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Let me put it this way: There is no love for old developers unless you are at the top like Anders Hejlsberg. Ageism is rampant in Silicon Valley. Older develope
by okareaman 5y ago
Let me put it this way: There is no love for old developers unless you are at the top like Anders Hejlsberg. Ageism is rampant in Silicon Valley. Older developers have some good qualities, like experience from fighting all the battles, and some bad qualities, like a resistance to moving out of technologies they are entrenched in. Younger developers offer companies more of a blank slate that can be molded, a willingness to spend long hours on technology that may not have much of a chance of succeeding (but there's a chance!) the stamina to put in long hours and less family obligations to worry about. I understand the preference for younger developers in the valley.
My recommendation to developers turning 40 if they don't want to be a manager is to start your own business and be your own boss. It doesn't matter what it is, but that way you wont have to face an increasingly hostile hiring environment.
Heck I've even thought about finding a young developer as a front and then writing all their code for them behind the scenes!
- aix1 5y agoI don't know if my experience is representative, but I'm well over 40 and haven't felt this one bit.
- rmk 5y agoThis hits the nail on the head. Most younger devs do not even have a clue of how senior devs are to be evaluated. This is why there is such a huge reliance on Leetcode-style interviews: it's much easier to evaluate someone on that basis, and it's also why most places will outright tell you that your leveling at the company will be contingent on your interview performance. This means that your skills that can't be displayed in an interview are of zero use insofar as getting paid what you are worth is concerned. As Leetcoding is the only thing that's going to get you that, you have the current cottage industry of interview prep companies. The same developers who are blithely rejecting tons of experience in seniors will find themselves in the same spot a decade from now. Poetic justice at its finest, but alas there are no victors here.