Too Old To Get Hired, so Decided to Quit the Lessons :(

remember that if you need to you can flag personal messages!

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Actually Kevin just messaged me and mentioned that an overly aggressive board post message got blocked, so that’s probably the one I was thinking of. I thought it was private since I didn’t see it on the board. I only saw it via email since I get most of my posts that way. But thanks for looking out :slight_smile:

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A lot of motivational speakers and those who talk of a positive attitude mention how thoughts are things, that your thoughts create your reality. I’ll be 55 this March but I’m busting my butt every day learning JS. Somehow, some way I’m going to get a job - just hope I don’t have to wait too much longer!

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Hello Sir, I’m usually not the kind of person who engages in community posts as they’re kind of frivolous or nonworth the time to answer them, but yours is different, you are feeling discouraged, you’re BEING discouraged.
Am I going to tell you that getting a new job at 55 years old is easy? Of course not, specially in this field, if you go toe to toe with a 25 year old that knows software in and out, you’re going to have a tough time.
But that doesn’t mean is not worth it.
You have the time, you have the motivation, you want to be a webDev, then be it, you’ll find someone out there who’s going to be looking for a person motivated to do his work, who will deliver them the product they want, and will be able to also get a few scoldings here and there without being offended, because it was probably offended many times in his lifetime.
I tell you, don’t feel discouraged, it’s not an “easy road” ahead, but it’s a road that can be taken by anyone, and you’re already halfway through, because you started.
My bests for you, don’t give up.

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Hopefully you’re still around to see this, but don’t give up. While ageism is certainly present, it’s not going to be the deciding factor in every job interview. Even if 99% of the people hiring wouldn’t hire someone who is older, that means there is at least one person who would hire you. And that is the trick. Is it going to be hard? Absolutely. At 35 I had to interview for 50 or 60 jobs before I got my first one. But I had the blessing of not having a choice. I had to do it to feed my kids. So I pressed on and eventually broke through. You can do it too. Remember, even in the worst economic conditions someone will always pay for the top talent. You have the ability to choose how dedicated you are to this, and thereby choose how amazing you can become. May I also suggest reading “The Slight Edge.” It is an amazing book written by a man who became a millionaire and then lost it all and what he learned in rebuilding his fortune. It talks about the amazing success that you can generate by doing small things consistently.

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@jwilkins.oboe well said!!! Thanks for your post!

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I suggest look into top VC websites and you will find loads of job openings e.g. Y Combinator is a good place to start they fund companies across globe and there companies are in need of right candidates

I’m from India and just to give how much money React dev makes is almost 30 - 40% of USA salary in silicon valley ( 120K USD per annum ) as it’s hard to find candidates with right skills, right attitude as well.

If you’re in USA; then it’s gold mine for IT jobs; they are not finding right candidates for job.

Don’t loose hope, keep faith.

Rocky Balboa: It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!

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I’m thinking we should start a corporation, OFC Ltd (old farts coding). There are enough of us here, we could be a trendy niche!

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Amen, let’s do it.

We’ll only hire 40+ engineers :wink:

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My two cents here.

If there’s even a little bit of interest (or passion as some people say) follow it. Learn as slowly or as quickly as suits you in the moment. As you learn more and become more confident you may find that you develop even more interest and passion. This interest and expertise is (speaking as someone that doesn’t really know any better) what will land you the job, regardless of age. I’m learning now at 29 and while that isn’t the same as you I also feel a tremendous amount of pressure. There feels like a lot riding on this. Having said that, if in 6 months from now, I’ve developed lots of fantastic skills in web development, but don’t have a job I won’t be completely winded. I can predict the road will be bumpy and I’m braced for it. Learning at this stage has got to be enough for me and I hope it is for you.

Even more though I hope you land your dream job.

Good luck and keep learning!

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God, how strong everything I have read here. I even saw myself in your mirror. I am 43 years old, and although I have worked with technology, it has been in my native country, Cuba. And for me that does not count anymore, I would like to be able to achieve it online remotely as an encoder. And right now I feel overwhelmed by the amount of technologies that I have had to face and of which I still do not feel confident. For that reason sometimes I think I will not make it. I have serious problems with language, since I cannot speak or listen to English. Only text written and read many times with the help of translators, for that reason I almost never write in the forum.

I firmly believe that it is not a problem of age. I think that if you keep your mind sharp, little by little you will acquire the skills. I have known people for almost 90 years who have exercised their mind their whole lives, staying active. And that’s the fundamental skill of developers, their ability to keep their minds working.

Do not stop coding, you can, little by little you will achieve it.

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im actually thinking about going back for a masters in computer engineering because i didnt choose wisely when i did my undergrad in EE. im 48 years old and do i think im to old . maybe if i listen to people. but im one stubborn motherfucker and rather focus on my dream and what i want instead of what other people say. never close out your dreams and desires because some other half-witt’s opinion. there is nothing you cant accomplish even with age. it jus ttakes more time but not impossible if your persistant enough .

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You can get a job! Never give up! Many big companies are hiring older people.
Example Google: Build for Everyone - Google Careers

Don’t give up, and keep learning! :grinning:
I hope this helps you! :computer:

Follow your dreams!

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I agree!!! I am 60 and learning to code. I am very hopeful in finding work… heck I have in me another ten good years for professional challenges.
So YES, please let the 50+ have their own board or forum so we can network and be constructive/positive/helpful to each other.

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if you got room for a 48 yo EE graduate willing to learn to code. im so down!!!

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@Driven4Success learn JS and make sure you pay attention to the ES5 parts. Then learn how to use Mirth. Find a good book on HL7 and read it. I see roles all the time for HL7/Mirth for anywhere from $75K-120K. I doubt most would care how old you are there as 95% of all work is remote. There is a serious shortage of HL7/Mirth engineers.

Also, yes a career change is hard. I did mine at 42. I know that’s not the same as 55 but I took a pay cut to do it effectively going from $60K a year to $49K. In less than a year I was up to $95K. I have FCC to thank for it. Don’t give up on your dream as there is always freelance.

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thanks everyone! I appreciate and loved all your posts! and Michael, thanks for the info on good skills to learn… Michael, can I ask you, regarding the FCC curriculum, what section do you think are worth learning? I’m currently still working on the HTML/CSS (responsive web design) section?

If doctors can still perform surgeries in their nineties, then coding should be no problem!

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Trendy niche… I like that!

@Driven4Success JavaScript Algorithms and Data Structures, most of the ES6 items would not apply to Mirth. Mirth uses Rhinojs which is slowly inching it’s way towards ES6 compliance. The best way to put it is Mirth is ES5+ with most of the best parts of ES6 missing. Down the road I would get the ES6 parts and Back End Development and APIs. Being able to write microservices in Nodejs or some other tool is what separates the $75K to $120K from the $120+. At some point you will need to learn some SQL. Khan Academy has some good courses on SQL when you need that.

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