General / Off-Topic Finding work after 40

starman

starman
Real Life this time. Seeking work after 40 used to be a software developer. I think as more automation robots come this issue will engulf more of us.

In my experience people rarely talk openly about this. You get the same rhetoric about avoids the real situation that as automation increases shift to low cost centre what work will be available. Work is seen as a status as much as income.

Ive been wondering if I can put Elite beta tester on my CV :)

Thanks
 
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Adept

Adept
What did you work on as a developer? Do you mean buildings? (I'm on the IT side, so I immediately thought of software).
 

dayrth

Volunteer Moderator
dayrth
My place employed me just before my 50th (as a software dev). We recruit quite often. Don't know where you are based but if south of England is any good for you, pm me some details.
 

starman

starman
Asp Explorer said:
If you've got any COBOL or DB/2 or PL1 and are in Illinois - those types are in high demand.
Click to expand...

IM not surprised still the foundation of many large scale systems, . I was exposed to that at the beginning of my career. But were encouraged to more into the newer web technologies which usually act as front end to those systems. Also those cobol dev got outsourced. Maybe that's coming back. I'm based in London.
 

StiTch

StiTch
Automation? Not so much. Centralisation of administration/software? There's your problem.

One team on a respectable wage in the middle can keep entire organisations going with little more than a desktop support techie at each physical site. That one team is paid a "reasonable" amount though still not what they should be for the gargantuan pile of degrees and MCTS qualifications under their belt, and that's then far fewer people to pay and everything can be managed from the middle.

One reason among many I need to drop IT and head for pastures greener. We're only getting treated worse from here...
 

Toumal

Toumal
Unfortunately companies look for cheap, young developers. Most managers believe that a dev is a dev. My brother is 48 and is also looking for a job, which is nigh impossible x.x
 

Stormprooter

Stormprooter
starman said:
Real Life this time. Seeking work after 40 used to be a software developer. Living on £73 a week any help full suggestions.. Being part of the Elite community has helped if only those credits were real..

I think as more automation robots come this issue will engulf more of us.

In my experience people rarely talk openly about this. You get the same rhetoric about avoids the real situation that as automation increases shift to low cost centre what work will be available. Work is seen as a status as much as income.

Ive been wondering if I can put Elite beta tester on my CV :)

Thanks
Click to expand...

Easiest way to find work is as a contractor.
Get on Linked In, set up your profile, get in touch with recruitment agencies, there is plenty of work out there - you may have to travel around for work, but you should get decent money.
If you have any legacy technology experience, get on the support & modernisation bandwagon - for example, there are literally 1000s of old VB and MS Office (Access/Excel) apps out there which companies need software support for (modifications, bug fixing), and migration to newer web tech.

HTH
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
A problem of people 40+ is the mobility. People of a certain age are attached to their land. A nomadic life is not suitable for everyone
 
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starman

starman
Patrick_68000 said:
A problem of people 40+ is the mobility. People of a certain age are attached to their land. A nomadic life is not suitable for everyone
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I am bilingual and have family in several countries. But its interesting to see the types of preconceptions that arise. Like this? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/11597145/Living-and-working-in-paradise-the-rise-of-the-digital-nomad.html


I once spoke with an agency regarding a job outside London but they were hesitant to consider someone outside the local area.
 
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Stormprooter

Stormprooter
Patrick_68000 said:
A problem of people 40+ is the mobility. People of a certain age are attached to their land. A nomadic life is not suitable for everyone
Click to expand...

I understand, I'm 44 and you'd have to crowbar me out of where I live :)

I was thinking more along the lines of staying away (travelodge or cheap digs etc) during the week, and returning home for the weekend, just for the first few contracts (which are typically 3 months), just to get started again. It's not nice, I've done it - but needs must as the devil drives....

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starman said:
I am bilingual and have family in several countries. But its interesting to see the types of preconceptions that arise. Like this? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/11597145/Living-and-working-in-paradise-the-rise-of-the-digital-nomad.html
Click to expand...

She is obviously not a software developer.

1. She is using a mac
2. Software developers are not usually let loose to work freely like that until after a long period of working in-office, and building trust with the company and management. The only exceptions tend to be where the software developer has a niche skill that is difficult to find, and vital to what the client/customer requires; this makes them more flexible for things like working from home.
 
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starman

starman
Stormprooter said:
Easiest way to find work is as a contractor.
Get on Linked In, set up your profile, get in touch with recruitment agencies, there is plenty of work out there - you may have to travel around for work, but you should get decent money.
If you have any legacy technology experience, get on the support & modernisation bandwagon - for example, there are literally 1000s of old VB and MS Office (Access/Excel) apps out there which companies need software support for (modifications, bug fixing), and migration to newer web tech.

HTH
Click to expand...

This is one of the paradoxes. I wrote one of the first vb apps and later one of the first web apps. Many banks still run Xp since ie6 forms the core of many applications. Its unlikely any recent software grad would have used vb6 which has been superseded by vb.net although new apps tend to based C#. Technical inertia is the word.
 

Stormprooter

Stormprooter
starman said:
This is one of the paradoxes. I wrote one of the first vb apps and later one of the first web apps. Many banks still run Xp since ie6 forms the core of many applications. Its unlikely any recent software grad would have used vb6 which has been superseded by vb.net although new apps tend to based C#. Technical inertia is the word.
Click to expand...

There's still plenty of work out there for us old gits with our archaic skillz - finding it is the key. And you can command some good daily rates too :)

Good luck!
 
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[VR] Merkir

[VR] Merkir
Stormprooter said:
She is obviously not a software developer.

1. She is using a mac
Click to expand...

Umm, you may want to do a bit of research there. The demographics have changed towards macs these days. At our company we have always allowed our devs to choose what they want to use. 10 years ago it was mostly windows. Now it's mostly mac. Very few linux.

IMO the reason is not very flattering to Apple. Because Apple do not (easily) allow their OS to be run on other platforms, a Mac is the only platform you can easily write software on all of the common o/ses - osx, windows, linux, ios, android, etc.

In fact it's getting to the stage where, because our software must be tested cross-platform, cross-os, desktop and mobile, we may even have to enforce Mac usage. I don't like that :/
 
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