After receiving this question plenty of times, I decided to write an article about it.
I would like you to know that this is just my story and hope...
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I fully believe the recruiters doesn't care about the age. What they ultimately care is your efficiency to tackle problems thrown at you, how fast you can pick up the new tech if the need arises and your ability to work within a team.
In freelancing you can even avoid all of 3, if you can find clients with no deadline priorities.
"I fully believe the recruiters doesn't care about the age"
LOL, You havent met many of them, but it also depends on culture/country, if you are in a country that only focuses on money yes ofc, you are right, in rich social democracies like Western Europe, things are a bit different. HR are social justice warriors.
But in countries Switzerland, USA, they only give a shit about how good you are.
In the last 10 years I've never seen a resume with an age on it. We remove them if they are listed to ensure that no one would reject at that stage. Of course, it doesn't stop unconscious bias at the interview stage - for that our HR interview the interviewer to assess how clear they are about one candidates advantages over another to try to reduce it.
Anyone interviewing for our company knows to not ask questions like "Do you have kids?" or any related home circumstance questions so that we don't accidentally use that information to differentiate one recruit from another.
Makes no sense at all, and its a bit virtue signalling. you can always deduce someones age by looking at graduation dates and oldest entries in their resume quite easily.
Given the age strata of our workforce it seems to work for us. Perhaps the "virtue signalling" of doing it sends a message to the interviewers.
Hints dont work in my experience , incentives do..btw..Initial conditions are just as important as operating procedure, (was the company diverse to begin with?) also incentives to HR are important (bonus system for finding successfull candidate) the latter works marvels for our company.
It's a fair point, I guess it's happened in two businesses that I've built from the ground up and then one that I've joined that was already established. It is reasonably normal to remove ages/ethnicity and even names from applications to avoid bias in our market, not something we thought of, but a common practice.
I reflected on your point about working out ages, it's certainly something I've reasoned on my fingers before. Usually before an interview though, rather than at the candidate resume review phase.
Our HR team run a series of training programmes on unconscious bias and interview technique, you might be right that it's pointless, I don't have good other references to compare it to or a "before state" either, but it doesn't seem to be hurting.
Well Clearly HR is the first step to pass first. If HR see u too old for the job then that is a big no.
Giangvincent, like i said, age is not that of an issue if it is a highly competative environment, try to get this point. Mitigated capitalist systems (rich Western Europe social democracies) the can indulge in weird selection criteria. The are not as much under Darwinistic pressures, ( NB: i dint say zero)
Amazing story. Not every one has it easy in life and you managed to turn it round for the better. Well done!
That's been a journey! Thanks for sharing it. Passion is one of the key drivers of success. That and not being afraid of looking like an idiot - looking like an idiot is fine, then one day you wake up and find you are ready to look like a hero :)
No, you are too old to become a developer.
You are also too old to learn how to play music.
Or learn how to write books.
Or learn how to swim.
But, ya know, I can tell you a little bit about swimming. Heck, I might even take you to the lake and show you how to do it. It's not really that complicated, after all. I think that after a few rounds you'll be able to do it yourself.
And afterwards, maybe you can write a short paragraph about that experience, since you probably already know how to write words in English, right? Yeah, that would probably be nice.
And if you write another paragraph after that, that shouldn't really be that much more work, I think. Make it a page, just to be sure.
Tomorrow, just for giggles, maybe write about writing that page today. And the day after that, maybe write about the amazing feeling of writing two whole pages!
Wait, what? After a week or so, you now have 10 pages of writing already? Damn, dude! That's dope. Can you write 10 more?
Well, why not make it interesting? Write 20 more, but talk about what it's like to write these initial 10 pages after never writing so much before. Then send it over to me, and I'll share with you my opinion.
And after that, maybe write up what it's like to pick up a guitar from the second-hand store and just strumming for a bit. Write about the horrible sounds you produce. Write about how it feels like to be a horrible musician.
And you know how to read, right? If you can write, you can probably read. Go back to that store, and buy a guitar book. Do just the first page today. Maybe even tomorrow.
But don't forget to write all about it! You've probably got like 100 pages or something now, right? That's not that far from a book. Can you make it 200?
Anyways, back to the music. You've been reading the book? I guess so, you seem like a really persistent guy, what with all the swimming and writing you've been doing. You probably even can play a verse of some song now. Three Little Birds by Bob Marley is really nice, can you play it using the chords you know?
Probably, right? I guess so. But, wait, you kinda need a website to show off all of those new music and swimming skills, and maybe sell that book you just wrote. Feels like it. Guess what's next?
And the process repeats ad inifitum. Good for you, @Luc_C. Keep on kicking.
And to leave you guys off with a quote by one of the greats, Carmack (developer of Doom & Quake & Oculus & All things game graphics basically):
"In the information age, the barriers to entry into programming just aren't there. The barriers are self-imposed. If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don't need millions of dollars of capitalization. You need enough pizza and Diet Coke to stick in your refrigerator, a cheap PC to work on, and the dedication to go through with it. We slept on floors. We waded across rivers."
It's really that simple.
Thanks for the sharing, it is encouraging life stories. I was graceful if not because there is education sponsor from my aunt, i would still work in some rural construction industrial.
Thanks for telling your story Luc, lot's of struggles, and how you have turned them around. Will definitely inspire others. Good things are on their way I am sure!
wow man this is inspiring!
Thanks to share this, my friend. This is inspiring. You deserve this new life.
Great bio and great story how you came to start coding. Good for you!
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing! 👏🇧🇷