JackSimmons wrote:

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.

1. I have always maintained the highest standards of professionalism and quality in my work. I have the recommendations of former managers and supervisors to support this. 2. I have constantly been keeping up with the latest technology, and continuously been involved with some form of training. As I mentioned in another reply, I kept up with the latest software technology until I switched to software quality assurance, then my training focused on quality management, and that's why my software skills are a little rusty. 3. If the kid is competent in his role, I can't imagine there being a problem. A supervisor is, typically, an organizer -- one who orchestrates the activities of others. I've always found that if you treat others with respect, no matter what their age, you usually get respect in return. 4. Training and mentoring younger, less experienced workers has always been one of the most rewarding and gratifying experiences of my life. I'm told that I'm a very good instructor and mentor. I'm currently enrolled at a local community college in a class where most of the students are less than half my age. I enjoy my interactions with these young folks. Ok, sometimes they do or say something really dumb, but before I get too critical of them for this I stop and think about all the really dumb things I've done and said when I was younger. I recognize that I've "been there, done that" and I get over it. 5. I expect respect and acknowledgement for my accomplishments, not my age. My age is merely the result of continuing to breathe. I have a long history of accomplishments and performance in my roles and responsibilities. 6. As I've stated above, I've never stopped learning and producing. Here's what troubles me about your post: who are these older folks you're talking about? I've been in classes with men and women my age and older who are keeping their knowledge and skill up to date. I've worked with people my age and older who ar

That's the way I feel. But I'm finding that isn't always the case. I may not have a degree, but I've got record of life-long learning. I've constantly kept my skills current. Since shifting to SQA, the training I've taken has been more along the lines of quality management instead of software development.

Software QA is exactly what I've been doing since 2002. The jobs have been scarce. That's why I'm looking at widening my search to include software development.

I am a naturally anal-retentive, nit-picky kind of guy. So, after twenty-some years as a software developer, it just seemed a natural fit to leverage my software experience in an oversight role like QA. :-D Thanks for your input.

I have volunteered with the American Legion, but that work is more in line with my QA work. Thanks.

Thanks.

Roger, Thanks a lot for your encouragement and advice. I really appreciate that you took so much time and effort in your reply. ~Patrick

Well, I'm in classes right now. I'm attending part-time at a local community college to update my skills and to demonstrate that I'm not just sitting around playing computer games; I'm busy improving myself and pursuing employment. I'm VERY motivated to do whatever is necessary. I obtained MS Visual Studio 2010 to familiarize myself with what's changed since Visual C++ ver. 6. I've also made it a habit to download and install each new release of the NetBeans IDE. I've recently resurrected an old web applet I created to revise and update as an exercise to refresh my Java skills. I also have a very extensive history as a software contractor. I've told the head hunters and job shops that I'll take either contract or direct positions in either QA or software development. The reason I started this thread was to get a sense of whether or not it was a complete waste of effort to include software development in my job search given how rusty my developer skills are.

Small job? Could you give me an idea of what you mean by small job? And, why would the small job any easier to obtain than a less small job? I'd still have to sell them on my being able to do the job with a 10-year gap in my record as a developer, and I'd have to perform at an acceptable level to keep the job. Let's face it, this abysmal recession and my extended unemployment have really crippled my self-confidence.

Well, it's not so much a question of which direction to go in software development, but whether I should even consider returning to development in view of my extended divergence from that career path.

What can I say. I like object-oriented languages. C++ would be a moderately close 2nd place choice. Well, I also really enjoyed APL when in college. That is a seriously fascinating language. So, Lloyd, any thoughts about my question? ~Patrick

Ah. I get it. I think that of the various languages and platforms I've used over the decades, I liked Java best. ~Patrick

I rattled off a litany jobs. Which one were you talking about?

I was an Electronics Technician in the Navy after a couple years studying the same in college. When I got out of the Navy in 1979 I started coding assembler drivers for micro-controller systems that predated PCs, and for bit-slice architecture systems. Then along came the original 4.77 MHz, 8088-based IBM PC (with dual floppy drives). I used MASM (Microsoft's Macro Assembler) and C (also by Microsoft), then Borland came out with Turbo Pascal. Eventually, there came Windows 3.1 and Windows application development in C then in C++. When the Internet burst onto the technological scene I migrated over to developing Java applets, then I did server side applications development (still in Java) at a dot-com start-up until the dot-com bubble burst back in 2001. Software contracts (and jobs) dried up then, so I shifted over into Software Quality Assurance (in aerospace: AS9100, DO-178B, etc.) in 2002. So, why the history lesson? At the end of 2009 I got downsized out of my SQA job and haven't been able to find similar work since. Thinking that I might improve my chances of finding work by broadening the range of jobs I pursue, I started looking at software jobs once again. The thing is, I've barely touched coding since 2001. I've fiddled around with the Netbeans IDE from time to time, and I recently got my hands on MS Visual Studio 2010, but it's amazing to me how much I've forgotten. The more I muck around with it the more I begin to remember stuff. What's more, it occurs to me that since I learned all that stuff once before I'm sure I can relearn it. But, can I relearn it fast enough. So, the question I wanted to ask the group is, is it really worth trying to sell myself as a developer after having been out of it for almost a decade? I've even given thought to applying for entry level development positions. All opinions and advice are appreciated. ~Patrick http://www.linkedin.com/in/phagerty