[DarrenZ]

Leave out the bottom 10 years and leave out your degree years -- if you have one. My software development career began at age 28 (I'm now 45). My CV begins in 2001 and makes no mention of what I was doing from 1990-2001, and makes me appear about 35-37.

When I turn up for interviews, nobody bats an eye, and all interview questions that touch on previous jobs talk about what I've been doing in the past 3 years.

[DavidWoof]

I did some A/B testing over the past couple of years with dropping the 90s from my resume, and I couldn't distinguish any difference in responses. Among those who got the shortened resume, nobody seemed to notice, although it's possible they noticed the age gap and just didn't mention it.

Although if OP has sent out 40 applications and gotten no responses, ageism isn't the issue. There's something about his experience or resume that is turning people off.

[baldfat]

I am working off my CV I had professional done a few years ago. Maybe I need to put some money into someone else doing it for me again.

[DavidWoof]

I'm pretty ignorant of your field, so it's hard to say. As an example of my ignorance, I'm honestly surprised you could even find 40 places in a small city to apply for an uncertified Stem Lab Coach job.

In terms of resumes and job search, though, software development is completely unlike every other field. I don't think anybody's advice here on "here's how my resume of 15 years of c++ is arranged" is going to help you at all. It's a completely different world.

People complain about ageism in tech, but I suspect programming is actually one of the least ageist fields out there due to its underlying meritocratic nature.

[cr0sh]

> People complain about ageism in tech, but I suspect programming is actually one of the least ageist fields out there due to its underlying meritocratic nature.

I'm turning 45 years old next year; I've been employed as a software engineer since I was 18.

I've never had a problem getting a new job, whether by choice or because I had to due to a layoff or other scale back by a company. Part of the reason, I believe, is because I am always looking and working to improve my skills (my latest efforts have been in AI/ML and self-driving vehicle technology). I don't want to stagnate or otherwise get stuck in a rut, so to speak.

That doesn't mean I don't worry, but I think I may be ok as long as I'm not trying to drop into an SV startup/unicorn or one of the "big players" like Facebook or Google, that tend to hire younger players. That doesn't mean I'd turn down the chance interview at such a place, but I'm not looking in that direction (plus, I'm pretty rooted here in the Phoenix area).

[fecak]

Resume writer here. I'll take a look at it for free to see if the resume is an issue. Many resume writers are just writers that learned resume writing was a way to get paid if they couldn't get published, so quality varies. I have 20 years of experience in recruiting for startups, so I understand your audience quite well.

Contact info is in the profile.

[Tehnix]

Getting your CV done? I'd say do it yourself. E.g. if you know LaTeX there are a lot of templates to get you started on ShareLaTeX for example.

Having just done my CV, I couldn't imagine paying someone for it - it's deeply linked to my personality and my own experiences.