Like gggustafson, I have worked in the computer arena for a LONG time, 35 years. From my perspective, one starts with a calling, the purpose God created you for and empowers you to accomplish. To accomplish your calling, there are major track(s), your career(s), to be followed. These are your short- and long-range plans, to include milestones of accomplishment. A job is the immediate activity your are carrying out as you move toward your next milestone. From this perspective, one does not see any job, nor even career, as the only thing one will engage in during one's life. Rather, they are means to an end. So, yes, programming is not something one should plan on doing for the rest of one's life. Still, one does not have to depart the computer arena. After all these years, I am still working as an in-demand technical professional. Here is the general track my career has taken: - told what to do and how to do it - given problems to solve - expected to figure out what problems to solve - form and lead teams in discovering and resolving difficult problems Two other tracks are mentioned in a slide from a talk of mine: http://informationanthology.net/CareerMentor/ConcerningSuccessfulCareers_Thursday/Slide7.JPG[^] Growth entails risk. All moves in life must consider that risk and account for it.

rnbergren has the right idea: If you don't know how to identify and present your accomplishments, get a specialist to help you. It will be well worth the money. You will also learn something. Generally, after 35 years as a technical specialist, I have found that having skills beyond your technical area is essential to success. Having something worthwhile and traceable to put into your resume and coverletter is essential. Becoming a highly-skilled professional goes beyond resumes, cover letters, and job hunting. I and others have written a great deal on this subject. You can read more at http://informationanthology.net/CareerMentor/[^].

No matter how good you are, a little advertising goes a long way. The coverletter is the attention-getter. The resume contains the details. Both have to focus on what the potential employer is trying to accomplish. Any fakery or embellishment of those two documents can destroy your credibility and employability.

What you say is true. Whenever I form a technical team I gather around me people who fill in the gaps in my own knowledge and experience. But, it is true that one has to have a certain level of knowledge and experience to know where the gaps are. In the case of a manager, they have to have enough experience to know that they need more experience and to thus gather around themselves people with that missing experience. For this to work, it is necessary to put pride aside, for both the manager and those hired.

I too have met many many older people who are what Patrick describes. Yet, there are some who are not that way and they tarnish the reputation of the general group. Here are some reasons that may be affecting the situation for older people: 1. As Patrick and others have said, pure age discrimination. Sad but true. 2. Inexperienced hiring managers who fear experienced people, seeing them as competition. 3. Companies who have no need for highly qualified and experienced staff. 4. The applicant is unwilling to move geographically. 5. Lack of knowledge of their industry so that they do not know where to apply.

It is true that inexperienced hiring managers are sometimes scared off by experienced applicants. Even when hired, experienced staff can have a difficult time coping with inexperienced and insecure "managers" who feel they must compete with those they are supposed to lead. An example I saw was a branch chief who did not want to take on any work he could not do himself. He had a BS degree and a staff with MS and Ph.D. degrees. Eventually, the entire staff left and the branch chief was left with a single non-degreed intern. Yet, he survived as a manager because of his connections with the executive staff. The whole organization suffered. The situation helped feed the rapid departure of customers. Still they persisted until the company shrank to its natural and much lower level of capability and size.

Wanted to offer a slightly different view of older folks finding jobs. I am 60 years old with 35 years of technical experience. I have NEVER had a problem finding a job. Just 1.5 years ago I switched companies in the middle of this job climate. The interview lasted all of 15 minutes and I was hired. My time between jobs was zero. I had my going-away lunch on Friday and reported to the new job on Monday. Here is what I have seen with some older folks: 1. They expect senior level pay for doing junior level work. 2. Their knowledge is ancient and has little to no value. "Experience" does not make up for that. 3. They do not think they should be supervised by someone who could be their grandchild. 4. They do not blend well with the younger set. They also do not try to mentor the younger ones. 5. They expect respect and tenure without accomplishment. 6. They have gotten off the study-learn-work-produce cycle. Additional discussion on deeper issues affecting careers can be found at [^]

Something I do not see in the description you provided is any reference to formal education. In my personal experience, skill and experience has to be backed up by credentials from a respected institution. During my early college days I made a point of taking all the Fortran courses that were offered. (Fortran was the language of the day.) More than once I flunked an exam because the "school answers" were wrong. Luckily, my professors were open to discussion and I ended up with an A+ and tutoring the other students. Just saying I had knowledge and showing proven experience would never have been enough as I proceeded along a professional path. Additional discussion on career topics can be found at http://informationanthology.net/CareerMentor/[^]