After working as a programmer until 30, you finally struggled from being a code slave to a white-collar worker, but you can no longer keep going, and you constantly face the danger of unemployment. Thirty is an age that a programmer cannot afford to be hurt. Tomorrow, where should you go?

I. The 30-Year-Old Phenomenon

In officialdom, there was once a "59-year-old phenomenon": officials would desperately grab as much as they could at age 59. Obviously, power expires when it is no longer in office; if they don't grab now, they will retire and never have the chance again.

In programmer circles, there is also a 30-year-old phenomenon. Of course, if you have an iron rice bowl, for example in a state-owned enterprise or a government agency, then you cannot understand the feelings of the working people at the bottom. At the same time, congratulations on becoming a member of the system; you can work without worry until retirement.

Everyone understands the 30-year-old phenomenon, but it is not easy to give it a definition. Let me list a few manifestations, and perhaps you will feel a sense of resonance.

Facing a career bottleneck: you can no longer write code, and moving up is difficult.

Your salary is relatively high, but overtime decreases; the waves behind chase the waves ahead, and you face the pressure of unemployment; the pressure of life increases sharply, and you dare not change jobs.

Restricting programmer recruitment to ages under 30 has become an unspoken rule in the industry, making job-hopping difficult.

The 30-year-old phenomenon and the 59-year-old phenomenon seem unrelated, but in fact they come from the same reason: the depreciation of value. An official in office is like an emperor; once retired, he becomes a common citizen, and depreciation is natural. The same is true for programmers. With the so-called "at thirty, one is established," once you reach around 30, because you face marriage and having children, on the one hand you need a high salary to support your family, and on the other hand you can no longer devote yourself wholeheartedly to work as before, so your cost-effectiveness drops sharply. At the same time, a large number of cheap newcomers pour in, and they often use the latest technology, so the older generation of programmers can only gradually stand aside.

II. Irreplaceability

The emergence of the 30-year-old phenomenon can only be attributed to programmers themselves.

Of course, we could also analyze it from the perspectives of industry, society, government, and institutions, and find shortcomings. These analyses may not be unreasonable, but they are certainly useless, because we cannot change them. As the saying goes, "If life is bitter, you can't blame the government; if luck is bad, you can't blame society." Looking for causes externally will only make us full of complaints and feel all day that we were born at the wrong time, unbearably depressed.

Look for causes in yourself and try asking yourself a few questions: "Why has my cost-effectiveness dropped? Why should the boss hire me and pay me a high salary? What determines a person's value?"

You might list a very long list of answers, but I think they can all be condensed into one sentence: "A person's value is determined by his irreplaceability." Irreplaceability can be understood as the cost your boss would have to pay to replace you.

Because your replaceability is high, your cost-effectiveness drops. Conversely, because your irreplaceability is high, the boss will pay you a high salary. Isn't that so?

There is a short story:

When a technician retired, he advised his apprentice: "Talk less, do more."

Ten years later, the apprentice also became a technician. He found his master and said with a bitter face: "Master, I have always followed your teaching, only burying myself in hard work, but those with worse skills than me have all been promoted and gotten raises. I am still earning my old salary."

The master thought for a while and said: "Take a leave. If a lamp is always on, then nobody will notice it..."

The apprentice suddenly understood. He indeed took a week of leave. When he returned to work, the factory director found him and said he would give him a raise. It turned out that during his leave, the factory director discovered that the factory could no longer do without him.

The apprentice was very happy. From then on, he occasionally took a few days of leave, and each time after taking leave, the factory director gave him a raise. One day, after taking leave, the apprentice was about to go to work, but the factory director told him: "You don't need to come to work anymore."

The apprentice went to the master in distress. The master said: "I hadn't finished what I said that day. A lamp can go out occasionally once, but if it always goes out, the situation becomes different, because nobody needs a lamp that is sometimes on and sometimes off."

In the story, because the apprentice was irreplaceable, the factory director gave him a raise; later, because another lamp lit up, he was replaced. The factory director no longer needed him, so he was fired.

