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A 37-year-old wanting to learn computer science

(initcoder.com)
165 points chbkall | 2 comments | 05 Jul 25 08:52 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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reactordev ◴[05 Jul 25 14:34 UTC] No.44473075[source]▶
I want to call out something here. I’m all for learning to code at any age but companies need to stop being ageist and discriminatory towards older coders and workers.

I’ve started to see this myself. I’m certain it’s ageism.

To the OP, if you’re passionate about it, don’t let anyone/thing stand in your way.

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jspash ◴[05 Jul 25 14:54 UTC] No.44473187[source]▶
Ageism is as real as any other prejudice. And unfortunately it's just a difficult to prove. I've seen the faces of the room full of "kids" (yea, that's reverse ageism I suppose) when doing remote interviews and watched them drop as soon as I appear on the screen.

Then it's just a matter of speeding me through the interview until they can find the candidate with the "right team dynamic" or "culture fit" etc. The excuses I've heard are quite amusing, but transparent.

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1. trollbridge ◴[05 Jul 25 17:40 UTC] No.44474275[source]▶
I would simply ask upfront if they’re open to hiring over 40 and/or hiring with a disability (and then mention I’m not litigious and simply don’t want waste their time if they aren’t looking for that, no hard feelings). I actually had a few places admit they are not going to hire over 40 + a disability after I made it clear I have no intentions to sue.
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2. andrew_lettuce ◴[05 Jul 25 18:25 UTC] No.44474555[source]▶
That's pretty stupid on their part, considering you're not permitted to break the law because the aggrieved party is "ok with it". This is typically a civil rights issue handled by government enforcement