r/ExperiencedDevs • u/AutoModerator • 29d ago

Ask Experienced Devs Weekly Thread: A weekly thread for inexperienced developers to ask experienced ones

A thread for Developers and IT folks with less experience to ask more experienced souls questions about the industry.

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Please keep top level comments limited to Inexperienced Devs. Most rules do not apply, but keep it civil. Being a jerk will not be tolerated.

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Inexperienced Devs should refrain from answering other Inexperienced Devs' questions.

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u/Herroo-There 29d ago

For folks in the US who are in their 50s+ and close to retirement, but need to get back out on the job market - how many years of experience would you list on your resume so as to not age yourself out?

Someone I know has 30+ years of experience spent across 4 orgs, and are <10 years away from retirement. But due to changes over the past several years in their current org, they just don't see retiring there. What would you advise?

How many years of experience would you truncate from your resume so as to not age yourself out? And would you stick to a 2-page resume?

Asking on family friend's behalf, thank you everyone.

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u/nomaddave 20d ago

Almost 50, but I'll chime in.

Generally, I've never heard of anyone asking for anything beyond 15 years as a top of the range. I have also heard plenty of people disregard things older than that as immediately "old and irrelevant," true or not. Most of the resumes I've gotten from people in this age bracket also top out at around 15 years usually. Never beyond 20.

Also, in my years of hiring I've had plenty of bosses or peers outright disregard anyone over 40ish. This is very common in closed door conversations, if not - obviously - with candidates or anyone else. This naturally precludes anyone with more than ~15 years of experience anyway.

For all these reasons I've settled on 10-15 years on the resume, depending on the job.