I am 41 years old, with 10 years of industry experience. I was laid off three months ago, and am having severe difficulty getting even another interview, much less another job. I've been reading a couple posts on this board, and some have indicated that programmers are "aged out" of the industry as early as 32 years old. What are the chances of me being able to get a job in this industry? And where else can I get employment if I am being foisted out?

I am skilled in C/C++/C#, Python and Lua. I have some web knowledge (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) but don't know what to learn from there (outside of maybe JQuery) as there are too many "technologies" to count. I know a little SQL - I'm certain I can master that in no time if I can get a paycheck from it. I learned Java before it became popular but never used it because it wasn't popular when I learned it, so my knowledge is likely outdated by now. Is there any industry that can take advantage of my skills - and overlook the fact that I'm re-entering as an effective Junior at my "advanced" age?

P.S. is there a way to search these forums? I hope I haven't posted a question recently asked...

The bit about 32 years old, I am not sure it is true, specially in the last decade, since game development industry matured. I had and currently am working with teams where average age is in mid 30's, and quite few people are 40's and even 50's. I am quite bit older they you, and last year I started looking for new job, and I did not come across issues with my age. On my current team, I am the second to oldest person, and the oldest is I think 56.

Getting a job requires many resumes send, networking, followup, etc, etc,etc. Any time I was looking for the job, when I lost my previous one, I treat that as full time job. It is allot of work to scower job boards/web, create personalized and per job cover letter, keep track of who you send, any contact info, and then followup on previous. And then you repeat that next day, thus doing this 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (Full time job). Good luck.

Ravyne just hit the ones I was thinking.

Unfortunately yes, age discrimination is rampant. Some people interpret "culture fit" as "young white male", instead of "intelligent, creative, and passionate".

The good news for you is that studios with age discrimination also tend to be terrible places to work, with late hours, hard crunch, and poor work-life balance. Working at places where everyone has a spouse and children tends to mellow out the worst offenders, and encourage people to think about things like time off, insurance plans, retirement plans, and other benefits.

USE YOUR CONTACTS. You've got 10 years in the industry so you know people. Hopefully you've taken the opportunity to grab email addresses, facebook contacts, linkedin recommendations, and more. Spam your facebook account, google groups, linkdin account, and any social networks where your former co-workers work.

The number I've heard from recruiters, business web sites, and books like "What Color Is Your Parachute?" is that one hour of working your social network is worth about ten hours of spamming resumes and blind applications. That doesn't mean don't send in applications that way, but when you have a choice between the two prefer the more effective one. You have a much higher chance of finding a job. For me with a recent job change and far more than a decade of experience, I made a single facebook post with "Hey former game co-workers, I need a new job!" and within the day I had several interviews lined up. This works best if you live in a game development hub.

Make your resume specific for the individual job, and let them know you are flexible. If they're looking for a senior software engineer, adjust it for that. If they're looking for a team lead, adjust it for that. If they're looking for tools or gameplay, or build system, customize it.

The higher up you look, the smaller the pyramid. If you're focusing on senior positions and lead positions there will be fewer openings. Consider taking a lower job, and trimming your resume accordingly. Also, consider using recruiters.

While some places in the world have a custom of including every job you ever had in your life, other places just look for relevant stuff. Generally it is okay to let stuff drop off the end, and omit the graduation year if you want. Rename it to "relevant experience" if you wish.

Hodgman: USA - and yes, the employer class loves their veal :( Unfortunately I can't relocate due to personal reasons, so I cannot take advantage of what better civilisations have to offer.

DoctorGlow: I definitely have been working overtime sending out resumes - if a game company doesn't have my resume, it's because they've already disposed of it, not that I haven't sent it to them. Do you know what the current retention period is? I thought it was six months, but if it's three, I have to resend them all again.

Ravyne: Data mining has been risen past an art-form into a true science - you cannot keep information about yourself away from companies who want to know it anymore. If they want to know your age, they will know your age. As for your other points:

Contacts: The few contacts I have are all job-hunting themselves - they're my most direct competition.

Cover letters: I've been customizing the CVs for the job, but I can't really fake interest specifically in the company (I cannot pass falsehood convincingly in any capacity) - the best I can do is match their needs with my skills.

Being Aware: I am a very humble person, humbled further by my past difficulties getting jobs, as well as past social difficulties in general. It won't be braggadocio losing me a job.

...

Frob: They may be horrible places to work, but they still give a paycheck, and I can't be too picky as to where I work.

Contacts: Actually, I don't know many people, and those I do know got laid off the same time I did, so they're directly competing against me.

Resume: Customized for each title, if not each job. Pity I can't write a script that will output in Word so I can automate that process...

Pyramid: I'm actively steering myself away from senior positions; they usually mean leading other people, and I'm terrible at that. And boy, do the recruiters know who I am...

Thank you for your input.

Mr. Sloper: To be blunt, I'm interested in getting a paycheck in an environment where I won't be immediately ostracized. I'm somewhat mercenary that way. Due to other discriminatory issues I face, I cannot really be choosy where I work.

I apologize - I accidentally mislead you.

Generally, I am ostracized from wherever I am - the games industry is one of the few places where that usually doesn't occur. Except now, it seems that ageism is becoming more relevant to my condition.

What I was hoping for was that someone who had additionally more out-of-industry experience could tell me what area of the computer programming field in general my skills would fit best in if I needed to change direction, and what other skills I would need if I chose to follow that path.

You may not be able to tell me where I should go, buy maybe you can tell me where I can go, where my skills are most wanted - and then I can choose from there.