HACKER Q&A
📣 chovybizzass

How do I over ageism in tech?


I live and have worked in silicon valley, but have been unemployed since March 2020. I had a few consulting gigs here and there but nothing that pays enough to sustain life here. I have two kids who live in the area with their mother, otherwise I'd move away.

My problem is even with 25 years experience ( removed the first 15 from my resume)...I keep getting denied offers. I work with js for 10 years now, used all the modern frameworks. I don't know what else to do. It seems all the bootcamps have flooded the js market with younger people.

I know I should be a staff or architect by now, but those positions rarely exist from what I've seen for FE. Also I am self taught so when I get the FAANG style "hard core" coding challenges I usually screw up. But even when someone talks to me on the phone they pass. Not even a tech screen.

Today I just got passed up saying they wanted someone with more experience working on teams. smh

I'm 46 btw, and am thinking of a career switch. What career should I persue?

  👤 mech422 Accepted Answer ✓
>>It seems all the bootcamps have flooded the js market with younger people.

This might be a bigger issue then your age. I'm almost 10 years older then you, got laid off in July and rehired in November. No-one seemed concerned about my age.

But, I'm in Cloud Architecture and DevOps - which has a real shortage of people atm. (Or seems to judging by all the recruiters on LinkedIn)

If you're not getting to a tech screen - maybe you could do some mock interviews with a coach? With your experience you should be getting at least that far.

👤 spirodonfl
I'm catching up to you in terms of age and experience. Also self taught and hate the FAANG style code stuff because I just think it's not properly representative of real life, most of the time. I am also easily looked over for what seems like ageist or other reasons. I have not been able to fully overcome it. Even my own projects don't overcome this.
👤 radi8
If you’re getting interviews but no offers try changing how you interview. Keep your answers short and always connect to business value. Say, “For example...” a lot. Also, if you think they are making biased decisions from the video, tell them you keep video off until after you can meet in person.
👤 anigbrowl
Build your own project, or if you can't do all that make a fancy tech demo, post it here, and answer questions about it.
👤 easyas101110110
Leave the Valley, it's too expensive. I grew up there.

Only you know what career to pursue. No one else can answer that for you.