Ask HN: How to get around ageism and perceived incompetence?
I'm about 35 years old working in software.
As you age, people expect you to be able to handle increasing levels of responsibility. 9/10 of my years working professionally have been as a contractor to small 10-20 people companies. Despite their small size I never felt like I was a major contributor or had a major say in something, aside from one project. I have been the architect for one reasonably complex project, but I never lead, interviewed, or managed people.
General consensus I get is that I'm too overqualified for junior roles, but for senior roles, they didn't find any exceptional strong points with me. My network is weak and I have almost no friends in the tech field. So, how does one work their way out of this problem?
Don't know if it's impostor syndrome but it feels like I require a "remedial" software job (which doesn't really exist).
As you age, people expect you to be able to handle increasing levels of responsibility. 9/10 of my years working professionally have been as a contractor to small 10-20 people companies. Despite their small size I never felt like I was a major contributor or had a major say in something, aside from one project. I have been the architect for one reasonably complex project, but I never lead, interviewed, or managed people.
General consensus I get is that I'm too overqualified for junior roles, but for senior roles, they didn't find any exceptional strong points with me. My network is weak and I have almost no friends in the tech field. So, how does one work their way out of this problem?
Don't know if it's impostor syndrome but it feels like I require a "remedial" software job (which doesn't really exist).