Programmers: It's OK To Grow Up 232
Nemo the Magnificent writes: " Everybody knows software development is a young man's game, right? Here's a guy who hires and manages programmers, and he says it's not about age at all — it's about skills, period. 'It's each individual's responsibility to stay fresh in the field and maintain a modern-day skillset that gives any 28-year-old a run for his or her money. ... Although the ability to learn those skills is usually unlimited, the available time to learn often is not. "Little" things like family dinners, Little League, and home improvement projects often get in the way. As a result, we do find that we face a shortage of older, more seasoned developers. And it's not because we don't want older candidates. It's often because the older candidates haven't successfully modernized their developer skills.' A company that actively works to offer all employees the chance to learn and to engage with modern technologies is a company that good people are going to work for, and to stay at."
Re:Yes, all about the skills - and attitude! (Score:5, Informative)
I've been in this industry for more than 30 years and I'm currently mucking around with Hadoop
I'm 55 with 25yrs experience, I picked up NIS scripting for work earlier this year and am currently playing with CUDA, at least 3/4 of the developers I work with on a daily basis are over 40. My dear old dad is 80, he's a retired engineer who started programming as a hobby @ 70.
I have never been discriminated against because of my age, nor have I seen it happen to anyone else. If such practices exists (in Australia) I think they are limited to small outfits run by cheapskates and crooks. Shitty companies in any industry will always want to hire young people simply because they are cheaper and more easily manipulated.If you're that old you can't learn a new technology then it's time to retire and get your Alzheimer's problem looked at.
Re:Buzzzzz word compliant. (Score:4, Informative)
You're not the first to notice this [joelonsoftware.com].
Re:I was Always Told (Score:4, Informative)
It's probably a reaction to all the ads that demand X+2 years experience with x year old tech. And the ads that say must be proficient in X, also a,b,c,d,e,f,g only to have the interviewer say OH, we only use X here.
They had to lie just to get past the HR filter in order to be interviewed.