Why would the strategy be any different at 40 for a software developer than any other age?
1. “Grind leetcode”
2. Study System design
3. Prepare for behavioral interviews
4. Apply for jobs that pay in the range acceptable to you.
I didn’t take my own advice at 40 and positioned myself for strategic cloud consulting + app development jobs. But that was a very narrow needle to thread. I wouldn’t suggest anyone else do it.
Besides cloud and AI are so saturated that’s really not a strategy.
I’m 50 now and spent my career until I was 40 at no name companies doing enterprise dev as mostly a “ticket taker”.
- 40 - early hire by a then new manager creating a “tiger team” at a satellite office
- 42 - first job as a lead where I oversaw integrations when the PE company was acquiring companies to get ordered to go public. My first exposure to AWS, even though I didn’t know much.
- 44 - first technical hire by a then new CTO who was tasked with bringing all development in house from a third party consulting company. I volunteered to lead all of the AWS initiatives, learned AWS and became the de facto architect
- 46 - AWS reached out to me about a remote position in the Professional Services department. I specialized in cloud architecture + app development - “application modernization”. Mid level position
- 50 - “staff software architect” at a third party consulting company
1. “Grind leetcode”
2. Study System design
3. Prepare for behavioral interviews
4. Apply for jobs that pay in the range acceptable to you.
I didn’t take my own advice at 40 and positioned myself for strategic cloud consulting + app development jobs. But that was a very narrow needle to thread. I wouldn’t suggest anyone else do it.
Besides cloud and AI are so saturated that’s really not a strategy.
I’m 50 now and spent my career until I was 40 at no name companies doing enterprise dev as mostly a “ticket taker”.
- 40 - early hire by a then new manager creating a “tiger team” at a satellite office
- 42 - first job as a lead where I oversaw integrations when the PE company was acquiring companies to get ordered to go public. My first exposure to AWS, even though I didn’t know much.
- 44 - first technical hire by a then new CTO who was tasked with bringing all development in house from a third party consulting company. I volunteered to lead all of the AWS initiatives, learned AWS and became the de facto architect
- 46 - AWS reached out to me about a remote position in the Professional Services department. I specialized in cloud architecture + app development - “application modernization”. Mid level position
- 50 - “staff software architect” at a third party consulting company