I would say 35. You're just not going to be able to pick-up all the tech knowledge as fast as a younger person nor have their energy to pull all-nighters during crunch time.
I would say 35. You're just not going to be able to pick-up all the tech knowledge as fast as a younger person nor have their energy to pull all-nighters during crunch time.
bartholomew_maxwell wrote:
I would say 35. You're just not going to be able to pick-up all the tech knowledge as fast as a younger person nor have their energy to pull all-nighters during crunch time.
Depends on if you have the ingenuity. I hired a guy 2 years ago who was 36. One of the best hires I've made because he came in low (Austin area) and I could tell he had the curiosity and ambition to do well. Very teachable and he's just about doubled his wage now. I would hire someone 40+ with the same traits, I just don't see them applying all that often without a soft dev background.
I know a guy who moved from a QA job to a developer job when he was 32. It was within the same company, but he taught himself how to code after being hired on by QA, and then he showed them what he knew how to do, and they hired him as a developer. He's the oldest first-timer that I know of.
Flagpole wrote:
I know a guy who moved from a QA job to a developer job when he was 32. It was within the same company, but he taught himself how to code after being hired on by QA, and then he showed them what he knew how to do, and they hired him as a developer. He's the oldest first-timer that I know of.
I have someone on my team that fits that exact scenario. Interesting. He's pretty sharp too.
To answer the OP, it would depend on level of developer needed for the open position, and it would also depend on what he currently knew and what impression I was able to get in an interview. If he has a passion and his answers show the sort of thinking I like, then I would go for it.
I myself am self taught, did not go to college. However I had an interest in programming since 1987 when I got a Commodore 64, and I programmed as a hobby throughout the 1990s, including doing web pages starting in 1995. Even with that I was not able to get an IT job, I had to start at a company as a data entry clerk in 2000, and then by beginning of 2002 I was moved to IT after I took the initiative to solve some issues in my data entry job. It worked out well, I'm still there after 21 years and make a great living.
bartholomew_maxwell wrote:
I would say 35. You're just not going to be able to pick-up all the tech knowledge as fast as a younger person nor have their energy to pull all-nighters during crunch time.
This may be true for some, but it is absolutely not true for everyone. I started going to school for software at the age of 41 (was a mechanical engineer before that) got an AA in comp sci graduating at 43. Started out just doing web work, old school asp.net, sql server, etc. Started at 70k a year, probably wasn't worth that but I was a super quick study and a very hard worker. Kept learning, kept growing, ended that phase of my career 2 years ago doing global enterprise integrations for a Danish company. Was an independent consultant for 6 years during that phase and had 3 straight years of earnings right at 200k. Took a couple years off to take a breather, now back in school for web development (Express, Node, javascript, react, open source db etc), and rocking it. At first I was seen a bit as 'the old guy' in the class, but once people realized I knew my stuff and that I was willing to help anyone any time I was accepted as one of the group.
If you have the energy and are hungry, it's never too late; any limits are those you place on yourself. In fairness I keep myself super fit, am reasonably current on culture, etc, and I pick up new technologies at hyper-speed. It's not impossible if you have the attitude and the hunger.
bartholomew_maxwell wrote:
I would say 35. You're just not going to be able to pick-up all the tech knowledge as fast as a younger person nor have their energy to pull all-nighters during crunch time.
And I am going to be 62 in October btw.
Age 12
After that you are always a step behind the young computer literate kids.
This post was removed.