What happens to the old programmers?

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Mai72

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,562
1,741
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This guy is about to go homeless.

http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-to-older-developers-2014-3

The article talks about how youth oriented tech companies are reluctant to hire older workers.

As Noam Scheiber reported in The New Republic earlier this month, ageism in Silicon Valley is so severe even people in their 20s are seeking out Botox treatments.
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A number of times, people said or wrote in survey comments something like, 'We don't want anybody's parents in here.' 'It's too weird to have someone as old as my parents reporting to me.'
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poofyhairguy

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
14,612
318
126
Deniece_Williams_the_Boy.jpeg
 
T

tfinch2

Lifer
Feb 3, 2004
22,114
1
0
Youth oriented tech companies with no tangible way of making money like to hire naive young brogrammers. News at 11.
 
D

DAGTA

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
8,172
1
0
I think it's less about the age and more about the loss of learning. I've interviewed older developers (60+) and most of them still develop as if they are working on a mainframe where a small code change takes a month to plan and execute.

Technology changes fast. People that keep up with changing technology will be valuable regardless of their age.
 
M

Matthiasa

Diamond Member
May 4, 2009
5,755
23
81
Or you know... they could just be use to working on things that are mission critical, due to experience, where you want a high level of oversight/planning and not some throwaway app.
 
Mai72

Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,562
1,741
126
Rakehellion said:
Programming is one step above tech support. You really shouldn't be doing ti past age 26. Either get a job at Best Buy or get your PhD in math so you can find a senior level position.
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My friends keep telling me to get a job at Best Buy. Just because I know a little about computers doesn't mean I should work at Best Buy.
 
Markbnj

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
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www.markbetz.net
Rakehellion said:
Programming is one step above tech support. You really shouldn't be doing ti past age 26. Either get a job at Best Buy or get your PhD in math so you can find a senior level position.
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Are you in tech support? Glad we could make you feel better about your call center job.
 
KB

KB

Diamond Member
Nov 8, 1999
5,404
386
126
Ageism is far more prevalent in Silicon Valley, but it does exist at some level everywhere. I even tend to pick younger programmers because I think it's easier to mold their skills towards what we are looking for, instead of having to correct years of bad habits. The problem is they rarely provide second opinions because they don't have much experience to draw on.

If I find one day I can't work in coding, database management or project management I will probably work at Home Depot. I spend more time there second only to home and work.
 
Rakehellion

Rakehellion

Lifer
Jan 15, 2013
12,181
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91
KB said:
Ageism is far more prevalent in Silicon Valley, but it does exist at some level everywhere. I even tend to pick younger programmers because I think it's easier to mold their skills towards what we are looking for, instead of having to correct years of bad habits.
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This. The guy has 35 years of experience, so you have to wonder why he got fired from his last job.
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,165
6,038
126
Rakehellion said:
Programming is one step above tech support. You really shouldn't be doing ti past age 26. Either get a job at Best Buy or get your PhD in math so you can find a senior level position.
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lol.

i don't understand your last sentence either. you can easily be a senior level programmer without getting a phd in math...

i also didn't realize that tech support jobs were so easy to find making well over 100k/yr.

as someone else mentioned, it's about staying current with technology. that is a huge reason i left my firstr job out of school. after 5 years i was learning nothing new and knew i wouldn't be marketable if i stayed there.

now i have a lot more experience in various areas of technology and do dev'ing on my own on the side with mobile stuff so i am up to date on that too. just gotta stick with the times.

if people stay at a current position working with 1 piece of tech that is 10 years old, and that's all they have experience with, of course they aren't going to be marketable. it's pretty obvious why.
 
Markbnj

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
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www.markbetz.net
Mixolydian said:
Ageism is everywhere, in every field, in every company.

I wouldn't want to be age 60+ (or even 50+) and looking/needing a job.
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That's honestly what's so great about programming as a career. What I wouldn't want to be is 50+ and dependent for my next job on whether my hair looks right, or I know the interviewer's last boss, or we shop at the same shirt place. I wouldn't want to be in that job and worrying every day whether I am kissing the right asses or the wrong ones.

If you're good at programming, and you actually like it (as distinguishable from the no-talents who get into it because it, indeed, seems to be the next step up from tech support) you will never worry about working. For every notably age-ist Silicon Valley company that gets discussed on HN there are 100 regular businesses, located in cities around the world, that can't hire a developer to save their lives because the bottom line is: 99% of people aren't good at it, and never will be.
 
techs

techs

Lifer
Sep 26, 2000
28,559
4
0
The whole hiring thing in Silicon Valley is screwed up. Apparently they all have a secret understanding not to try and poach other companies programmers.

It's all moot. US programming jobs are flying to India. And they are flying coach.
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,165
6,038
126
Markbnj said:
That's honestly what's so great about programming as a career. What I wouldn't want to be is 50+ and dependent for my next job on whether my hair looks right, or I know the interviewer's last boss, or we shop at the same shirt place. I wouldn't want to be in that job and worrying every day whether I am kissing the right asses or the wrong ones.

If you're good at programming, and you actually like it (as distinguishable from the no-talents who get into it because it, indeed, seems to be the next step up from tech support) you will never worry about working. For every notably age-ist Silicon Valley company that gets discussed on HN there are 100 regular businesses, located in cities around the world, that can't hire a developer to save their lives because the bottom line is: 99% of people aren't good at it, and never will be.
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it's funny you say that. we're looking for developers and having nothing but trouble finding decent ones. there was someone who said they were a javascript developer and couldn't even get the syntax for a for loop in the interview...
 
C

cyclohexane

Platinum Member
Feb 12, 2005
2,837
19
81
This guys has been working for 20+ years and is unmarried. He should have saved enough money to retire, and yet he blew all his cash and is now getting evicted.

Only got himself to blame, and not "being old."
 
M

mikeford

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2001
5,671
160
106
I'm waiting for the perfect spot to cash in on my IBM 360 assembly language skills.
 
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