas, most companies don't need someone who's "the best" at skill X. The need someone who's decent at skills X, Y, Z.

ghaff 7y ago

Some companies are definitely friendlier to older and longer-tenured employees than others. I've been at my current employer for quite a while and even I was a bit surprised at the number of 20 year anniversaries shown at a recent meeting.

mgkimsal 7y ago
Many companies people apply to work at haven't even been around 20 years, let alone have staff with 20 years at the company. There's a whole subset of folks looking at 'tech' as 'startup', and the goal of those companies is often to get acquired, so, the company won't necessarily be around in 8 years, let alone 20. I've resigned myself to the notion that I'll never get a '20 year anniversary' at a company at this stage of my life. I don't mind, but it was one of those things when you're younger that does seem achievable. Most of the companies I've worked at in the past 25+ years aren't even in business any longer, except for 1, which was already 15+ years old when I started, and that was 15 years ago - had I stayed, that might have been the one chance to hit a '20 year' mark someplace (and I have one colleague who started with me and stayed there, so he might make it).
- ghaff 7y ago
  >I've resigned myself to the notion that I'll never get a '20 year anniversary' at a company at this stage of my life. I won't either. But I was at one company about 13 years, another about 8, and just over 10 at my current one.

deleted 7y ago

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tharne 7y ago

This is really good advice. Outside of a few specific areas, most companies don't need someone who's "the best" at skill X. The need someone who's decent at skills X, Y, Z.