Is the Party Over?

Because it's not 2001 all over again. YC companies and other startups are feeling the crunch, but plenty of other places are still hiring. Check out your local govt - chances are they're hiring. It's not sexy, but there's still plenty of work to be found.

Actually, I'm not over 35 so I guess my opinion doesn't count here

> Is the Party Over?

For now.

> How do people over the age of 35 maintain optimism in what is clearly 2001 all over again.

People over 35 have seen bear markets before 1980-1982, 1987, 2000-2002, and 2007-2009. Quantitative easing had flattened out typical market cycles for years leaving people unprepared for market contractions. Now post-COVID we are getting our first bear market in over 15 years and the Fed can’t save us because more inflation would inflationary spiral. The market will change in the future and companies will start hiring again, but in the meantime you might have to take a job you don’t want in an industry you did not see yourself in.

Don’t get it. YC companies are like, what, 0.001% of the total number of tech companies out there. Try with the other 99.999%

Have you tried applying at profitable companies that don’t depend on VC funding or larger, established enterprises?

> How do people over the age of 35 maintain optimism in what is clearly 2001 all over again.

Consider boring, stable companies for this macroeconomic chapter.

The economy is cyclical. If you feel like it’s 2001 now, 2003 is only two years away.

I'm in my thirties. Got ghosted, interview-cancelled and offer-cancelled the last 3 months. But I also got 2 offers for software engineer positions in early December 2022, both B2B and regular employments, and just started working fulltime on one of those.

I'd say keep looking and keep increasing your interview skills.

This isn't really 2001 all over again except for crypto companies that want to centralize money on a decentralized platform and then commit fraud. Or the companies that trusted those "trust me, I'll hold the wallet" companies. Startups see the effects of the economy first because the typical path is to raise seed rounds until you are profitable. Sometimes profitable never happens or the ramp is too long and in a recession the funding may not be there for the next seed round which means they can't expand and maybe they can't make payroll.

If you look outside the world of startups there are tons of employers that need software people. You aren't going to see crazy comp or equity but you can make a career out of stable job, stable high pay (when compared to the rest of humans on the planet) and not being worked to burnout.

Don't worry about startups for a while? Or look into military contractors instead of the consumer market. My mom's company got off the ground in 01 because of big contractors contracting out to smaller companies. (Unless Raytheon makes your optimism decline even more idk)

I would imagine by knowing the world didn't end in 2001. Things got worse for a while, but then for better again.

well it’s easier to face when you are financially independent

we did have a 12 year bull run after all

We don't.

I truly believe most software development careers die at 35 or 40 years old max. Currently looking to jump to something else because this field does not like experience. People say they want experienced people, but they don't hire them and still go with the 1-10 years interval.