hi, got a friend age 40 above (45 currently this year) here
his specialty is in programming (mostly on java but not the latest one like with add on hibernate/spring boot etc)
from jan24 this year and still cant find a job and still searching (though many calls for job interview but still can hit any)

want to move on to Dev Ops but don't have skill
want to go to call center for customer service but they don't call back
java skill ? now not so good anymore , memory a bit loss now
must compete with young lings for a job

now searching for java role only or any role that matters
bank call for loan constantly and need repayment , but how to pay , no work no money
even some bank threaten to blacklist him

still hoping for the best although sometimes feel rotten to the core

you guys got some advised?
this old man almost lost it all
i have no more words to advised to him anymore

why not do some startup on something.
previous coding skill less applicable after mco and alot Tech firm have starterd retrench IT related job due to over hire previously.

what about taking less paying jobs? already have family or single? maybe start doing grab or some part time jobs to get by while looking out?
am almost the same with your friend, but started doing frontend stuffs like 4-5 years ago, not solely on java anymore, also doing mostly platform engineering stuffs nowadays

maybe get some certs will help?

45 and have memory problems liao... should oredi know it's time to take on some less competitive and less brain usage jobs... like grabfood, ehailing or working some simple grocery or shopping mall work...

java as a programming language also is getting obsolete... used to be free but since oracle took over i think if company using it, there is a license agreement attached to it. Even my company asking to remove java from our system.

Still wanna stay in IT, then go up skill and take up a new skill, IT people should know every 5-10 years should keep relevant in the market and upskill based on demand or left becoming obsolete like dinosaur.

Looking at his commitments and loans , doubt he is able to spend any money and further bleed his savings taking up course which might/might not yield good results for job prospects. Best course of action is get a simple job asap and pay down the loans... and clear off.. then on the side lines go find a job in peace or once debt paid off can think about reskilling.

Need upskilling maybe to another programming language or just change over to management. Java is just a programming language.

The ability to plan, solve problems, think out of the box, manage a team or project effectively are the more important traits that should have been acquired from work experience. Need to project these traits in cv resume and interviews rather than how many programming languages or lines of codes written.

it is happening as a norm not just like IT industry, it is just the same even for fresh graduate of any industry, I would suggest brush up interview skills & practice on presenting yourself, I notice most IT background having problem on that.

startup required skill and money, as my friend dont have that anymore


at age 45 , nothing is important anymore, recruiter without a finch toss away his application for a new younger workforce

while learning a new skill is good but what skill should be learn anyways , his still bleeding in commitments and loans


has put a lot , but with his memory problem, cant hit much, as in hit in interviews not on jobs

yeah man , a lesson learn to older programmer

That's why our neighbour down south past the Causeway has been harping on about reskilling and upskilling.... it's really hard for midlife career changes at the moment, with AI and IT taking over many jobs that people used to fill.

Nothing to be afraid because many company still hunting for middle age to be fill in IT role! Especially you are full stack developer, devops, sre, cloud and automation engineer plus etc. Why ? They need this group of people because they are more accountability and won't be leaving for short periods if compare to those youngsters

Just keep trying until you hook it up! Never said die just get up and try!!!!

most java job i see now require spring, try to ask him to do some online course see can pickup the skill or not, next try convince employer that what he lack is exposure to master it.

take up new tech skills. new certifications etc. surely can help.

The way I see it, your friend has 2 choices before him:

1. Change with the times: upskill or reskill or train in a non-related but in-demand role, and apply for new job offers
2. Stay put and hope to fight for scraps that may occasionally fall his way, especially since there are fewer and fewer companies that have use for the (outdated) skillset that he possesses.

yes that is true but what else can i do

thanks man for the word up


yeah, most of the time when mention this , the interviewer didnt call back

strange, a lot of jobs in malaysia we cant fill people sampai hire indian for 12-18k.... in my company, serious

well , as my friend said, wait till your 40s and lose a job, then you know

our company is filled with >40 but very few in dev.

alot analyst , architect , product owner manager like that tho, automation specialist, release manager like that

but different skillset than dev

there is some overlap in skills tho

so maybe time for him to move on from dev...

