[hedora]

I’d say the main challenges come from two directions:

- you’re competing with fresh undergrads, and most companies have university recruitment pipelines you can’t leverage.

- older people (by default) are expected to have more experience, and perform better than people with no work experience. If you were at your current skill level after 20 years on the job, you’d probably be a lost cause. Be sure to set the expectation that you are a junior developer when applying.

Having said that, it’s totally possible. Most software firms are looking for more diversity of background, and you likely have all sorts of relevant “soft skill”, business, and other experience other candidates can’t bring to the table.

[hellisothers]

I think all the worries of competing with undergrads and “the youth” generally can be avoided by not applying at a startup or any other scrappy little company that wants to pay very little to overwork inexperienced labor. An older employee probably doesn’t want to work there anyway, I agree a lifetime of soft skills actually has a fair bit of value especially at less exciting medium to large businesses (bake, healthcare, etc)