Aging out of tech

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do 50 year old men also have this problem or is it just women? In my line of work a 50 year old gets more respect than a 20 something!

And what is that? Lawyer, Big 4 Partner, Doctor, Professor?

In tech older knowledge is useless. Imagine me telling kids at work I did Y2K work in 1998 or even better we hired ex college football players to work in tech in early 1980s as the data center equipment was so heavy. They laugh

Yes, doctor/ professor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do 50 year old men also have this problem or is it just women? In my line of work a 50 year old gets more respect than a 20 something!

And what is that? Lawyer, Big 4 Partner, Doctor, Professor?

In tech older knowledge is useless. Imagine me telling kids at work I did Y2K work in 1998 or even better we hired ex college football players to work in tech in early 1980s as the data center equipment was so heavy. They laugh

COBOL begs to disagree.

https://www.devx.com/news/cobol-at-65-still-a-powerhouse-in-the-tech-industry/
(Irony: COBOL was invented by Adm. Grace Hopper)

This. Just because no one learns older tech doesn't mean that there aren't businesses and governments reliant on it.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/14/21219561/coronavirus-pandemic-unemployment-systems-cobol-legacy-software-infrastructure

[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.

How much have you made? How much do you need to make?

NASA and NIST are full of middle aged woman programmers and technologists.

But it’s a gov salary, so maybe not worth it — the question will be when you are laid off (and it happens to older men and women, my entire extended family was laid off by tech by the time they were 55) — how soon do you need a new job. It can take years to land one of these Federal positions, so you can transition early and give up some salary, or you can ride out unemployment off savings hoping for the last job working on legacy tech for the Feds.

[Anonymous]

OP, you are me. 53 yr old female in tech industry. I moved to non tech roles like project/program management. I don't like it. I'm good at it because I'm good at managing things, but I prefer the tech side. I mommy tracked myself so took a step back from the tech side, which basically killed my tech career.

I don't know if I can switch industries, however. My brain is stuck in the tech side, and all things tech. But, if I were to switch, I would still be limited to the tech side of whatever industry I switch to. Like, if I join a non profit, I'd still be a PM on the IT side of the house.

I am definitely *the* oldest on my team, and even my co-teams. I feel like their mom sometimes, in that I have to manage them like my HSers. Ug.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are me. 53 yr old female in tech industry. I moved to non tech roles like project/program management. I don't like it. I'm good at it because I'm good at managing things, but I prefer the tech side. I mommy tracked myself so took a step back from the tech side, which basically killed my tech career.

I don't know if I can switch industries, however. My brain is stuck in the tech side, and all things tech. But, if I were to switch, I would still be limited to the tech side of whatever industry I switch to. Like, if I join a non profit, I'd still be a PM on the IT side of the house.

I am definitely *the* oldest on my team, and even my co-teams. I feel like their mom sometimes, in that I have to manage them like my HSers. Ug.

I mean, you are the project/program MANAGER, you kind of signed up to be their momager

How secure is this role do you think? In my tech experience, all the project/progeam managers at tech companies were hot young woman (usually angling to marry a brogrammer with options, with much success hence why there few older woman in that role). Do you think your current company will keep you around or do you have a target on your back? I am guessing your low salary helps in that regard…

[Anonymous]

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

[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.

How much have you made? How much do you need to make?

NASA and NIST are full of middle aged woman programmers and technologists.

But it’s a gov salary, so maybe not worth it — the question will be when you are laid off (and it happens to older men and women, my entire extended family was laid off by tech by the time they were 55) — how soon do you need a new job. It can take years to land one of these Federal positions, so you can transition early and give up some salary, or you can ride out unemployment off savings hoping for the last job working on legacy tech for the Feds.

not op, but how long does it take to get hired for a fed job? I hear it can take years.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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

OP is not hardcore tech. DEI is in hardcore tech, not supporting tech.

I work for a big tech in a supporting role, and there are plenty of older females not in the hard tech area, including me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are me. 53 yr old female in tech industry. I moved to non tech roles like project/program management. I don't like it. I'm good at it because I'm good at managing things, but I prefer the tech side. I mommy tracked myself so took a step back from the tech side, which basically killed my tech career.

I don't know if I can switch industries, however. My brain is stuck in the tech side, and all things tech. But, if I were to switch, I would still be limited to the tech side of whatever industry I switch to. Like, if I join a non profit, I'd still be a PM on the IT side of the house.

I am definitely *the* oldest on my team, and even my co-teams. I feel like their mom sometimes, in that I have to manage them like my HSers. Ug.

I mean, you are the project/program MANAGER, you kind of signed up to be their momager

How secure is this role do you think? In my tech experience, all the project/progeam managers at tech companies were hot young woman (usually angling to marry a brogrammer with options, with much success hence why there few older woman in that role). Do you think your current company will keep you around or do you have a target on your back? I am guessing your low salary helps in that regard…

Yea, but I expect working age people to be more responsible than my HSers.

I'm considered pretty valuable for now because of all my institutional knowledge (been here a long time), and I'm considered a high performer, have had several people on other teams give me accolades to my management. But, I'm also probably the highest paid in my team (non technical team). So, if they want to cut costs, I could see myself being one of the first to go.

In some ways I wouldn't mind being let go. I'm so done with work. I'm ready to retire ( I have a decent amount saved). If I get laid off, I could claim unemployment for a bit. It's not a lot, but I'd get something.

I have never been interested in being a manager though I have had my managers ask me if I was interested. I don't like managing people.

[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