This post has been edited by Grammar Police: Jul 12 2024, 02:53 PM

Maybe ask your friend try join Developer Kaki group in facebook. See anyone can help in there. Quite active the people in that group.

what company is that? can PM me if you dont mind, time to tell my friend about it

pmed

I beg to differ. I was MSS at the age of 44 (2018 @RM20k/mth) due to UK based MNC closes down its KL software development centre and moves all its 200+ positions to Bangalore.

I managed to find a similar pay job within the 2 months notice period. Practically no unemployment between jobs. If you're skilled with right attitude, you will find a job pretty fast and bounce back.

dont pity
he allowed himself to be outdated.
Programmer (very good 1) still currently the most lucrative/ high demand job

i am dev myself i know.

90% coder are rubbish.
the code they write is work but the logic is stupid and dont scale very well.

Put inside a GPT3.5 Turbo ( the most lousy AI now ), can do better...

But the remaining 10% protege coder totally on another side of story....

If he still want to stay relevant in this field in technical path, learn the new technology, else take the fresh grad offer or switch direction, e.g. to non technical role.
As a developer I will feel insecure if I'm working with the same technical skillset for 2 years continuously, tech stack that I use 3 years ago is irrelevant now, what I mean is every 3 years, your friend are lucky to be able secure a job for decades

This post has been edited by ragk: Jul 15 2024, 01:09 PM

45yo so many years in IT line only know JAVA ?

ur friend playing with faiyah man.

never bothered to retrain?

Your friend is in some deep waters.
Jan till now 6 months already what has he done to help himself?
You dont just sit around and wait.
45 already and not management level.
While waiting to get a a real job, start getting some income by doing grab etc.
His best bet is his experience and current skill set, keep looking and begging for jobs. Use direct reference is more effective.

I'm mid 40 java developer as well.

Working in Europe for last 10 years now. Still quite good demand here, but can't just do POJO, need to know other stuff especially cloud based stuff

Looking for new job at this age is a challenge. I recently started looking for new roles and it took me 6 months to get an offer. I am also in your friend's age range.

Here are some of my thoughts.

1. As he has Java experience, he should look out for roles with this requirement. I am not sure how the market is but you can use indeed.com.my to find the number of vacancies with this requirement
2. Engage Head hunters, I initially was reluctant as I have not gotten good response from them but this time I got an offer because of the head hunter.
3. If you create a job profile in foundit.com.my, you will get a lot of calls from head hunters. I got calls for many roles mostly mid senior roles.
4. Update your resume to ensure they are ATS compliant. You can google some ATS compliant resumes and update yours with the same format.
5. Keep applying every day, lookup the various job portals and apply. Its not easy applying as you should custom you application . Can take up a few hours i.e. create account and fill in the online forms etc !
6. Track the applications you have made. I created a folder for each application /engagement so I know what I sent as a reference.
7. Keep yourself motivated. Rejections or on response can be a pain. It was for me.
8. You may have to adjust your asking. But how much to ask? I started with a number I wanted, for each application when engaged by head hunters I specified my number. i then had to adjust downwards to a mor acceptable. It was a process to identify the correct asking salary.
9. As you are unemployed do not lie and say you are. If offered a job they will ask for your current payslip. It will be bad if you cannot offer. There is a lot of discussions about how you should not do this.
As you are desperate you have no choice.
Find a reason you are not employed , company restructuring , account run off, took a break from work do to burnout ( maybe not a good one) but you have to give valid reasons if questioned.
10. I was going to look at the freelance job sites , if I was not offered a job. This might be something that might help. You will have to learn the whole process on how to bid for jobs.

11. If you have time learn Kubernetes, this is part of the devops responsibilites. Look up CKA training on Udemy by Mumshad Mannambeth he explains well and you can get your CKA certification.

12. Knowing Cloud is a must. Azure , AWS,GCP, Alicloud etc choose one with the most openings you see. The tech will need to be in sync with Kubernetes to have a better exposure.Instead of random cloud tech.

