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Programming Until Retirement?

Posted by Cliff on from the long-term-career-plans dept.

DataDragon asks: "Here's the situation- I'm a now 30something computer programmer in Silicon Valley working for one of the local billion+ dollar tech companies. I'm unhappy with my present job, but am thankful that I've got one. Although I pride myself on having written over a million lines of code in my career, with nearly 15 commercial software products under my belt (8 of them were my own concepts from start-to-finish). I've had carpal tunnel for 6 years now, my skillset looks like it came from a 3 year old magazine, and I didn't make good on stock options. Since settling down in a quiet place somewhere and having a family sounds like a great idea to myself and my bride-to-be, I was wondering: instead of all the buzz I always get like Google's 'Do you <insert technology task> in your sleep?' job opportunities I've read about, are there any employers that would rather have a person who: wants to put in an honest day's work; get to know the job and the people well; and a desire to ultimately be a mentor for the company processes, instead of a here-today-gone-tomorrow programmer, who is interested in actually working there until retirement age?"

6 of 660 comments (clear)

  1. My code is bigger than yours by Tablizer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Although I pride myself on having written over a million lines of code in my career...

    Good programmers often don't need a lot of lines. It is possible to have a lot of duplication rather than factor commonalities into libraries, etc., cranking up your line count. I am not saying that you in particular have done this, but it is something to keep in mind. The trick is to write good lines, not lots of them.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  2. Re:FFS! by SnakeEyes · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    " Especially after you've been married for a few years"

    A slashdotter. Married. You havn't been here long have you? :)

    --
    Come on, Tinkler, Tink!!
  3. Hot Blond Chick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Really hot blonde chick. Need I say more?

    1. Re:Hot Blond Chick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      That's a picture of a guy!!! Can't you see his adam's apple?

  4. Re:FFS! by B3ryllium · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You're a slashdot dinosaur. Get with the times! ;-)

  5. Re:Try the Federal Government by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    But do you really want to be a spook or a bureaucrat?

    Military and intelligence are not for me -- we are in a time when we can invade another country, for no reason. "Pre-emptive warfare" is a clusterfuck. Back before Iraq, when we were just defending ourselves, helping out was a good and honorable idea. But as a person of good concience, I can't help to continue the clusterfuck that the current administration has created.