Hi community,
so what do you think it'll happen before 40 to us programmers?

Maybe you work as SW engineer, but at the age of 40 (or older), what path should we follow (or people usually follows)? perhaps become SW architect? SW evangelist (uh)? IT department manager? or Project Manager?

I don't think anyone would hire a 40+ year old fat bold programmer at all. What do you think?

I'm 33, and I don't have any plans on becoming a manager. Dealing with people isn't my strong point. It is more money if you can do it though.

I'm not sure why 40+ fat and old is so bad. You probably would know how to find solutions to problems (look up online, open cases with various software companies, etc.), you probably wouldn't argue as much as a 21 year old out of college.

Yet I'm not 40, and so far I haven't had to switch jobs, so I don't truly know.

How old are you? and what makes you feel you cannot keep being a programmer?

Moving this to the Lounge, as it isn't really programming related.


For the record, I know several decent programmers who are well over 40. They're in danger of obsolescence in a couple of cases, because they refuse to remain educated on modern technologies; but there's nothing really that says you have to stop writing code when you start going gray.

I am 34 so I cannot comment on what happens at 40. I do know that knowing as much as possible in terms of different languages helps and keeping up with technology. Just knowing one language really well isnt good enough anymore. it really isnt. you got guys that are 19-24 that know 6+ languages sometimes more if its website construction. I do believe this type of work is constantly growing and learning.

Well, as you abeylin, i'm 33... i know 7 years from now seems a bit far. But I'm just thinking since i see job postings ("from 2x to 35", "over 40 need not to apply", etc)
So maybe i'm just wondering what would happen in case i need to switch jobs for whatever reason when i get there... but as you, i prefer the technical side than the management side of the profession.

Quote: but there's nothing really that says you have to stop writing code when you start going gray

LOL

I'm curious, what does a programmer do? What role do they perform? How do they contribute to the company?

A related question is: What does a doctor do?

[Edited by - Antheus on December 30, 2010 3:27:10 PM]

Quote: Original post by VerMan
Well, as you abeylin, i'm 33... i know 7 years from now seems a bit far. But I'm just thinking since i see job postings ("from 2x to 35", "over 40 need not to apply", etc)

Where are you seeing such job postings? I haven't seen a single job posting along those lines, and in the US such a job posting is technically illegal.

Quote: Original post by Rycross
Where are you seeing such job postings? I haven't seen a single job posting along those lines, and in the US such a job posting is technically illegal.

They'd also be illegal in the EU, and probably in most industrialized nations. That's age discrimination, and it can get an employer in considerable legal trouble. Not saying that there isn't more subtile and indirect age discrimination going on, but they can't legally refuse you because you're over 40.

I still have roughly a decade to go until I get there, but I am not really worried. We routinely hire people in their 40s (and even 50s), also for technical positions. Management positions are obviously more common in that age segment (and experienced 50-60s are highly sought-after for executive positions), but this is also due to the limited exposure to modern IT technology people of that generation commonly have. That's less of a problem with the current late-20 early-30 generation.

And the current demographic development in the Western World will help as well.

I think programmers are supposed to start building more and more sophisticated space ships as they age.

/not srs.

Do you want to become a programmer at 40? That sounds like an uphill battle. Good programming is like being good at playing the violin; you are never going to be the best if you didnt start at age 4, and if you started after you were 25 you are always going to be an amateur. Programming is a mindset, a way of thinking, a form of language.

That said, if you have been programming for a long time, I dont see the problem. Perhaps keeping up with rapidly changing tech gets harder as you grow older, but if you have the programming fundamentals down, learning a new language here and there should not be a big deal at all, I imagine. Id say programmers should be able to get better with age up until the point where they start going senile, and I suppose thats not your problem at 40.

That said, your sentences are rather incoherent, so who knows.