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On the other hand I have 3 colleagues in their 70s working in a silicon design startup, they can still design even do some coding debugging, well paid too. The

On the other hand I have 3 colleagues in their 70s working in a silicon design startup, they can still design even do some coding debugging, well paid too. They're all technical and bored at retirement, I feel they're like those college professors that are old but capable, so they can be employed, some are actually sought after. sure it's challenging to get into FAANG(due to their leetcode barrier) but there are many other companies 50s/60s can work for.

ransom1538 5y ago
FAANG hiring is just different. They have a vast system of middle management ready to intake juniors, spit out the bad, promote the good. At this point it's a machine. Really senior people (by position) don't fit into this mold. There are exceptions, eg if the senior has a famous product or following -> as this will help intake more juniors into mega corp.
- synergy20 5y ago
  that makes sense, startup and many others companies do not have lots of those middle-level management, so you're expected to be self-reliant from the start, where senior and experience hires fit well.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  So someone in their 40s or 50s shouldn't do the leetcode grind and take a shot at a FAANG job? I hear it argued both ways, sounds like you're suggesting it's pointless.
  - compiler-guy 5y ago
    I got into Google in my forties and it wasn’t a big deal at all. I do have a fairly specialized skill set and the demand is always high, but as far as I can tell, age didn’t come into it.
    - ransom1538 5y ago
      your name checks out
  - UncleOxidant 5y ago
    I know someone who was hired at Google right about the time he hit 60. Really smart guy which is how he got in, I suppose. He left after a couple of years. He hated it. Said the ageism was rampant and they didn't even try to hide it. I know another guy who is a top C++ developer (books, conference talks) who started at Google when he was around 45. Similar story. He hated it, left after a couple of years and is now Chief Scientist at a much smaller software company - a gig he seems to relish. So you could try to get in in your 40s or 50s, but it's likely that the culture will not agree with you.
    - a9h74j 5y ago
      Not that I would have qualified, but years and years ago when I looked at a Google recruiting page, it featured a picture of "field hockey in the parking lot at lunchtime", IIRC. I took that as a hint about age preferences.
  - danbmil99 5y ago
    The best way to get into a FAANG but bypass whiteboard hell is to work for a late-stage startup that ends up getting acquired. They do not run the same crazy recruiting filter on employees who come through an acquisition. OTOH, agree with other posters there is ageism for sure, but there is also the luck of the draw as to who you work for. Again, acquisition _may_ mean your team stays intact - but that depends on the success of the product/service/tech that drove the deal in the first place.
    - scarface74 5y ago
      The best way to get into a FAANG without having to roll the dice hoping your startup gets acquired and avoid whiteboard hell is to be able to combine soft skills with technical skills and end up in their cloud consulting division - three of the top five most valuable companies have them - or end up in some other type of soft skill/technical role. Ask me how I know…
throwaway2037 5y ago
Do they also work with young people? Does it work? The biggest problem I have with older co-workers is that they are frequently much less flexible -- "stuck in the mud".
- synergy20 5y ago
  Two does work with young engineers actively, one does his own stuff(board design and such), all in all, they are fine just like the rest, the key is that, they know what they are doing for sure and they don't mind their own age(to be the oldest in the room), which also says that they're mentally young.
  - throwaway2037 5y ago
    You wrote: <<they're mentally young>> This is the key! Were you part of the hiring team? I am curious about different strategies to discern mental "age" when hiring obviously older candidates. Do you use situational interviews?

ransom1538 5y ago

FAANG hiring is just different. They have a vast system of middle management ready to intake juniors, spit out the bad, promote the good. At this point it's a machine. Really senior people (by position) don't fit into this mold. There are exceptions, eg if the senior has a famous product or following -> as this will help intake more juniors into mega corp.

synergy20 5y ago
that makes sense, startup and many others companies do not have lots of those middle-level management, so you're expected to be self-reliant from the start, where senior and experience hires fit well.
rootusrootus 5y ago
So someone in their 40s or 50s shouldn't do the leetcode grind and take a shot at a FAANG job? I hear it argued both ways, sounds like you're suggesting it's pointless.
- compiler-guy 5y ago
  I got into Google in my forties and it wasn’t a big deal at all. I do have a fairly specialized skill set and the demand is always high, but as far as I can tell, age didn’t come into it.
  - ransom1538 5y ago
    your name checks out
- UncleOxidant 5y ago
  I know someone who was hired at Google right about the time he hit 60. Really smart guy which is how he got in, I suppose. He left after a couple of years. He hated it. Said the ageism was rampant and they didn't even try to hide it. I know another guy who is a top C++ developer (books, conference talks) who started at Google when he was around 45. Similar story. He hated it, left after a couple of years and is now Chief Scientist at a much smaller software company - a gig he seems to relish. So you could try to get in in your 40s or 50s, but it's likely that the culture will not agree with you.
  - a9h74j 5y ago
    Not that I would have qualified, but years and years ago when I looked at a Google recruiting page, it featured a picture of "field hockey in the parking lot at lunchtime", IIRC. I took that as a hint about age preferences.
- danbmil99 5y ago
  The best way to get into a FAANG but bypass whiteboard hell is to work for a late-stage startup that ends up getting acquired. They do not run the same crazy recruiting filter on employees who come through an acquisition. OTOH, agree with other posters there is ageism for sure, but there is also the luck of the draw as to who you work for. Again, acquisition _may_ mean your team stays intact - but that depends on the success of the product/service/tech that drove the deal in the first place.
  - scarface74 5y ago
    The best way to get into a FAANG without having to roll the dice hoping your startup gets acquired and avoid whiteboard hell is to be able to combine soft skills with technical skills and end up in their cloud consulting division - three of the top five most valuable companies have them - or end up in some other type of soft skill/technical role. Ask me how I know…

throwaway2037 5y ago

Do they also work with young people? Does it work? The biggest problem I have with older co-workers is that they are frequently much less flexible -- "stuck in the mud".

synergy20 5y ago
Two does work with young engineers actively, one does his own stuff(board design and such), all in all, they are fine just like the rest, the key is that, they know what they are doing for sure and they don't mind their own age(to be the oldest in the room), which also says that they're mentally young.
- throwaway2037 5y ago
  You wrote: <<they're mentally young>> This is the key! Were you part of the hiring team? I am curious about different strategies to discern mental "age" when hiring obviously older candidates. Do you use situational interviews?