Latest / DevQuestions with Tim Corey / 023 Does Age Matter In Development? How Old Is Too Old To Be A C# Developer?

Transcript

023 Does Age Matter In Development? How Old Is Too Old To Be A C# Developer? · DevQuestions with Tim Corey

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Dev Questions Podcast with Tim Corey.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Join us each episode as we tackle the questions you are asking about a career in software development, understanding the industry, and new technology.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: If you're just starting out or you want to grow stronger as a developer, this is the place to get your questions answered.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's your host, expert developer and online educator, Tim Corey.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Does age matter in development?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: How old is too old to be a C sharp developer?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: This is a question that was sent to me recently by Yes here, but it's also been one that has been asked over and over to me over the years.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it's a great question to jump in today because it does matter and it doesn't matter.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk this through.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: Let's start with how it doesn't matter.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, I'm gonna be very clear this up front.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Anyone at any age can be a developer.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: You can do it no matter what age you are.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: I have taught 80-year-olds who wanted to learn to be C sharp developers and they did great things.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: They did a great job becoming developers.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So your age, you're not too old.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: You're also not too young.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: So if you want to start when you're 10, 12 years old, cool, go for it.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: If you are passionate about becoming a developer, you can do it no matter your age.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's one way it doesn't matter.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Another way is that your other experience is important, it helps you because you're a well-rounded person.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Let's just take, for example, if you decide at the age of 60 that you want to transition careers and become a C sharp developer.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Is it is it too late at that point?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's not.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, you've probably worked for let's say 40 years doing other things.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Those other things will give you life experience you can apply as a C sharp developer.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Not only that, you can be a better developer when you're working in the areas that you have experience in.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: For example, what if you worked as a realtor selling houses for the past 40 years?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And now you say, I want to be a C sharp developer.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if you become a developer, first of all, you have a lot of experience with people and working with difficult situations and figure out how to make things work.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, not with code, but with people and with situations.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: And you can apply those to becoming a developer.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: But also, if you get a job that maybe crosses the realtor marketplace, maybe you're gonna be working for a company that builds software for realtors or something similar.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now you have experience on the other side of the table.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now you can bring all that experience in with you as a developer.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Imagine a developer who just got out of college.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is their first job.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: They don't necessarily know how to be a realtor.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: They don't know the ins and the outs and the things they don't tell you in school.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you can come in and have a lot more experience in those areas.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I always encourage people to not see their previous experience that's not as a developer as a detriment or as nothing, but instead see it as an asset you can use to be an even better developer.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And third, wisdom comes with age.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: I want to tell you a quick story here.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: On my off time, one of the things I do is I fix things around the house.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of a hobby, it saves me some money.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And at the same time, it does allow me to do things that are not um not computer related.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I used to live in a house that was built in 1850 or so.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so nothing in that house was standard building code easy.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: So when it came to fixing things, it wasn't just a matter of a quick fix, it usually took a while.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: One of the things I want to tackle was in the upstairs bathroom, which guests often used, the door opened to the left.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: The problem was the light switch was behind that door.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you had to open the door and then close it.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: There's no window, so it's dark, and search and find the light switch.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Now, since we live in the house, we knew where the light switch was, but as a guest, you wouldn't know that.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I was talking to my father-in-law, and I was telling him, I said, okay, my plan is to take the door off the hinges, take the whole frame out, rebuild the frame, rebuild a custom frame, where, and then put a new door out where the door opens to the right.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I was planning for about a full week of nights and weekends working on this project.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And my father-in-law kind of just asked a simple question, very matter-of-factly, just said, Why don't you put a motion sensor switch in there?
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: $20, 10 minutes, and I was done.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of a whole week's worth of work, pain, struggle, frustration, just a different perspective that came from the wisdom of having done similar things allowed me to save a ton of time, more money, and frustration.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: One little fix.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the kind of thing that wisdom can bring to the table.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: The idea that you have a knowledge and you've seen how to apply it.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that's another reason why it doesn't matter how old you are, what you bring to the table is still very, very beneficial.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there's also three areas where it does matter how old you are.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk those things through as well.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, and this is the unfortunate reality of life, and that is people may discriminate against you because of your age.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, here in the US, we have protections against that.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: We say we don't do that, but you and I know it it happens more often than it should.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because people see you as maybe um nearing the end of your career, not having a long enough span with the company.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe you're just not up to speed, is what they think.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so there can be some discrimination against you as a developer.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: I understand that can limit you some, but you can present yourself in a way that that limits how much that happens.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: But it's the reality, so let's discuss it, let's make sure we don't um ignore it.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now, that's one way that it does matter how old you are, and it shouldn't be, and it's not everywhere.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: But the next two are really on you.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, number two is if you're set in your ways, if you say, you know, the way we did it 20 years ago is the way it should have been done, it's the best way of doing it, and I don't want to change.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you're gonna struggle in today's world and you're gonna struggle finding jobs.