is there ageism in tech i think we all know the answer to that which is yeah there is although
it's something that a lot of people are really trying to focus on correcting and ensuring that
this isn't the case there still is a lot of ageism in tech recently a tech job posting
actually went viral for including in the title we hire old people to really bring attention to the
ageism that is faced in tech before we get into this topic though make sure to hit that subscribe
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of these wonderful subscribers here thank you for your comments questions and video topic ideas i'm
really curious to hear your thoughts on this topic about ageism and tech leave in the comments your
thoughts as we continue on in the video before we get started though i want to say a big shout out
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user friendly easy to get set up on so make sure to go check it out not too long ago a job posting
went viral for including in their title we hire old people and this job posting was a legit job
posting but more the purpose of it really was to highlight the ageism that is faced in tech
it's kind of ironic and i really struggled with making this video for a while as as a young person
i don't i haven't had the experience of ageism in tech to the degree that people who are older than
me have faced or has faced and i'm not trying to say i'm an expert on this topic i really wanted to
make this video and talk about the experiences i have heard from others in the industry from
articles i have read and friends who are older than me i also wanted to make this video because
i get asked this question all the time from people who are even in their 30s or 40s which
honestly is still so young to break into the tech industry am i too old to break into tech and the
easy answer for me as someone young is to be like no you're never too old which is totally true but
does it get harder as you get older right now the answer is yeah it kind of does and that's a
very unfortunate thing that needs to be changed i want to bring some stats into this conversation a
recent study by the university of gothenburg found that people consider anyone who is over the age of
35 old in this industry anyone who is under the age of 30 is considered relatively young
this is kind of mind-blowing when you really think about it as someone who personally i'm
29 that in a year from now i'll be considered medium to mid-tier old in this industry is kind
of mind-blowing i think we got this perception of youth and this glamorizing of tech and youth from
a few really popular tech founders you know of course mark zuckerberg we have founders of
snapchat founders of even google we really all these main faces of tech are all these
young people or started out so young became so successful so rich so quickly and we almost
glamorized that as that is what tech is all about i think another area that is a little problematic
and we either consciously or subconsciously really focus on is that older you get the more likely you
are to have a family other responsibilities and one thing that hopefully is shifting in the tech
industry but it's still very relevant and real is this idea that you need to work 24 7 you need
to always be available or if you're a developer you need to you know constantly be learning and
growing your skills and have no personal time and as we get older our personal time becomes
more and more important typically especially if we have families and other priorities to take care of
this entire ageism that we face or that is faced in tech is so unfortunate for many reasons that
this video would be hours long if i went into it but one thing for me it really really strikes a
chord with is tech is one of those industries the reason i fell in love with tech is because that
you don't have to come from a specific background to break into it you know a lot of my colleagues
are computer science graduates i work with many brilliant people who went more of the traditional
route with computer science and i work with some equally amazing and talented individuals who maybe
didn't have the opportunity or a chance to go to school for computer science when they were younger
or for whatever reason they chose a different path and just discovered it at a later stage in life
and equally they are as brilliant if they put the energy and time into it
and it's just so disappointing to see um that there is so much ageism in textile and that
that's why i wanted to share with you that article that went viral about we hire old people maybe it
wasn't the best wording but they really did something to get people's attention and bring
really to the forefront and highlight that hey we recognize ageism as a huge thing in tech and we
really want to start a conversation around it in order to hopefully move forward in the right way
by minimizing it i think too it's one of those things that i get asked all the time by people
whether they are even younger than me or in some older than me about can i break into
the tech industry am i too old and my natural instinct as someone who is relatively young is
to be like of course you can and i truly believe that i just think along the way there are going
to be different challenges you are going to face another thing i really want to highlight is if you
are someone who thinks anyways i'm not going to put a number or an age on it but things they are
getting a little bit of age ageism or bias when you're applying for interviews or things like that
start looking start flipping the card around you know as much as you maybe want to work at the
company you are applying for do you really want to work for a company that's biased and only wants to
hire really young people probably not you want to come hire work at a company who is supportive of
your growth and wants you to be there and wants to see you succeed and at the end of the day if
these companies are turning you down for really an ageism reason obviously they're not going to come
out and say that because of legalities but you will get the sense if that is the case or not then
they're not even worth your time you don't want to work there at the end of the day anyways and
there are some amazing companies out there that really will take the time to interview everyone
and look at everyone and not base their opinions or thoughts around age one thing i've seen happen
on linkedin recently and also too as i have been going through different resumes is people
are stopping to they don't they no longer are putting the year they graduated on their resumes
i think this is a great thing to do and a great shift because then even if you're subconsciously
doing it a lot of times we are calculating how old a person is based on when they graduated school
is a great way to really help reduce ageism in the sense that no one knows when you graduated
and they shouldn't they don't need to know they need to know where you graduated from
but who cares about the date so i love that that is becoming more of a thing and i think
it's stepping in the right direction we do have a long ways to go and we're definitely not there
i'm really curious to hear your thoughts on ageism and how it is in the tech industry i think i don't
know i'm trying to think of other ways that we can get around it or move forward past it but
i think too because really tech boomed only a few years ago not that long ago maybe 10 15 years ago
20 years ago i mean obviously it was a huge part of our lives before that but i'm saying where it's
now becoming this really sexy popular industry to be in has only been for past few years and
i think our generation or my generation or generations above me are below me as they continue
we and they continue to age i'm hoping there'll be less ageism as the industry continues to grow
up as well but for the time being that doesn't mean it's okay or we just have to wait or sit by
so to answer the question that i kind of brought up at the beginning are you too old to get into
tech i still stand by that you were never too old too young too old to break into the tech industry
different challenges will come your way maybe as you get older those challenges
will be more intense but at the end of the day there are some amazing companies out there
that will hire you just be persistent another thing i think that is so key
is networking make sure you have that support system around you no matter how big or small it is
having people who support you lift you up and want to see you succeed is huge and
those days that you are feeling down or feeling low if you have support from others will really
help carry you through thank you all for watching this video i'm so curious to hear
your thoughts on ageism in tech leave them down below in the comments i do my best to
read every single comment and respond back to them i hope you found this video helpful and valuable
make sure to give this a thumbs up subscribe and i will see you all soon thanks everyone