| Personally, my experience in the valley (being hired as well hiring people) has been not been guided by age. My experience has been with the startup since it was at 50 member to well over 100 now. I am in early 30s, which means I am mostly interviewing for senior engineering position.
I have been part of teams where we have made offers to several folks older than I am for similar or higher position. This is the only time when age does come up for discussion (is he really qualified to be a senior or not?) However, some patterns I do notice from time to time are: - Younger folks are more eager at times to do more. - Their enthusiasm also comes with quality of work that needs some additional care. But, it is critical we mentor them during these times. - Older folks are generally more clear on what they want to work and how they want to solve a problem. Experience most likely. - The really bad situation to be in is when some of the older (senior) folks don't drive and take initiatives and just wade through. With someone senior you want them to be there to mentor, help, guide, keep an eye out on many things, but we have seen a few senior folks who don't make that effort - This is probably the #1 problem I have seen in teams. A sense of agility is almost vital. - I have seen the same lack of "drive" amongst some younger devs as well. - End of the day, its not age, its almost the subject
scale of how passionate they are about their work that has worked for us. Old/young is really irrelevant. |