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Comment by petsormeat | Hacker News Reader

Oh, there are a bunch of us, even here in the SF Bay Area. Trouble is, we're older than 35, or don't have degrees from "top" schools, and/or don't have the "passion" for bizarre extended hiring rituals. I could staff an entire dev team with non-male people within a week.

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> we're older than 35, or don't have degrees from "top" schools, and/or don't have the "passion" for bizarre extended hiring rituals

This hits home so hard.

So what do you do now? Btw some men in tech are also over 35 and tired of hiring rituals.

After 15 years of front-end dev, I now work in retail. Some of my other peers are scraping by with Uber/Lyft. Some are muddling through as housewives or substitute teaching.

And, yes, Bay Area tech hiring is needlessly hostile for men over a certain age as well.

I’m a bit confused... surely going through a needlessly bizarre hiring ritual is worth it compared to driving for Uber or being a substitute teacher?

Ageism, OK - but still I find it hard to believe that you can't find a job if you can code. Maybe competition or demands are especially high in the Bay area?

I don't have any sort of degree beyond high school and I have been a programmer/engineer for almost 15 years. Do I work at top tech companies? No. But that doesn't mean people like us can't be hired in the industry.

SW engineering can be a pretty brutal job psychologically - there's a reason people are burning out. Interviewing is particularly bad.

I guess most men have thick skin or got lucky, so they don't see that, instead they think it's this dream job and everyone should partake in its wonderfulness.

I believe that the lack of women in tech is explained by societal bias against women and the nature of the job.

> I could staff an entire dev team with non-male people within a week.

I think the recruiting team at my company would very much be interested in speaking with you.

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