I went earlier today near the Luxemburg for a Computer Job Dating (25 companies that meet job seekers).
All present companies asked me the name of the developent environment I use and Xojo ? (with an undeterminate accent of I do not know it)
So I tell theù about a Visual Basic competitor that have the advantage to be able to generate Linux, Mac OS and WIndows applications from the (more or less) same code source (they are amazed, near stoned ! *) earing that).
All they wanted to meet is Java developers ! Beside that
You can remove your experience with a mini-computer in 1984 from your résume said one of the persons I meet. 1984 is far ago. Another was amazed to meet someone who programmed using an assembler software, then C (not C++ not c#)
My last extract from my different discussions there is: you may computer development course for todays development techniques (I do not tell her about assembler not C)
11Hours from (home) door (by tram, train) to the near Luxemburg Job Dating room back (home). I am zxhausted and certainly will sleep like a baby tonight (in a couple of hours or three )
Special Note: I saw advertisings about the brand new Stones (Rolling Stones) albun that will be released on December 2, 2016. First time in my life.
[They released an EP in the 60s with a song called Soned in the B-Side: that is the link].
Oh dear, my current gig will finish at the end of February and I’m going to have to start looking around…
Last time out I was asked by a kid: where do you expect to be in 10 years time? Retired. He was looking at me for a few minutes before the penny dropped!
When I was 35, I already get some remarks about my age !
D not take things like that. If you have to do things for a T-bone steak, you will.
Of course if I get remarks many times a day, I will start to be angry. Remember, with luck all of us will be aged (oldster) one day
About Java: this is just fashion (as it was with gif, jpg, etc.). Now when we need a job, we do not care about fashion.
(I will keep any acerbic ideas to me and continue to meet people).
Comment for Xojo young users (if some read this):
Take courses for the current in the mood technologies and continue to use Xojo if you want. You will be better able to get job with the former and enjoy programming with Xojo with the later. The important part is to have a job.
And do not wait to be jobless to start searching for a job. You will have more chances to get one when you still have one.
It seems discrimination is alive and well on all continents.
As a 60 something developer that has lived outside of mainstream tools most of my career I feel your pain. In the “old days” it was easier to use different tools but today, regardless of your age, it is harder.
I even did a presentation at this years XDC in Houston about how to approach objections when you propose Xojo as a solution. I have actually had somebody say “Joe Who” when I said Xojo. (Sorry if the rhyme is lost in translation.) The presentation was more about being a consultant than an on staff programmer.
Job interviews should be prohibited, in the USA anyway, by our constitution under “Cruel and unusual punishment”.
Sadly when interviewing for a job your resume gets “interviewed” first and if you don’t have the correct buzz words you get dismissed before you even talk to anybody. I cannot argue with the idea of learning some of the “in the mood” technologies. That is probably required to get you a face to face interview by simply being listed on your resume. From there you need to talk about the “in the mood” stuff but also have your “sales pitch” ready of why Xojo is better. For me one of the HUGE differences is how you develop Web Apps with Xojo. You can write it like a desktop app and it comes pretty close to that type of behavior in a browser. Instant XJAX.
If you are positioning yourself as a “coder” then you MUST do the mainstream stuff. The “kids” are lined up to fill those jobs. There are online schools to teach EVERYBODY how to “code”. But coding is the lowest level. If you work to position yourself as a “solution provider” then you have a shot at talking about solving a problem and then after getting some interest you can say why Xojo is the best way to provide an efficient solution to the problem.
When I woke up three hours ago, I was asking myself why all interviews were conducted in the same way.
The answer is simple: I go to see/talk with companies whose job descriptions asked for Java Developers (the nearest to what I can do). After the traditional hello, I gave them a rsum / they do not found Java and so talked about the rsum, ask about my geographical mobility, time (date) avaibility and so on. [“Emile: that is what Mark wrote above !”]
We always learn from other people experiences, and so I am happy to share it, even if this one is not so good.
Many thanks for all responders: these made me warm to the heart.