I’m 40 years old and I have recruiters coming after me non-stop.
1) Don’t include irrelevant experience on your resume. Nobody cares that you were writing php websites in 1997. Try not to put anything on linked in or you’re resume that would indicate your age unless you’re one of the top people in your field and your experience makes you stand out.
2) Keep up with new languages. Don’t be the guy that only knows perl when everyone else is using python. If you aren’t learning rust and go today, you’re going to be left behind five years from now. And once everyone is on go and rust, you should be learning the next thing.
3) Stay curious. I know you have a family and kids and other commitments, but you have to stay interested in the world. Keep up with business news, and science news and stay connected with pop culture as much as possible. If you’re applying for a startup with a bunch of 20 or 30 something’s you, you need to be able to meet them where they are.
4) Don’t get complacent. You’re always a bad quarter away from getting laid off, and that becomes more true the older and more higher paid you are. Keep your resume updated. If recruiters aren’t beating down your door, you need to ask yourself why. Because if people aren’t trying to hire you, your employer probably isn’t excited to keep paying you either. I was a junior guy on a team with all sysadmins 5 years ago. They were all the same age as me, but with many more years experience all at the same company, doing the same thing and really resistant to changing. I came in and really dove into the deep end with devops, despite having little programming or sysadmin experience (I had a networking background). Within 5 years I was a senior developer, making more money than any of the rest of the people on the team, and eventually got poached by a recruiter offering 40% more money. They’re all still there barely holding on to their jobs.
1) Don’t include irrelevant experience on your resume. Nobody cares that you were writing php websites in 1997. Try not to put anything on linked in or you’re resume that would indicate your age unless you’re one of the top people in your field and your experience makes you stand out.
2) Keep up with new languages. Don’t be the guy that only knows perl when everyone else is using python. If you aren’t learning rust and go today, you’re going to be left behind five years from now. And once everyone is on go and rust, you should be learning the next thing.
3) Stay curious. I know you have a family and kids and other commitments, but you have to stay interested in the world. Keep up with business news, and science news and stay connected with pop culture as much as possible. If you’re applying for a startup with a bunch of 20 or 30 something’s you, you need to be able to meet them where they are.
4) Don’t get complacent. You’re always a bad quarter away from getting laid off, and that becomes more true the older and more higher paid you are. Keep your resume updated. If recruiters aren’t beating down your door, you need to ask yourself why. Because if people aren’t trying to hire you, your employer probably isn’t excited to keep paying you either. I was a junior guy on a team with all sysadmins 5 years ago. They were all the same age as me, but with many more years experience all at the same company, doing the same thing and really resistant to changing. I came in and really dove into the deep end with devops, despite having little programming or sysadmin experience (I had a networking background). Within 5 years I was a senior developer, making more money than any of the rest of the people on the team, and eventually got poached by a recruiter offering 40% more money. They’re all still there barely holding on to their jobs.