I am 49 years old, a software quality professional/ automation engineer who works primarily in Perl these days. I have been through the job hunt a few times during the last couple years, following a 9 year stint with an employer who began to shrink and laid me off. I have worked 18 years in this industry and have gone from being a reasonably attractive young man to the edge of being an old codger. So I have seen the equation change over the years. I have gotten quite a bit better at my job and have taken on new skills.
I think there is indeed ageism in the data industry. But, I think it is not so rampant as to be a big problem for any individual. I think that some, say, people of Chinese heritage who have a strong accent, or African heritage, or women have at least as big a challenge in this regard.
I have interviewed with groups where, I could tell from the start, they wanted a young-looking person, preferably someone they could imagine being in their imagined social group. If you don't fit that role, those groups may not take you seriously.
Best thing is, move on to another group, bearing in mind that there are others, of other less-empowered groups, doing the same math, where x is not age, but the perceived difference of race, or gender or whatever other difference there may be. Chances are, the hiring group is not going to be turning out truly good work, because homogeneity does not serve the objectivity and creativity that is required in this kind of work.
My advice is to try to learn, learn, learn: other languages, and protocols, how to set up servers and databases, more in depth about your language, anything that separates you from the next person. Keep some notes somewhere about what you learned, simply because at some point, there is so much that no single person, young or old, can recall it all.
There is indeed an advantage to being older that far offsets any increased forgetfulness or lack of physical energy. It is just that you have seen lots of approaches to problems and where they ultimately succeeded or failed. You need to foster this, and capitalize on it. It is rare that anyone will listen to you say why something succeeds or fails, but such considerations will affect your work and allow you to code defensively.
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I am 49 years old, a software quality professional/ automation engineer who works primarily in Perl these days. I have been through the job hunt a few times during the last couple years, following a 9 year stint with an employer who began to shrink and laid me off. I have worked 18 years in this industry and have gone from being a reasonably attractive young man to the edge of being an old codger. So I have seen the equation change over the years. I have gotten quite a bit better at my job and have taken on new skills.
I think there is indeed ageism in the data industry. But, I think it is not so rampant as to be a big problem for any individual. I think that some, say, people of Chinese heritage who have a strong accent, or African heritage, or women have at least as big a challenge in this regard.
I have interviewed with groups where, I could tell from the start, they wanted a young-looking person, preferably someone they could imagine being in their imagined social group. If you don't fit that role, those groups may not take you seriously.
Best thing is, move on to another group, bearing in mind that there are others, of other less-empowered groups, doing the same math, where x is not age, but the perceived difference of race, or gender or whatever other difference there may be. Chances are, the hiring group is not going to be turning out truly good work, because homogeneity does not serve the objectivity and creativity that is required in this kind of work.
My advice is to try to learn, learn, learn: other languages, and protocols, how to set up servers and databases, more in depth about your language, anything that separates you from the next person. Keep some notes somewhere about what you learned, simply because at some point, there is so much that no single person, young or old, can recall it all.
There is indeed an advantage to being older that far offsets any increased forgetfulness or lack of physical energy. It is just that you have seen lots of approaches to problems and where they ultimately succeeded or failed. You need to foster this, and capitalize on it. It is rare that anyone will listen to you say why something succeeds or fails, but such considerations will affect your work and allow you to code defensively.