13. Emphasize skills and non technical skills like managing incidents, fixing broken processes mentoring .

I wish you friend luck, having financial constrains and looking for job can take a toll on oneself. Will need to be prepared mentally. To top that off you have to learn new stuff. It's really a lot.

As a general advise , keep improving your self. Don't depend on the company you work for to send you for training. Like some of the other comments every 2-3 years must learn something.


If you have about 6 months I would encourage this program it has a wide scope on the current tech stack and might help. The issue is the time can your friend sustain another 6-8 months without salary?

https://42kl.edu.my/


Best of luck to your friend

thats right, but with the right attitude (that is around 5% ~ 10% only that have it for overall mass)
how to overcome the competition ?

well, you can say now .. what about when you are aging later on? i guess this is the only way forward


in older times , faiyah is the only things that matters when you are working
this should be a lesson learn

this is a safe bet solutions , but time for him is running out


to all , thanks for the advised

thats the things, to learn new is quite tough for him, but lesson need to be learn and fast

thanks for you advised, to say at least you have been none working for 6 months previously, this might be a boost to him

This is the most important. In fact I'd say one should be learning daily. Just like exercise, if you don't keep it constant, then getting back into the groove will be challenging. Not impossible, but certainly challenging.

I'm in my mid 30's and I'm still learning, and our architect and senior here with age 4x 5x are still capable to work with latest tech, that's the only way to stay relevant in this field, keep learning

This post has been edited by ragk: Jul 23 2024, 02:36 PM

I like this one.


how true

So cool to have a friend that cares enough to post on lyn on behalf. Also duno how I ended up on this thread.

Im 47 just completed my 1st year anniversary w a new company. Got laid off during kobid, and had went to help my dad out w/ the small farm we had. but didn't stop searching for work.

last year really put a lot more fuel into searching for work, a lot of interviews online and in person. some straight say to the face, yes your qualifications etc suitable but due to age, we cant accept. at least 3 companies said that to me. disappointed, but didn't give up.

Used a lot of job portals, even friends just asking if they know anyone whos hiring(no shame in asking). randomly a customer whom I sell my farm produce to said his company may be looking for workers, but may not have marketing pos. So I just sent in my CV and, Ive been working there since.

I started at IT line (programming & web design), moved to Sales (printer consumables), regional team leader (mobile phones stuff), then marketing (automotive car dealership) and now procurement (factory).

For me if your willing to step out of comfort zone, willing to learn new things, surely can get work and make a career out of it. Every job move I make, basically resets my experience to zero.... so exciting

Wow what a wide range of work experience! I have somehow boxed myself in the same industry. Mostly because when you apply via job portals etc I loose out on the short listing as my experience doesn't match the role. I think most recruiters or hiring managers are short sited only looking for people with specific experience.

I do understand the age challenge that's why I guess the order you get the more likely you will not change jobs.

I truly admire those can stick to one line of work, I would like to also but fate always have other plans for me, after a few years of work suddenly company situation changed I need to find new work, luckily the experience and skills learn at each stage was adding to my overall skillsets. Basically you learn how to put out all sorts of fires and handle alot of crap. downside is financially no advantage as new job does not take into account previous work experience.

My current company at 1st hired alot of fresh grads, a lot of issues ended up now more and more 40+'s joining the company and seemed more stable. Oldest hire recently was a 54 y/o. Youngest was 24 y/o.

Keep sending out the cv's. eventho you dont have experience just go for it as long as willing to learn and grind.


btw, 42kl looks interesting, might apply

This post has been edited by gerald7: Jul 26 2024, 08:57 PM

Go for it, nothing to loose.

hi there, I just post a similar question and I discovered your post, may I know is your friend manage to find new job?

hi
last time i saw him , he still looking for one ..
you got any jobs to offer him? i gladly send the info to him

Your friend might consider pivoting to something new like offering a course on Google Ads or exploring creative production, it’s a growing field. With his programming background, even if it’s a bit outdated, he can pick up foundational skills for these quickly and start small while building up his portfolio or income.