Aging out of tech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is your career progression, you should be a principle or architect by now. If you want more stability join govt contracting or even the government directly.

OP here. I haven’t made to architect yet, but I’m on that track and am close to it in this company.

I’ve truly been working in this role for maybe 10 years.

I started my career late, in mid thirties, I had to self teach a lot.

Then I had to take off a few years when DC was born.

And I was always the only one or one of two women anywhere. I have to be twice as competent just be on the same level with the guys.

Doubtful, most big tech companies are going to lower the bar to hire semi competent females because of dei quotas

-big tech hiring manager

It's one thing to be hired. It's another to be taken seriously in meetings and be promoted. I've seen too many competent women passed over for promotions, women that have had to explain their logic more in detail... I hate tech culture.

1995 called

[Anonymous]

OP, you could probably move into consulting and transition to an advisory role where you're not hands on keyboard in a production environment.

But really, I hear you. Tech is an exhausting field due to the never-ending need for skills refreshing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you could probably move into consulting and transition to an advisory role where you're not hands on keyboard in a production environment.

But really, I hear you. Tech is an exhausting field due to the never-ending need for skills refreshing.

No job will pay you to get stagnant except government

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you could probably move into consulting and transition to an advisory role where you're not hands on keyboard in a production environment.

But really, I hear you. Tech is an exhausting field due to the never-ending need for skills refreshing.

No job will pay you to get stagnant except government

Well, that's not entirely true, but let's assume you're talking about the professional class. The degree to which fields change over time varies wildly, and tech probably experiences the fastest change of any. Yes, I'm sure civil engineers and nurses and cops and writers and whomever else need to keep up on developments in their field, but the sand doesn't shift under their feet even remotely to the same degree as in tech. Our accountant or estate planner might need to maintain awareness of changes in the law, but it's not like they're doing a full knowledge refresh every couple years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what are your tech skills? Do you have a security clearance?

I don’t have clearance.

I’m a full stack engineer in web development - .Net Core, Azure, AWS, Angular, React, a variety of databases, GraphQL

[Anonymous]

Ignore the "DEI" trolls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Doubtful, most big tech companies are going to lower the bar to hire semi competent females because of dei quotas

-big tech hiring manager

The bar is a lot higher for women.
I couldn’t believe some of the interview questions that male candidates didn’t answer and were considered.

I had to answer trivia after trivia and answer correctly just to get through initial rounds.

[Anonymous]

I would consider tech at somewhere non-tech: banking, healthcare, university, state government, federal government, even tech support for a school system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would consider tech at somewhere non-tech: banking, healthcare, university, state government, federal government, even tech support for a school system.

You think this is more fulfilling / better paid than big tech?

Banking is absolutely terrible if you enjoy tech. So much red tape. And tech ppl are not well-treated by the bankers.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I don’t make a FAANG salary, but my stable 120-160K salary while living in a low cost area allowed me to pay for private school, live in a nice house and do occasional expensive vacations.

I also work remotely and have a very comfortable life. So I’m very content.

[Anonymous]

This happened to my husband - after a 25 year career he hit a wall, multiple lay offs and restructures and dry spells after never worrying his entire career. It went from people begging him to work for them to struggling to stay relevant almost over night.

He pivoted hard, we bought a small business that aligns to his recreational passions. It is a risk but we don't see a future for him in tech and figure he can take his energy and try to build something on his own.

[Anonymous]

I would look into Fed civil service jobs. Leas age discrimination and more stability. Pay not the best but the benefits are fine. If one can land such a job, probably would have stable employment until choose to retire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I don’t make a FAANG salary, but my stable 120-160K salary while living in a low cost area allowed me to pay for private school, live in a nice house and do occasional expensive vacations.

I also work remotely and have a very comfortable life. So I’m very content.

Federal civil service would not preclude that salary. Most Fed jobs are on-site these days, instead of remote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a female approaching 50 who has been working in tech for years, but I have not made it to management and honestly I don’t want to work in that area.

Our industry hit a tough patch. Last year I was laid off twice, but I did manage to get a few offers and took up a new job. I have been there for a year and now the company sold the tech part to investors. They started restructuring and I worry about layoffs.

I’m the only woman in several dev teams and I’m older by like almost twenty years than the guys on my team.

It’s getting harder and harder to find a job as I’m aging.

I don’t know what to do. Are there other avenues I should be exploring? Teaching? I don’t know.

I want to work for ten more years at least.

Our profiles sound similar and worries too! All I can say is even though we are much older than the guys in their mid 20's, our experience, intuitions, anticipation far surpass them. Take the advantage of these skills which are developed only over time and stay there as long as you can. Mid 20's guys were born with technology in their hand and that makes them appear extremely confident and also maybe intimidating. But the ones who are able to produce flawless results are only 5% of them.

Keep yourself updated by taking courses on Udemy and if possible, get certifications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a female approaching 50 who has been working in tech for years, but I have not made it to management and honestly I don’t want to work in that area.

Our industry hit a tough patch. Last year I was laid off twice, but I did manage to get a few offers and took up a new job. I have been there for a year and now the company sold the tech part to investors. They started restructuring and I worry about layoffs.

I’m the only woman in several dev teams and I’m older by like almost twenty years than the guys on my team.

It’s getting harder and harder to find a job as I’m aging.

I don’t know what to do. Are there other avenues I should be exploring? Teaching? I don’t know.

I want to work for ten more years at least.

Our profiles sound similar and worries too! All I can say is even though we are much older than the guys in their mid 20's, our experience, intuitions, anticipation far surpass them. Take the advantage of these skills which are developed only over time and stay there as long as you can. Mid 20's guys were born with technology in their hand and that makes them appear extremely confident and also maybe intimidating. But the ones who are able to produce flawless results are only 5% of them.

Keep yourself updated by taking courses on Udemy and if possible, get certifications.

If it makes you feel better , my 22 year old Cornell CS grad does not have a job yet either