[scarface74]

Do you generally look down on everyone who needs a job, or just the ones who need a job and are old?

I’m 45. I stayed at one company way too long until I was 35 and didn’t get aggressive about my career until 10 years ago.

If you can't find work as a senior, and your options are junior or not working, which would you choose?

In 2019, in many major cities in the US - including Atlanta where I live - an experienced developer looking for a job is such a rare breed that you have to fight off recruiters. In the last 10 years it’s never taken me more than a month to find a job at whatever level I was at at the time (I was an “expert beginner” in 2009). I’m not a special snowflake, I’m just a bog standard “Enterprise Developer”

Shame on those not as lucky, extroverted, or with the same opportunities as you, eh?

I graduated from a no name college in a small town in 1996. What “great opportunities”?

The last thing anyone has ever called me is “extroverted”, I did what I had to do because I didn’t want to be at the age I’m at now without having the optionality of changing jobs.

[ziddoap]

Ah, so anyone with a certain amount of experience applying for junior-like positions is just being dumb. I get it. You should let the OP know that they should be fighting off recruiters instead of applying for jobs you feel are too lowly for their experience.

[lordCarbonFiber]

Anyone applying for a junior position should expect to have skills matching or exceeding the other people applying for the same position. Saying candidates should get a free pass because of age sounds far more discriminatory than an even playing field.

If you've been in the industry for years, have a stalled career, and are looking down the ladder for a job is there a sinister bias against age, or are you just not qualified?

[ziddoap]

I didn’t say free pass. I didn’t say they shouldn’t have the skills needed to do the job. This is about CS trivia interviews, non-applicable to the job. In these cases, fresh graduates have an advantage.

I also never said that it is a "sinister bias". Are some of them not qualified? Obviously. But there are people who, believe it or not, are experienced and qualified but have other circumstances which force them to step down a rung on the corporate ladder.

As I have stated elsewhere, I don’t think this is a widespread problem. I certainly don’t think anyone should get a free pass.

From my other comment:

>The issue (again, my interpretation) is taking something that is taught in school, somewhat rarely applied in practice (or, is replaced by a tool/library/whatever in practice) and putting some sort of spin on it then expecting someone to be able to answer it. Or taking a problem which already has an industry-accepted solution and asking the candidate to remake the wheel in 30 minutes.

If your fresh out of school you're more likely to remember that one obscure class you took few months ago which covered some trick situation. Or you'll remember that class which taught you about that industry-accepted solution and the why behind it.

If you've been in the field for 15 years using some tool/library to solve the problem, you're less likely to remember that one obscure class you took 15 years ago which explained the origin. Or that class which covered the trick situations.

[scarface74]

I didn’t say free pass. I didn’t say they shouldn’t have the skills needed to do the job. This is about CS trivia interviews, non-applicable to the job. In these cases, fresh graduates have an advantage.

And they are at a great disadvantage if they get a whiteboard architecture interview. If you want to apply for a job as a junior developer in an environment where they care about leetCode skills, you have to be willing to put in the effort. I am not willing to do so. Therefore I’ve optimized my skillset, my network and where I’ve chosen to live so I don’t have to.

I didn’t say free pass. I didn’t say they shouldn’t have the skills needed to do the job. This is about CS trivia interviews, non-applicable to the job. In these cases, fresh graduates have an advantage.

There are all loads of websites and books that can get you back up to speed with that if you need it.

[scarface74]

I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. But the reality of the job market is that if you’re 40+ and not willing to spend months doing leetCode and don’t do what I’m suggesting, you are going to end up in a situation where you can’t find a job.