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: And you may say, well, it's because I'm too old and people are just discriminate against me because I'm old.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: They're not.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: What they're discriminating against, I can say those words, um, what they're they're limiting you from or not picking you up as an employee.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: The reason why is because they are looking at you and saying, that's not the type of employee you want.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing to do with your age, it has to do with your attitude.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I've worked with a lot of people where they're kind of stuck in, well, it was so great back in 1990, and since then it's all downhill and everything's changing, and it's horrible, and it's you know, new things every day.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Embrace being a developer.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Being a developer means dealing with change.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Change happens all the time.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: You can either be grumpy about it and turn people away, or you can embrace it and say, my job is to deal with change.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: That's part of your job.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: So that's number two, getting set in your ways.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Be careful not to do that.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: And number three, which is also on you, is a lack of enthusiasm.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: If I'm looking at two candidates, and one candidate is enthusiastic about learning new things and about growing and about improving and about changing and about embracing the new job and figuring out how to do things.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: And the other candidate's like, yeah, I could probably do that.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I'll get that done, I guess.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Which am I going to choose?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna choose the first person.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now, that may be more indicative of a 21-year-old, 22-year-old, 30-year-old compared to a 60-year-old, 65-year-old, 70-year-old.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: But it doesn't have to be.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: I have met a number of people who are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who are really enthusiastic about C.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: That enthusiasm is important.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it it's just it shows that you are looking forward to accomplishing the job.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you're just looking to punch a clock, programming is not for you, probably.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So those are the three areas where age does matter.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So let's talk about what you can do.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, continue to grow.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: No matter who you are, no matter how old you are, continue to grow.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: And here's the real trick here.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Even if you are right now 17, listen to this saying, man, that's on this on the ply on me because I'm not old.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Age is coming for you.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: It comes for us all.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like it's so far away at some point, but it's coming.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: And whether you're 17 or 71, everyone needs to continue to grow.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's number one.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Number two, be open to change.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: I hear some developers at every level.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: There's just too many changes.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: I have there's just too much stuff going on, and I don't want to learn it all.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, I wish they would just stop.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: I wish they would stop doing changes.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's not the greatest attitude for a software developer.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason why is because, again, your job entails embracing change.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's what you do.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: You make change.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's your whole job.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so if others make change too, you have to be able to embrace that.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: So be open to that, be open to change, be open to realizing that the way you do things today won't necessarily be the way you do things tomorrow.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that can be very liberating, it can be very enjoyable.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: The fact that you don't have a boring job where you're creating widgets that over and over and over again, the same way, day after day.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: You get to do something new and interesting every single day.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: So be open to that change.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: And number three, and this is really critical, especially if you're older, is to build others up.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Use your wisdom, use your experience, and use your compassion and help others as a developer.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you can do this if you're 20 as well.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: But use your ability to come along somebody else and encourage them, build them up, help them out.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Use what wisdom you have to encourage them and to help point them in the right direction.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Be positive in how you communicate.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: These things will make you an amazing team member.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And by being an amazing team member, it doesn't matter your age.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: People are gonna want to keep you, they're gonna want to give you raises, they're gonna want to ensure you stay on the team.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of it's comes down to attitude.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of it comes down to where you see yourself.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_01: If you take on the role of I'm too old, then you may be.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: But if you take the role on of I'm looking forward to doing this, I want to do this, and I'm gonna help others along the way, I think you'll do fine.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what I encourage you.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, age can be important, but not necessarily in the way you think.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Age is significant as a developer in the growth and skill you have as a person, even if you haven't been a developer your whole life.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's not important when you start.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can do it either way.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a matter of making sure that you adapt to those changes, make sure you encourage others, make sure that you continue to grow, build others up, and again, be open to change.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks for the question, Yesir.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's a great question.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's one that we definitely need to talk about.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you'd like to hear me answer your question, either use the form of the podcast page on imtimcore.com or leave a comment in the comment section of the YouTube video.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if you're listening to this episode on a podcast, I'd really appreciate it if you'd leave a review of the podcast.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: In doing so, you're helping others find their questions getting answered and be able to ask their own questions and get them answered as well.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: So no matter how you're listening to me, sharing this episode, it's always appreciated.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: As always, I am Tim Corey.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this episode of Dev Questions.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Tim is committed to making it easier for you to become a developer.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you would like to help make more content like this possible, please like, subscribe, rate, and share Dev Questions.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can also send your questions to questions at IamtimCorey.com.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember, you are too smart and your time too valuable to waste it making all the mistakes Tim did.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: When you're ready to learn to think and code like a professional developer, head over to imtimcore.com and enroll in a course.