It doesn't suck to be an old engineer. It sucks to be an engineer with outdated skills.
I learned FORTRAN in 1968. I learned Scala in 2012.
I'll be 61 this week...and I just started a new job developing in Scala.
I learned FORTRAN in 1968. I learned Scala in 2012.
I'll be 61 this week...and I just started a new job developing in Scala.
EDIT: He completed the iOS application under budget with wonderful tests.
If you don't mind me asking, age aside, what tests qualified as wonderful? Coverage? Integration or unit? I am curious. Which framework? Also, was he one of those rare individuals who could make the app UI look beautiful on both iOS and Android?
UI was presetup by a designer, so he didn't have much choice in that, but he implemented it pixel perfect. No idea on Android, he was only doing iOS for us.
So, while a lot of the bids we got were at $85, him working at $180 for 35% of the hours was still cheaper (by a good bit) -- and we got a rock solid result.
Rates are meaningless until multiplied by hours.
Not really. If the contractor gets sick, it's still your problem.
I care for my contractors and always make sure they are paid enough to afford good medical care and a stable financial situation. It makes sense, even from a deeply selfish point of view - the less time they spend worrying about such things, the more they spend working.
As for him being my problem. If a contractor can't work, you replace them, depending on how the contract was setup, you might collect some insurance to help get over the ugly transition.
As for deciding what's enough for a stable financial condition, I can't. What you I do, as a manager is to pay attention for warning signs.
Years ago, I had a programmer, young and very bright, who kept entering lousy freelance projects on the side. He was under great pressure because he had financial problems. I didn't want to lose him, but burnout was already on the horizon. When performance review time came, I enrolled him on a personal finance course. Within six months, the freelance jobs went away, he started coming in earlier and the already good quality of his work improved further. He had more time to study, more time for his family and more attention for his work.
I am 62 and I have been consulting for 15 years so age has not such an issue. Honestly, I can understand why a company might not want to hire an older software engineer but in my experience companies don't mind old consultants.
When asked for advice by people wanting to have a lifestyle (work on your own terms) consulting business, I suggest they, in addition to working, also invest time in writing a lot (blogging, books) and contributing to open source projects.
I learned C++ in 1999 and it still does the job in 2055.
As a guy in his 30's it would be interesting to read more on how you did this. Were you laid off at any point? Did you learn Scala on your own or through a previous employer, or a class? And finally, how hard was it for you to make your transition & land this job?