Ask HN: Where to Work After 40?

Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall job market after 40

  • Experiences diverge sharply: some report offers and recruiter pings drying up around 2022; others in their 40s–60s say they’re still getting hired quickly into good roles.
  • Several note that 2022 was broadly bad for hiring, not just for older workers.
  • Some strongly pessimistic voices claim tech careers are effectively over after mid‑30s; many others call this exaggerated, citing their own late‑career moves.

Types of employers that work well

  • Mid‑stage B2B software companies (100–500 people, C/D+ funded) are repeatedly praised: decent pay, real problems, less prestige pressure, good work–life balance, easier hiring bar.
  • “Boring” enterprise consulting and professional services (including government contracting) are common landing spots, especially where seniority and communication matter.
  • Non‑tech industries with large IT orgs (healthcare, finance, pharma, manufacturing, government) often expect and value middle‑aged staff.
  • Nonprofits and local government are mentioned as lower‑pay but higher‑meaning, lower‑pressure options, sometimes with pensions.

Big tech / FAANG

  • Mixed: some describe FAANG as a high‑pressure performance grinder with great pay; others say it’s relatively cozy and a good “retirement” gig after 40 with strong WLB.
  • Getting in is seen as hard but not impossible; referrals and past tenure at big names help.
  • Automated CV filters are debated: some think they’re overstated; others say mass applications feel like a lottery.

Consulting, contracting, and startups

  • Consulting can work well for experienced people but brings stress around “billable hours” and bench time.
  • Boutique consultancies and smaller firms are described as more humane than Big 4–style shops.
  • Several over‑40s choose to start or join small startups, leveraging deep domain expertise, but worry about pigeonholing themselves as “startup people.”

Networking and community

  • Strong emphasis on having an “F‑you network”: decades of colleagues, open‑source communities, mentoring relationships, and VC‑backed company networks that surface roles via referrals.
  • Advice: even if you lack a big network, reach out to the contacts you do have.

Skills, specialization, and staying current

  • Hiring managers note many older resumes show 20+ years on an unchanged legacy stack; this reads as stagnation and hurts employability.
  • Others highlight older ICs who maintained modern skills (cloud, Rust, Typescript, AI, etc.) and are in demand.
  • Deep specialization (“the X person”) can be powerful for small startups and niche industries.

Ageism, bias, and self‑presentation

  • Some report direct age‑linked difficulties; others say age hasn’t mattered as long as they show current skills and reasonable salary expectations.
  • Tactics: trim resumes to ~10–15 years, don’t foreground age, focus on impact and modern tools.
  • Several warn that being a “career senior engineer” without progression in scope or role can become risky in later career.

Alternative paths and pivots

  • Common pivots after 40–50: management, SRE/operations, QA/testing, technical writing, sales engineering, cybersecurity, academia/PhD, trades (e.g., electrician, handyman), indie game dev, small business.
  • Government roles and some European contexts are highlighted as particularly age‑tolerant.

AI and automation

  • Some fear AI will hit juniors harder; others worry about being made irrelevant or seeing demand shrink (e.g., technical writing with LLMs).
  • A few treat AI as a tool to boost productivity while building “lifeboat” skills (e.g., learning a new language or domain).