Ageism is rampant. There's really no doubt about this, and it's especially true in Silicon Valley. You can't change your age, but you can change how you present

Ageism is rampant. There's really no doubt about this, and it's especially true in Silicon Valley. You can't change your age, but you can change how you present yourself. Your problem is one of marketing. You're putting your age front and center in your entire persona. This is a huge mistake. Your resume is large and hard to sift through, and many of your listed skills don't necessarily seem relevant anymore. This only exacerbates the problem. I recommend a vast simplification to the way you present yourself online and to employers. Completely eliminate the OldCoder persona. Eliminate all drama--don't mention family problems or reasons for leaving past jobs. When applying to jobs, always produce a short resume that is custom-made for that company. This might not be necessary for a fresh college graduate, but when you have 30 years of experience built up you have to learn to present the aspects of your experience that are most relevant to the employer and nothing else. Don't concern yourself so much with finding a perfect match. You're not really in a position right now to only consider jobs that seem perfect for you. Brush up on algorithms. Finally, if you are in severe financial trouble, it is plain folly to limit your search to one geographic area. Scared 18 year old kids move cross country for college. You can move for a job. From experience I can say that ageism is less prevalent outside of Silicon Valley. Companies in medium-sized cities also receive fewer resumes, which means there's less competition, which means you have a much better chance at standing out if you learn to present yourself in a compelling way.