There are a lot of skills churn in this industry, and even as someone still on the young side, I'm rather leery of this trend. I imagine much of this trend has to do with the fact that the population of programmers is still increasing at a significant rate. I heard somewhere that the population of programmers has doubled roughly every 5 years for many decades. Add to that the fact that (as pointed out in this article) more and more programmers move into non-dev roles as they get older. It's not too surprising that employers are going to tailor their hiring process to younger engineers if that's what the hiring pool looks like.
My focus has tended to be on developing proficiency with older technologies that have stood the test of time (Unix, RDBMs, Erlang, etc.). The fact is that when it comes to technology, the longer it has been used, the longer it will likely continue to be used - this applies as much to COBOL as it does to LISP. It's not that I don't get excited about new technology, but when I do I tend to be more excited about tech that builds on the great ideas of the past rather than tech that purports to be radically new.
I don't know how this strategy is going to play out. I certainly do enjoy learning new things (that part of why I got into this business in the first place) but I also want to know that I am increasing my value in the market place by developing mastery in skills that are going to have lasting value.
2. On the weaknesses of promotional tracks for ICs
When I was working at HP, I was told explicitly: "We promote people in the management track to see if they can do the job, we promote people in the technical track if they're already doing the job". I'm not sure if this is the right approach, but it definitely does make it more difficult to stay technical.
There are many valuable qualities that generally only come from seasoned engineers: qualities like leadership, expertise, communication skills, project management skills, and strong professional networks. The problem is that while time is a necessary ingredient to cultivating those qualities, it is not sufficient. We have to be intentional about shoring up our weaknesses in these areas. This is something I've heard from some of the most respected scientists and technologists - people who are arguably at the pinnacle of success and reputation - say that they wished they had done better in.
There are a lot of skills churn in this industry, and even as someone still on the young side, I'm rather leery of this trend. I imagine much of this trend has to do with the fact that the population of programmers is still increasing at a significant rate. I heard somewhere that the population of programmers has doubled roughly every 5 years for many decades. Add to that the fact that (as pointed out in this article) more and more programmers move into non-dev roles as they get older. It's not too surprising that employers are going to tailor their hiring process to younger engineers if that's what the hiring pool looks like.
My focus has tended to be on developing proficiency with older technologies that have stood the test of time (Unix, RDBMs, Erlang, etc.). The fact is that when it comes to technology, the longer it has been used, the longer it will likely continue to be used - this applies as much to COBOL as it does to LISP. It's not that I don't get excited about new technology, but when I do I tend to be more excited about tech that builds on the great ideas of the past rather than tech that purports to be radically new.
I don't know how this strategy is going to play out. I certainly do enjoy learning new things (that part of why I got into this business in the first place) but I also want to know that I am increasing my value in the market place by developing mastery in skills that are going to have lasting value.
2. On the weaknesses of promotional tracks for ICs
When I was working at HP, I was told explicitly: "We promote people in the management track to see if they can do the job, we promote people in the technical track if they're already doing the job". I'm not sure if this is the right approach, but it definitely does make it more difficult to stay technical.
There are many valuable qualities that generally only come from seasoned engineers: qualities like leadership, expertise, communication skills, project management skills, and strong professional networks. The problem is that while time is a necessary ingredient to cultivating those qualities, it is not sufficient. We have to be intentional about shoring up our weaknesses in these areas. This is something I've heard from some of the most respected scientists and technologists - people who are arguably at the pinnacle of success and reputation - say that they wished they had done better in.