Comment by jsvaughan | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jsvaughan | Hacker News Reader

This is absolute nonsense.

You cannot infer someone's age from their years of experience (unless you are stipulating a figure which is a material fraction of a lifespan, say 20+, which never happens)

* I have 5 years of java experience. How old am I? (55 - I have spent most of my life as a c dev but have done some java over the recent years)

* I have 16 years of java experience. How old am I? (34 - I graduated in 97 and have been working in it since)

I don't understand the whining. Are you upset that someone wouldn't look at you for a job because you haven't got X years of experience? Have you considered that actually experience is valuable to a company, and why do you think they would be interested in training you and being the proving ground for all the mistakes you'll make as you learn?

It sets a minimum level; if you require 10 years of UNIX experience, you're saying you don't want anyone in their twenties (unless faffing about in Linux as a pre-teen counts as work experience). In your Java example I would be screwed, even if I knew Java inside and out, because I'm only 21. I know it's hard to imagine, with the '30 is fossilized' viewpoint many people have around here, but a lot of companies want to pay young people less money, and so give them less 'senior' positions.

There is value in hiring the right person for a position, regardless of age. At my current employer we have some very experienced, knowledgeable staff in their late 40's and 50's. We also have knowledgeable staff who are in their 20's. In my observation they tend to have different strengths, but both bring a lot of value, and it would be foolish to say that the 50-year old deserves more money for having been around longer ( and yes, having a longer track record with the technologies in question ).

In the two examples you gave, one could safely infer that you are at least 27 and 38 respectively, assuming you listed a degree. If a company wants only to hire young engineers, this is a way to discriminate. But I assume the 55 year old would probably include some prior experience on a résumé or application as well.

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