Hi Desiré, I deeply sympathize with your situation. Just to put things in perspective: I'm male, 32 years old, graduated top of my class at the age of 21, have several certifications, over a decade of professional experience, my fair share of open source contributions, as well as several keynotes under my belt. I often receive dozens of contacts from recruiters in a single day. In many ways I have the kind of CV that is very marketable. Still, I can mention more than one team / company where people where very dismissive about my ideas, and sometimes plain rude too my face (from junior team members telling that they were too busy to waste their time giving me a hand, to managers telling other team members that "I keep trying to save the World with insignificant task X"). Honestly, the most dismissive teams always have the worst codebase, chaotic support schedules and no process. The most dismissive teams are often doomed and just gave up trying. The problem is not your age, gender or the fact that you are self-taught. Really, It's not you, it's them. You know what? It's a seller's market. I'll echo what everyone else is saying. Focus on landing your next job and make sure that it comes with at least a 20% raise. There are better companies around, you may have to hop jobs, maybe one, maybe 10, maybe 100 times but eventually you will find a place where you'll fit in. And if you can't find a great job, you will have enough experience to create your own. Don't let anyone get to you. Stay confident and take action (believe me, I had my fair share of self doubt over the years). As Steve Jobs once said: Stay hungry, stay foolish.
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Hi Desiré, I deeply sympathize with your situation. Just to put things in perspective: I'm male, 32 years old, graduated top of my class at the age of 21, have several certifications, over a decade of professional experience, my fair share of open source contributions, as well as several keynotes under my belt. I often receive dozens of contacts from recruiters in a single day. In many ways I have the kind of CV that is very marketable. Still, I can mention more than one team / company where people where very dismissive about my ideas, and sometimes plain rude too my face (from junior team members telling that they were too busy to waste their time giving me a hand, to managers telling other team members that "I keep trying to save the World with insignificant task X"). Honestly, the most dismissive teams always have the worst codebase, chaotic support schedules and no process. The most dismissive teams are often doomed and just gave up trying. The problem is not your age, gender or the fact that you are self-taught. Really, It's not you, it's them. You know what? It's a seller's market. I'll echo what everyone else is saying. Focus on landing your next job and make sure that it comes with at least a 20% raise. There are better companies around, you may have to hop jobs, maybe one, maybe 10, maybe 100 times but eventually you will find a place where you'll fit in. And if you can't find a great job, you will have enough experience to create your own. Don't let anyone get to you. Stay confident and take action (believe me, I had my fair share of self doubt over the years). As Steve Jobs once said: Stay hungry, stay foolish.