This blog is dedicated to the Aging Software Developer out there. And this topic was inspired by an older gentleman who reached out to me through the mail. His concern was based on the restructuring that took place at his company where the executives were planning to replace their workforce. And this aging developer was afraid that he might lose his job.

So, in this chapter, we will go over important advice on making yourself better, in these types of situations. Now, if you are just starting in your career, you might ask, “How is this relevant for me? I’m young” but stick till the end because you will learn some valuable lessons that will be useful for you in your career.

Now, we all are getting older. We all go through the process of aging. But every software engineer will come across this one point in their career where they have to choose “What they are going to do for the next 10 years?” and this could be at the age of 30s, 40s, or even 60s. So, if you want to keep your job at this point in your career, there are a few key decisions you need to take.

Pros & Cons of an Aging Software Developer

Before we get into these lessons, there are certain pros and cons concerned with the aging software developer. So, let me go over them first. The pros or the benefits of an aging developer are your age and experience.

Let’s say you are worried about getting replaced by a new kid on the block, who just graduated college or maybe holds two or three years of experience. The new kid is worried about improving themselves in programming, software development, and the fundamentals. They are worried about the design of the application, how to make the software more modular, and extensible, and how to scale them.

Your background in design principles and knowledge of the fundamentals of software development comes from more than 10 years of experience building several applications. As you can see, compared to the new kid on the block, you are far ahead with industrial experience. Since you have developed a lot of applications, learned from mistakes, and are familiar with the concepts, you can work on a problem statement pretty quickly.

The age thing is not important. If you are in your 40s or 60s, your career is not over, don't think that way.  I have huge respect for software developers who have been developing software for 10-plus years. Trust me, I've observed some serious engineers in the industry, I have a great appreciation for them and I think you are one of them. I have had the opportunity to manage people who are in their 60s and love software development. They are tremendous at their job.

Now, I have also observed the opposite perspective as well. I've encountered software engineers who have worked for over 30-plus years but got stuck in one domain. These aging developers are easily replaceable. This is a dangerous position to be present in. An example would be a software developer who has programmed only in Perl for their whole life and has never taken a step to learn the trending and new technologies. Again, these developers are easily replaceable. So, make sure you don't fall into this category of aging software developers.

Now, let’s go back to the lessons for you to overcome difficulties in your career as an aging software developer.

Keep up with the trend

Number one is keeping up with the trends. “Now, what do I mean by that?” You need to learn the up-and-coming domain that has a high demand in the industry. You need to learn new technologies. Because guess what, you are in a perfect position to do so. You will have enough experience in the industry, so you can go ahead and learn the trending new technology and get a high-paying job in this new domain.

Logical transition based on domain

Coming to the next key decision. Number two, pick a domain where you can transition that is logical and related to your previous work experience. So, for example, let’s say you are a C++ developer with over 20 years of experience or a Java developer who has worked in the fintech industry. You can pick cryptocurrency as your new domain and start learning the Solidity programing language. Or, if you have been working in the game development industry, you can start learning more about the next trending domain called virtual reality and augmented reality, popularly known as VR/AR. Or, if you are an experienced full-stack web developer, you can learn about Vue JS, which is a new front-end framework.

Keeping yourself updated is the key to gaining high-paying jobs. Pick a new area of expertise that matches your passion, learn the technology, and start your career.

Technical versus Business-oriented careers

Now coming up to numbers three and four, which are to choose your career path concerning the corporate ladder. You can either choose a technical-minded career or a business-oriented career. So, let me give you an idea for both of these career paths so that you can choose based on your interests.

In the case of a technically minded person, promotion to an engineering lead position would give them the responsibility of managing a team of developers or engineers responsible for developing software, architecting, and designing it.

A business-oriented person is someone who might choose to level up on the corporate ladder by switching from a manager position to an executive and CTO role. These people will deal with managing projects, budgeting, hiring and firing, team building, and so on.

From my experience, I've observed engineers who transition into a manager role and lead very successful careers. I have also seen managers who have switched back into technical space and do an awesome job. It’s possible to choose either way.

But my point is that if you're the technically minded type of person, just like I am, who loves to code and develop applications, you just have to keep learning, updating yourself, and advancing in the technical skillset. Don't get too comfortable regardless of age, we all have to continue programming, develop code, and keep practicing if we want to remain technical.

If you are an aging developer who wants to switch to the management side and is interested in dealing with budgeting projects, and dealing with hiring, firing, and managing the overall company’s workforce, climbing up the corporate ladder, and making executive-level decisions. Now, that's a different career for which you'll have to start studying early in your career. Let's say you're 30 and you'd like to be a CTO one day. If that's your goal, you should pick up some management books, or enroll yourself in an educational institution and start learning that alongside your technical learning.

So, these are the key things to keep in mind. So, make sure you understand the pros and cons of an aging software developer. Start applying the four key decisions to overcome the roadblocks in your career and land the next high-paying job role.

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About the Author

Imtiaz Ahmad is an award-winning Udemy Instructor who is highly experienced in big data technologies and enterprise software architectures. Imtiaz has spent a considerable amount of time building financial software on Wall St. and worked with companies like S&P, Goldman Sachs, AOL and JP Morgan along with helping various startups solve mission-critical software problems. In his 13+ years of experience, Imtiaz has also taught software development in programming languages like Java, C++, Python, PL/SQL, Ruby and JavaScript. He’s the founder of Job Ready Programmer — an online programming school that prepares students of all backgrounds to become professional job-ready software developers through real-world programming courses.