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Of course now that many people have agreed that syntax is a silly thing to worry about, they've moved on to claiming that the impossibility is quickly picking u

by jghn 12y ago

Of course now that many people have agreed that syntax is a silly thing to worry about, they've moved on to claiming that the impossibility is quickly picking up frameworks and libraries. In my career I've made drastic shifts in tech stacks, including some moves to some pretty esoteric/uncommon things. In every case I've been up to speed in a reasonable time - sure I might not be the world's expert but Good Enough. And honestly, because of that experience it's only made it easier to do so over time. I wish more people not only accepted such shifts but encouraged them as having a larger breadth of experience gives you a better vantage point in terms of design decisions and such.

fecak 12y ago
I feel that this method of hiring (not based on specific languages/tools) is increasing, but I imagine the biggest beneficiaries are going to primarily be younger engineers who haven't been involved with one technology for many years. Someone writing Java for 15 years may be less likely to get interest from a small Python shop than a much less experienced Ruby dev. Ageism could potentially be a contributing factor, but I think some of it also has to do with the popularity of the languages within other language communities. If the language you know isn't generally appreciated by the hiring team, your experience may not be as highly valued.
- jghn 12y ago
  I agree that there's a hint of ageism there in the standard case (i.e. the one you describe), and that's likely due to seeing someone w/ 15 years of experience in Java registers (perhaps subconsciously) as "old guy". And indeed, being young was how I fell into my first radical shift around 2000, from C based systems level stuff to R based bioinformatics tools. And admittedly, despite what I said previously I also hold it against people at times if all they've worked with is a single technology and they've done it for a very long time. To me that shows a potential lack of flexibility and perhaps they might not be able to transition to new technology all that easily. Even if a company thinks their stack is stable, it might change at any point and IMO it's good to have someone who can pivot easily. Also, as I mentioned previously having that broader range of experience is useful in terms of spotting pitfalls or good approaches.

by jghn 12y ago

fecak 12y ago

I feel that this method of hiring (not based on specific languages/tools) is increasing, but I imagine the biggest beneficiaries are going to primarily be younger engineers who haven't been involved with one technology for many years. Someone writing Java for 15 years may be less likely to get interest from a small Python shop than a much less experienced Ruby dev. Ageism could potentially be a contributing factor, but I think some of it also has to do with the popularity of the languages within other language communities. If the language you know isn't generally appreciated by the hiring team, your experience may not be as highly valued.

jghn 12y ago
I agree that there's a hint of ageism there in the standard case (i.e. the one you describe), and that's likely due to seeing someone w/ 15 years of experience in Java registers (perhaps subconsciously) as "old guy". And indeed, being young was how I fell into my first radical shift around 2000, from C based systems level stuff to R based bioinformatics tools. And admittedly, despite what I said previously I also hold it against people at times if all they've worked with is a single technology and they've done it for a very long time. To me that shows a potential lack of flexibility and perhaps they might not be able to transition to new technology all that easily. Even if a company thinks their stack is stable, it might change at any point and IMO it's good to have someone who can pivot easily. Also, as I mentioned previously having that broader range of experience is useful in terms of spotting pitfalls or good approaches.