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It was an interesting choice of ages. We had a conversation at work about something like this not too long ago. It ended up boiling down to this, "The differe

It was an interesting choice of ages. We had a conversation at work about something like this not too long ago. It ended up boiling down to this, "The difference between an engineer with 5 years experience and an engineer with 10 years experience is significantly greater than that between an engineer with 10 years experience and an engineer with 25 years experience." Since presumably an engineer(or programmer) who is 27 has 5 years experience there is a world of difference between a 27 year old and a 60 year old. Now compare the 60 year old to a 35 year old. The choice would not be so obvious.

wazoox 15y ago
From my own personal experience, having employed a 60 yo person, I dare say that the oldest is actually much more available; he has no young children, no love story dramas, he isn't the less afraid to get up at dawn, he can work slightly slowly but with an extreme attention to details younger people will rarely be able to follow through, he rarely if ever go to bed at 3 a.m., and if he's friendly and competent he'll coach wonderfully young interns.
- herval 15y ago
  In that case, hiring a recently-wed or someone with a baby is also worse than hiring a 60-70 year old? Also, how about energy? Do 60-year olds really have the same energy to keep up with new stuff as a young boy does?
  - wazoox 15y ago
    From my own 40 yo point of view, you can be energetic at 20, 40 or 60 all the same. The difference is of priorities. At 20, you may be eager to build your career; at 35, to take care of your children; etc. Every intelligent person can keep up with new stuff all the same; loving to learn is more a character than age thing. Now an important differentiator may be health. You'll find more 60 yo in bad health than 20 yo, and bad health definitely take a huge toll on efficacy and dynamism.
greenyoda 15y ago
A "year of experience" is not a standardized unit. Someone who has five years of experience could actually have more experience than someone who has ten, since the one who has been working for ten years may have been doing exactly the same thing for all ten years while the other person could have picked up many new skills over five years. One book I've read talked about "having the same one year of experience ten times", as compared with a true ten years of experience. Similarly, someone with 25 years of experience could really have an advantage over someone with 10 years of experience if their career included working in many different areas. And not all experience is purely technical -- someone who has worked with many different kinds of people and projects for 25 years and has released and supported lots of products might have insights and instincts that a less experienced person might not have.

wazoox 15y ago

From my own personal experience, having employed a 60 yo person, I dare say that the oldest is actually much more available; he has no young children, no love story dramas, he isn't the less afraid to get up at dawn, he can work slightly slowly but with an extreme attention to details younger people will rarely be able to follow through, he rarely if ever go to bed at 3 a.m., and if he's friendly and competent he'll coach wonderfully young interns.

herval 15y ago
In that case, hiring a recently-wed or someone with a baby is also worse than hiring a 60-70 year old? Also, how about energy? Do 60-year olds really have the same energy to keep up with new stuff as a young boy does?
- wazoox 15y ago
  From my own 40 yo point of view, you can be energetic at 20, 40 or 60 all the same. The difference is of priorities. At 20, you may be eager to build your career; at 35, to take care of your children; etc. Every intelligent person can keep up with new stuff all the same; loving to learn is more a character than age thing. Now an important differentiator may be health. You'll find more 60 yo in bad health than 20 yo, and bad health definitely take a huge toll on efficacy and dynamism.

greenyoda 15y ago

A "year of experience" is not a standardized unit. Someone who has five years of experience could actually have more experience than someone who has ten, since the one who has been working for ten years may have been doing exactly the same thing for all ten years while the other person could have picked up many new skills over five years. One book I've read talked about "having the same one year of experience ten times", as compared with a true ten years of experience. Similarly, someone with 25 years of experience could really have an advantage over someone with 10 years of experience if their career included working in many different areas. And not all experience is purely technical -- someone who has worked with many different kinds of people and projects for 25 years and has released and supported lots of products might have insights and instincts that a less experienced person might not have.