> an older designer should have a rolladex full of people who they worked below, beside, and above over the course of their career
As a non-traditional professional in a lot of ways, I've found these kinds of assumptions at the core of a lot of discrimination (age and otherwise). A person should be judged based on their skills/value, not based on where someone thinks they "should" be in their life based on stereotypes and bias.
Expecting a person to be a certain way due to their age is harmful to them.
I don’t expect an older designer to have that Rolodex because I am an older designer and don’t have one.
I just understand that that is a problem that wishing the world was fair in ways that benefited me won’t solve.
If the OP doesn’t have the Rolodex of people who would work with them again - like me - then it is a problem.
Or possibly a symptom of a deeper issue of why people don’t want to work with them.
Or possibly the result of bad luck.
Or some combination of all that.
None of which “it ain’t fair” changes. Either a person is so good they can’t be ignored or they aren’t. And sometimes what can’t be ignored is a chip on the shoulder.
[edit]
The comment points to reasons a younger designer may tend to be a better hire.
A younger designer might ask “what’s a Rolodex?” and then start filling theirs up instead of arguing about it.
It is easy to work with someone who is still learning. It is unpleasant to work with someone argumentative.
You're going in a tangential direction. GP wasn't complaining about an unfairness, but explaining that an attitude was harmful. You misinterpreted them and then came to an ageist conclusion based on that misunderstanding, really making their case for them.
I'm curious, do you really not stay in contact with anyone you have worked with in the past in any capacity? Or is it more that they wouldn't work with you again?
Just curious since even as someone who sucks at "networking" and that sort of thing, I feel like I've worked with people that we mutually respect each other's skill regardless if it's direct reporting lines.
Really? What if you take a few year break from contracting? (a mini-startup, personal projects, perhaps you just get a regular job for few years to sort out your finances or build a house). Are you supposed to keep networking with your previous clients during this time when you know well enough you'll not want to take any jobs they may want to give you?
Then there are all those people that transition between technology stacks. I did that few times so far (Linux to Windows, then Windows to Linux, vmware to aws). Your past clients will most likely want you for the stuff you worked on in the past. Also some people relocate internationally, perhaps to different time zones. Among people I came to know over the years many did that.
So I find this idea of "constant networking" work in a very narrow set of circumstances.
As a non-traditional professional in a lot of ways, I've found these kinds of assumptions at the core of a lot of discrimination (age and otherwise). A person should be judged based on their skills/value, not based on where someone thinks they "should" be in their life based on stereotypes and bias.
Expecting a person to be a certain way due to their age is harmful to them.