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Aged Out

I still recall quite clearly how it was to be in my 20s and brand new to the workforce. At first, it was overwhelming and then in a bit I found my groove. Around me were peers who came out of college all guns blazing confident that they were the smartest people in the room. There were plenty of those. Some of those folks did deliver outstanding work - maybe their life's best work. Back in the day, I did not notice how those several decades older than us felt about about our demeanor. Youth can be myopic that way. Reading about what it means to be older in the tech business resonates deeply with me, specially the woman's point of view

"She's been fighting, and winning, this kind of thing her whole career, she says. As a young woman it was almost worse, she says. She was constantly being told she was too young (or too young looking) to get choice assignments or promotions. That didn't stop her either."

A young woman pays a penalty for her perceived naivete and gets stuck on assignments that are of career limiting nature. If she is lucky enough to break free from that cycle before she is too old, she can make some decent strides in her career until she hits the speed bump for being too old or god forbid too old looking. So the window of opportunity is really small if you are a woman and it would be wise to keep that free and clear of personal commitments that take away from being able to dive into work. For many women that career window opens just when her biological clock is starting to slow down. There is a great unfairness to it all. 

The upshot is, tech workers need to understand that they'll be fighting the perception of being "outdated" as their careers mature. As long as they can show that they are masters of the new stuff as well as the old, ageism will be more like an annoying fly, something to swat away, than a deadly virus.

If you have been around long enough, you realize that most current fads are old ideas rehashed and sold as new. The fad of the day will become outdated in a year if not a few months. Those of us who have chased after many shiny objects back in the day, might feel jaded about keeping up with the latest. We might prefer to see the dust settle and spend our time more wisely. Yet, we make such choices at our own peril.


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