Pah!
I'm with Jake on this one.
I have been in IT since 1980 and most of the skills I learned back then are still relevant today. The hardware and software may have changed but the principles remain.
Frankly any manager who is prepared to make sweeping statements like "we don't hire anyone over the age of 40 in a technical role", is an idiot who is not up to the job and should be sacked.
This is clearly a manager who believes that management is a "profession" that everybody should aspire to.
When you have managers who believe everything that happened before they were appointed is irrelevant, then you do not have a culture which values experience.
I'm basically an engineer and pretty good at what I do, I also enjoy my work. Why should I have to take a job that I'm no good at and would hate doing, just to "get on"?
I was once interviewed for a contract updating the embedded software for a ten-year-old piece of control equipment.
At one point I was reprimanded by one member of the panel:
"You seem very sure of what can and cannot be done with this system."
"Yes", I replied, "I should be, I programmed it. I also designed the hardware."
I didn't get the contract as, according to the agency, I didn't have the relevant skills.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
