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That’s a question Mike Conley, 49, grappled with earlier this year. The software engineer, based in Indiana, US, had been seeking a new role after losing his job during the pandemic
This is ageism. I hope he realized this after 10 6 rounds of interviews.
Ageism absolutely is a problem in our field (I've seen/heard many people even openly boast of ageist hiring practices), but I don't know that ageism was the reason in that quoted case.
Not to invalidate ageism, there are many threads about younger people's interviewing experience that match this. The competition (other candidates) are doing much more than that, and also studying and practicing leetcode much longer than I am willing to.
Well, one way that this works, is that older folks, that have gotten used to working in an environment of mutual respect, and have some modicum of self-respect, are less likely to put up with BS, as opposed to someone younger, who may have come from a ... less professional climate.
The idea is to drive out older, less-pliant potential employees, in favor of newer ones, who can be molded into a shape the corporation prefers.
Have you ever seen a couple that has gotten married later in life? Many times, it may be a second (or more) time for one or both of them.
They need to make massive compromises. Both have gotten used to supporting themselves, and keeping their own counsel. They generally both have a lot of property, maybe grown kids, careers, etc. Usually, they don't actually need each other, for more than emotional support. They each do fine, on their own. It's a relationship of equals.
It can be a challenge to make it work, but when it does, it's amazing. I have known many couples like that.
I understand why corporations don't want to put effort into working with older folks, but it can be well worth it.
So many times, when I see these awful, Jurassic-scale disasters, made by companies that are staffed exclusively by younger folks, I say to myself "That was a really great idea, but they completely pooched the release. Why didn't anybody raise any red flags?"
The answer is generally, that no one on staff had enough experience to understand the ramifications of many decisions, and often, they were afraid to countermand ideas put forth by their superiors.
Couple that with 20-something CEOs, who are often fearfully insecure, and you have a recipe for disaster.
I've been told by at least one manager that he disliked older devs because they are much more likely to push back against against poor management and refuse to put in overtime.
Perhaps, but I can say that I am over 40 and I can tell when the enthusiasm for my candidacy dies after they see my face that it's not due to anything but ageism.
and I'm in an underrepresented group, we all have the ability to conform our experiences to the reason that matches what other people say will limit our opportunities. It is equally important to weigh each experience against the similar experiences. I've seen plenty of linkedin posts and blogs about people bragging about their quests to get competing offers in tech, some interviewed at 60 companies and did 100 interviews, when my tolerance is 12 companies and maybe 15 interviews. Some did 700 hours of leetcode, where my tolerance is maybe 5 hours. The dataisbeautiful and some employment subreddits have flow charts that show similar quests to get an offer, visualizing how much rejection and time is used inefficiently.
Like I said, not to invalidate anything, these experiences are so common amongst the whole pool that it has to be weighed accordingly.
It wouldnt take me 700 hours to get familiar with all the abstract problems and concepts I’ll encounter, but it would take me a very long time to, and longer to synthesize solutions that are above average, and regurgitating that on the spot for an interview in a quicker time than other candidates.
It seems to me that ageism actually has some value.
People never got any smarter, but the nature and details of group activity have changed over time.
After a career of delivering products for boutique manufacturing companies, I'd say that my ability to pass a modern interview suite is essentially nil. My last gig for a company with modern practices taught me that it's no fun in any case as design devolves into manufacturing (perhaps for good reason).
Give me a young body, and I'd look into purposefully arcane careers with little remuneration. Blacksmithing perhaps.
This is ageism. I hope he realized this after 10 6 rounds of interviews.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19507732