What has been a lot tougher is learning how to get a job I really want. It turns out there's no substitute for being good at something that makes other people money. If you don't focus on making yourself marketable, your going to have a hard time finding not-crappy development work at age 22 or 82.

From late 2013 to late 2016, I burned through several dev jobs that drove me bonkers, or I drove them bonkers. Then I got better at figuring out what kind of job I want, what work I'd have to do to get that job, and which jobs to avoid.

In February I found a job opportunity I actually like, actually got the job, and now I'm super happy. My teammates are in their 20s, 30s, and 50s. Age differences are never an issue. If anything, they are an asset.

I found my dream job again, after getting stuck somewhere after the former company I worked for was acquired by big NY finance.

I was fairly lucky, because I was still pretty relevant, on my game, studied all that college alg stuff again, and I even was flown out to FAANG companies for interviews, etc.,

But I still interviewed at 40 places to get a single offer.

Tech also changes so much, that someone with 10 years of the wrong experience (legacy tech), is less important than 2 years of the vNext tech-stack.

You need to really a) lock in what people are doing for technical coding tests these days, sure it's gate-keeping, but it is what it is b) make sure you've gotten some coaching on how to answer a lot of the soft-skill questions (you know, the fluffy stuff that devs typically think don't matter, but that are used to build an impression of you speaking....lots of websites out there.). And you'll need to change your mindset a bit, likely, into thinking like your younger-self, and not like hey, I'm 20+ years experience, etc. Pretend like you have 5 years experience, and go for it.

People over age 40 have a secret superpower. It's called "attention span"

Find out what industries and dev stacks are prevalent in your area. Work the meet-ups: show up, knock back a few beers, ask questions, find out who's doing what. Consider getting up to speed on an alternate dev stack, if need be.

Another secret: 80% of hires are done end-run around HR. If they want you, they'll pull you through whatever process HR throws at them.

Do you mean if I tried to enter the industry in my 40's it would have been much harder? Or now that I'm in the industry, the smooth sailing will eventually get rougher as I approach my 40s? If the latter, I don't really believe it...

I am 39yo, but I do not relate with these stories from people with 20+ years of experience in tech. I am a frontend developer for two years only, moving to Los Angeles just now and looking for a job.

Anyone would like to comment if my age and my lack of experience programming will compound and make extra hard for me to get a job?

1) Don’t include irrelevant experience on your resume. Nobody cares that you were writing php websites in 1997. Try not to put anything on linked in or you’re resume that would indicate your age unless you’re one of the top people in your field and your experience makes you stand out.

2) Keep up with new languages. Don’t be the guy that only knows perl when everyone else is using python. If you aren’t learning rust and go today, you’re going to be left behind five years from now. And once everyone is on go and rust, you should be learning the next thing.

3) Stay curious. I know you have a family and kids and other commitments, but you have to stay interested in the world. Keep up with business news, and science news and stay connected with pop culture as much as possible. If you’re applying for a startup with a bunch of 20 or 30 something’s you, you need to be able to meet them where they are.

4) Don’t get complacent. You’re always a bad quarter away from getting laid off, and that becomes more true the older and more higher paid you are. Keep your resume updated. If recruiters aren’t beating down your door, you need to ask yourself why. Because if people aren’t trying to hire you, your employer probably isn’t excited to keep paying you either. I was a junior guy on a team with all sysadmins 5 years ago. They were all the same age as me, but with many more years experience all at the same company, doing the same thing and really resistant to changing. I came in and really dove into the deep end with devops, despite having little programming or sysadmin experience (I had a networking background). Within 5 years I was a senior developer, making more money than any of the rest of the people on the team, and eventually got poached by a recruiter offering 40% more money. They’re all still there barely holding on to their jobs.

Don't try to compete with younger people based on number of hours or cost; that is a game you are guaranteed to lose.

[0] Conversely, if you don't have those things, now is the time to start stepping up to the plate and acquiring them. The best of the younger people you are competing with are already working hard at doing so.

I've more than accepted that kids half my age are very talented and I need to prove my worth. Boy there are 26 year olds that I work with that are so mature and intelligent that it makes me worry. But my experience does buy some benefits, namely in how careful I code and being able to spot architectural and code issues well before most of my coworkers.

Meanwhile I'm spending 1-2 hrs every night reading and programming and learning new tech so that I don't fall behind. And it's not easy to do this, believe me but if it keeps me employed then I have to do it.

Like you, I obsess over the things I've been learning and finding that this is bigger passion than many things I've done in the past.

Just keep learning and keep working on things. It will happen eventually. I have much more to learn but I am just learning now that I need to stop worrying about an age and just go fort he job that I want because it will happen.

Older developers come in two forms. Those who aggressive learn, have matured beyond “just developers” and those who are set in their ways. I’m 45.

Working with younger developers and engineers, seeing how they do things made me sure we will always find a job. And younger people should be worried indeed about their careers.

I think the only dirty secret when it comes to passing 40 as a software developer is that you become more and more in the minority and notice that there is a greater percentage of older people looking for work. So- it's a little scary.