So in the final analysis, we still have to improve our irreplaceability. Otherwise, once the boss feels that he can replace you at a lower cost, you will face the danger of unemployment.

III. Where Is the Way Out?

So when a programmer reaches 30, how can he improve his irreplaceability? Do we intend to be programmers for life? May I ask where the road is?

As someone who has been through it, a senior programmer, I think there are several directions to choose from:

(1) Become a Technical Guru

Actually, there is nothing wrong with being a programmer all your life. The important thing is that you must become an irreplaceable programmer—that is, you must become a technical guru who can solve problems that ordinary programmers cannot. There are two versions of the technical guru:

First, the programmer enhanced version. You are still a programmer, but you are a very impressive programmer. With years of accumulation, you are no ordinary person in either breadth or depth of knowledge. From assembly to Java, you are proficient in everything. You care about data structures and algorithms, have unique insights into system optimization, and know design patterns like the back of your hand. You also have a complete toolbox and your own specialized class library. In fact, the enhanced programmer has very unique value; unfortunately, it is rarely seen in reality, because for any company, talent is always scarce. The boss has sharp eyes—how could he turn a blind eye to a technical master like you? Before you even become a true guru, you will have been appointed as a system architect, project manager, or an even higher position. Therefore, it is often impossible for you to keep your own small plot and leisurely be a guru yourself.

Second, the programmer upgraded version. Although you are still a programmer at heart, your position has been upgraded: you become a system analyst or system architect. This is a very natural and realistic choice. There is no chasm between a programmer and a system analyst or architect; it is only one step away, and you can drive from a rugged mountain road onto a wide highway. But this step is not easy; it takes years of continuous thinking, learning, and practice to transform from a chrysalis into a butterfly.

(2) Become an Industry Expert

Industry experts are also an indispensable role in a company. They know the company's industry knowledge, business processes, and details like the back of their hand. Industry experts are generally not supermen recruited externally who only understand business but not technology; they often grow up from programmers after years of struggling through the trenches. As an industry expert who grew up from a programmer, you often also shoulder the role of system analyst. In a company, there are many people who have a general understanding of business, but there are often very few at the expert level. For the next 30 years of your career, you must become an expert.

(3) Move Toward Management

The first step toward management is generally being appointed as a project manager. In most IT companies, project manager is the lowest-level management position. You may not feel much excitement, and your salary may not increase much, but this transition can be said to be one of the most important transitions in your life.

Don't underestimate the project manager. Some say that the project manager is an ancient profession. Others say that the 21st century is the century of project management. In fact, project management has existed since humans became organized. The project manager in the past might have been a tribal chief; a collective hunt or an attack on a city and its fortifications could all be regarded as a project. The knowledge of project management can be applied to every aspect of our lives, from the implementation of a moon landing plan to the organization of a family gathering—none can do without project management.

An excellent project manager needs not only high IQ but also high EQ. It is no exaggeration to say that if you can be competent at project management, you can be competent for all management positions at the tactical level, and even the quality of your family life will be raised to a new level.

However, becoming an excellent project manager is not an easy thing. It can be said to require some talent. Some people learn it without a teacher, while others can never learn it. Programmers are a high-IQ group, but they often lack in EQ. This determines that only a few programmers can grow into project managers, and those who become excellent project managers are very rare.

If you feel that none of these directions are suitable, then you still have a few ways out:

One is to muddle along steadily.

Speak honest words, be an honest person, do honest things, and take an honest salary. Such employees are also very much needed by companies, and generally will not encounter the fate of being fired. The second is to switch careers or start a business.

Because this industry no longer suits you, and there is no greater prospect for development, you can only switch careers. If you can switch careers, it is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps in a new environment, you can stimulate stronger energy and create a career. As for starting a business, it is even more challenging. I suggest that before you start a business, you have already become an excellent project manager. Just think: if you cannot get a project moving, how can you get a company moving?

Source: OSChina