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Comment by chasd00 | Hacker News Reader

Agism can cut both ways so i'll add that i'm 46 and have been continually impressed with the younger people on my teams. Smart, hardworking, and dedicated.

I've learned as much from recent college grads as I have taught them so it's definitely a two way street.

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I'm 64 and still coding strong (UK NHS) and I'm planning to delay retirement (officially next year) for another couple of years. I've been a full time professional in computing since 1996.

I've only experienced a bit of age related 'you old fart' stick from a younger colleague once but on the whole, like you say, I've been impressed with my younger cohort.

Love to see, learn and be around that energy. And it's great to be able to bring something to the table based on my experience.

A respectful and egalitarian attitude goes a long way.

I think the main problem are people who have this weird (to me) take that you can't be at eye level or form friendships with a huge age gap. Maybe it has helped that I've had friends a lot older than myself when I was ~20 (and not just my 50y old parents as the only reference point of older adults), but also at work. If people with 20 years of experience explain why they are correct and not "because I say so" it's a good experience, same as with people fresh off university - some are eager to listen when you tell them why it will fail and some will just believe you're the old grumpy neckbeard.

ya.. friendships with huge age gap was weird to me until i hit 30 and realized we're all just people and i should probably stop thinking about older folks like "parents" or "proper adults" and maybe we can legit be friends. now i see young folks and wonder how they think about me. don't know where i fit anymore

I have been involved in a Fellowship that allows me to have a pretty vast array of friends (and frienemies). I have friends that are 40 years younger than me, and 20 years older than me. I'm quite used to getting some great wisdom and support from folks that differ from me, in many ways (age is actually one of the least important differentiators).

> To any older individuals here still working in tech, please don't feel unwanted.

Sadly, in my case, it is too late for that. The message was delivered at 100 decibels, and was received, five-by-five.

The ones most aggressively delivering the message were recruiters, but I was greeted with almost naked hostility, even after "getting in the door."

It was made quite clear, that I am not welcome, and it had nothing at all to do with my technical merits, as the interviews almost never even got that far.

But it all turned out OK, in the long run. Some companies missed out on me, but I am quite sure they aren't regretting it one bit. It's quite likely that the people that interviewed me, aren't even with their companies, anymore.

> I've learned as much from recent college grads as I have taught them so it's definitely a two way street.

Can you talk more about what you learned ?

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