A recent study from North Carolina State University has finally revealed an unconventional truth for a youth obsessed industry- Computer programmers actually gets better with age.
The results from this study will surely spread light into the dark corners of tech companies, especially start-ups, who had a general notion of favoring the youth for employment.
“The older developers seemed to know more than the younger developers did,” says Emerson Murphy-Hill, co-author of the study. “That runs contrary to what the popular expectation is.”
“Particularly traits like vocabulary, knowledge of history and life experience — skills key to programming — improve with time. But programming knowledge, too, can be maintained at a high level into a person’s 50s and 60s,” he continued.
However the present conditions at start-ups and tech firms seem hard to change. Tech hiring is not just about the skills and experience now, these companies always look for a breed of programmers, who are free from responsibilities, family and don’t have high salary expectations. Unfortunately, the seasoned programmers don’t fit into any of those categories.
The results from this study will surely spread light into the dark corners of tech companies, especially start-ups, who had a general notion of favoring the youth for employment.
“The older developers seemed to know more than the younger developers did,” says Emerson Murphy-Hill, co-author of the study. “That runs contrary to what the popular expectation is.”
“Particularly traits like vocabulary, knowledge of history and life experience — skills key to programming — improve with time. But programming knowledge, too, can be maintained at a high level into a person’s 50s and 60s,” he continued.
However the present conditions at start-ups and tech firms seem hard to change. Tech hiring is not just about the skills and experience now, these companies always look for a breed of programmers, who are free from responsibilities, family and don’t have high salary expectations. Unfortunately, the seasoned programmers don’t fit into any of those categories.