Comment by dexwiz | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dexwiz | Hacker News Reader

I am a Software Dev in my mid 20s and posts like this always make me nervous. I love my craft, and want to improve it, but recognize it will be another 5 to 7 years before I am truly proficient. Just in time to be obsolete. How do I combat this? Better networking? Starting my own business? Consulting?

I would like to believe that people who find jobs don't write posts like this to provide the opposite experience. But it seems to be weighted so heavily on the negative, it hards to believe the positive does exist.

But then I think about the jobs they are applying for. Basic coding tests for an Architect? Are they really hiring an Architect or just the second developer and CTO is already taken? Start ups seem to like to assign titles from the top down, but you cannot exactly have an Architect if its you and one other person.

Also 99% rejection rate without an interview? That sounds like you are spamming your resume to everyone, don't know how to write a resume, or are woefully under qualified and don't know it.

I hear a lot of hiring horror stories. Perhaps it's because my career has been on the East Coast, or because I only apply to places I'm generally interested in and have researched/stalked (vice a shotgun approach) but I've never suffered any hiring silliness. Maybe I'm just lucky? I'm 37 now.

I generally assume the absurd hiring practices are either large companies that have become institutionalized and thus have terrible processes free from the scrutiny of sanity (Google, etc) or are small companies that don't really know what they are doing or need. Both sound like terrible places to work.

> [...] it will be another 5 to 7 years before I am truly proficient. Just in time to be obsolete. How do I combat this? Better networking? Starting my own business? Consulting?

Judging from how you use it, I think that under the word "obsolete" you mean something different than how I understand it. Care to clarify?

Spend N years getting to be proficient in a technology. N+1 years later most have abandoned that tech. Do you jump techs or go into management?

I assume that's what he/she means.

But own business or consulting is nowhere near a response to that. That's why I think he/she may mean something else.

Learning new technology is part of the job. Though there are still tons of companies stuck with older technologies. Ancient, sometimes.

Sure but every jump is opportunity cost. The older you get the harder it's going to be to pick up yet another language with its own ecosystem, tool chains, frameworks, the works.

Are you always picking up new skills or perspectives by doing that? Sure. Do you still have to be stingy with your resources (time, energy, interest)? Absolutely.

Depends on how much you enjoy learning, I suppose. I love learning new things. I'm not stingy on things I love. I don't doubt it's going to get harder to learn after retirement, but that's still more than 20 years away for me.

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