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Hi there, you seem a tad upset. You should probably note my last sentence where I point out most of the better folks who I want to work with are older. My poi

Hi there, you seem a tad upset. You should probably note my last sentence where I point out most of the better folks who I want to work with are older. My point was that simply being older doesn't make someone better, and that I'd rather train a junior than deal with a stubborn incompetent senior team mate. Unless you think the latter applies to you, you probably shouldn't be upset, I'm not generlising, I'm pointing out that if you're good, you don't need to worry. That said, the assumption that you know better than me because you're 10 years older is part of the folly of what I'm pointing out. Indeed, you may know more than I do in my area of expertise, however you should base that on fact and merit. You should not assume that's the case just because you're older than me. If you tried that in an interview with me, indeed, it wouldn't last long and as a blunt Scottish guy, you'd certainly know why.

mgkimsal 12y ago
"and that I'd rather train a junior than deal with a stubborn incompetent senior team mate" I was pointing out that the 'junior' often has more hidden costs than people realize. If you really are training someone - that's great, but I see far too little of that, and often just a hiring of the younger person either because they're perceived as cheaper, or a fear that the older person won't be a 'team player' (sometimes meaning "won't rollover and do whatever we say, work overtime, etc"). I'm not upset at you. "I'm pointing out that if you're good, you don't need to worry." Hrm... you still need to worry some, because you still need the other parties to be able to recognize that you're good (and to do that you need to be able to identify folks who are savvy enough to do that, ad infinitum). I've seen a lot of good folks get passed over for flashier/trendier folks who end up wasting lots of time/money. The one other thing that comes with age more is a different perspective on time - it goes much faster than it did before, and watching people squander resources is... sometimes difficult.
- ownagefool 12y ago
  It's actually not a case of fearing there are people who are difficult to deal with, I have absolutly no doubt you've experienced people who are stuck in their ways have as many hidden costs as the junior. I've taken over from older devs who don't use version control, nor a dev environment, refuse to use frameworks or follow coding standards. Should we honestly believe they don't have hidden costs? Would you really rather deal with them than train a kid? Either way, I'm only trying to counter the "old is good". I fully accept there are amazing older IT workers, just not that older is always better.

mgkimsal 12y ago

"and that I'd rather train a junior than deal with a stubborn incompetent senior team mate" I was pointing out that the 'junior' often has more hidden costs than people realize. If you really are training someone - that's great, but I see far too little of that, and often just a hiring of the younger person either because they're perceived as cheaper, or a fear that the older person won't be a 'team player' (sometimes meaning "won't rollover and do whatever we say, work overtime, etc"). I'm not upset at you. "I'm pointing out that if you're good, you don't need to worry." Hrm... you still need to worry some, because you still need the other parties to be able to recognize that you're good (and to do that you need to be able to identify folks who are savvy enough to do that, ad infinitum). I've seen a lot of good folks get passed over for flashier/trendier folks who end up wasting lots of time/money. The one other thing that comes with age more is a different perspective on time - it goes much faster than it did before, and watching people squander resources is... sometimes difficult.

ownagefool 12y ago
It's actually not a case of fearing there are people who are difficult to deal with, I have absolutly no doubt you've experienced people who are stuck in their ways have as many hidden costs as the junior. I've taken over from older devs who don't use version control, nor a dev environment, refuse to use frameworks or follow coding standards. Should we honestly believe they don't have hidden costs? Would you really rather deal with them than train a kid? Either way, I'm only trying to counter the "old is good". I fully accept there are amazing older IT workers, just not that older is always better.