First off, it's good to hear that I might be wrong.
But. The discussion here is about the general trend in the industry; nobody disputes that there are companies like Google (and probably Microsoft, Intel) which value experience and expertise. Do you think that across the board in our industry, older folks do not find it harder to get hired?
Third, when did you last switch jobs? I ask this only to find out if you really easily found a job, or you just think you might be able to find one.
In my experience, some older folks (over 40) seem to have this weird self-negating issue where they seem to lose confidence in themselves. I've known some truly badass programmers, stuck in shitty positions but don't move because of their own fear. So I think when you say "older folks find it harder to get hired", it becomes a self perpetuating kind of mindset.
The reality is that industry is dying to find people that can get shit done, as Cletus said. It doesn't fucking matter what you look like, your age, whether you have testicles or an ovary or neither like Data from STTNG.
My last gig was with a giant software company. BigCo management announced that my product would be canned in mid-Jan, effective March 31. Within 2 weeks of their announcement I had 4 opportunities (not counting internal opportunities) of which I chose the best one, starting in 10 days.
I'm not doing anything special, but life is good :-)
I thought the "keep skill sharp, network, deliver the goods" advice was just BS. But it seems to be good.
Yes, I did notice in almost all profiles in news articles of the older unemployed people that those individuals had let their skills seriously rust. Good to hear some first information.
While we're en the teritory of anecdoteism, let me add that as a manager, I am much more inclined to hire someone over 30. Not only do they tend to have more experience and thus be technically better skilled, but they also tend to be better at getting up in the morning, managing their time, communicating with colleagues and just generally act as grown ups. Managing teenagers gets old very fast.
But. The discussion here is about the general trend in the industry; nobody disputes that there are companies like Google (and probably Microsoft, Intel) which value experience and expertise. Do you think that across the board in our industry, older folks do not find it harder to get hired?
Third, when did you last switch jobs? I ask this only to find out if you really easily found a job, or you just think you might be able to find one.