I'm 50. Is that a handicap on getting a job?

[#1]

Hi, I'm Manuel.

I started to work as a developer 22 years ago. As I get advance in promotions my duties were others than coding. I learn a lot from the managerial and the business side, though.

Now that I lost my job by due to a company's downsizing, it seems I have to start it over again, but there is a different coding world than the one I use to know. Now everthing is frameworks. My time we start coding from scratch. I start some courses of Spring, Laravel and Angular frameworks. I got into the Python language and i'ts seems very powerful yet simple. I even have some few codes on GitHub.

I tried another communities also, but none seems to be interested on hiring me. Maybe my age could be a factor.

Are there some advices to follow in order to improve the chances of getting a job for people of my age? 

[#2]

I've done over 500 jobs here and have never encountered outright ageism. On the contrary, my clients value my maturity, my experience and my work ethic. 

[#3]

You are Right.

[#4]

Ain't the case here. Very happy for you....

[#5]

There probably hasn't been a worse time to look for work on Upwork; scammers are rampant, and good clients have left.

It's certainly not an issue of age in your case, and for what it's worth, I would hire you if I were a client!

[#6]

Hi Manuel!

Age is definitely not a factor but with your experience, its a plus point.

Frameworks don't make things more difficult, instead they make it easy and manageable. IT field do require you to remain updated with the latest trends and technologies but latest ones are making things easier, not difficult. There is a lot of demand for coding, both with and without frameworks. Only thing that will be a little difficult is getting your first clients as you will be competing against other freelancers who have hundreds of feedbacks on their profile with badges. But once you get your first clients, you will be well on your way. So keep improving your profile, proposals, keep applying to jobs, and you will be start getting hired soon.

Good luck on your future endeavours

[#7]

Of course not! You're a freelancer. You're only limit is the sky!

[#8]

Age should be no problem if you deliver good quality work. I would hire you for your experience not because you were born in the 2000s.

Blessings!

[#9]

I don't think that age is a factor, but if your skills aren't up to date, that's more of a problem. You should also know that Upwork is very competitive and most people have to send a lot of proposals - over a period of months, sometimes - before they get a job. If you don't really want to be a freelancer and run your own business, then there's no point in going down this path, because it's going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

[#10]

I am having the same "Ageism" problem. I'm a comedy writer and have amany produced television shows to my credit. I am on the "EXPERT" level. I don't even get a "Thank you for replying" notice. Trying to get help from Upwork is VERY frustrating. I feel your pain Manuel.....

[#11]

Jack and Manuel,

The peanut gallery has spoken. It ain't your age.

I freelanced for 25 years before joining Upwork and those 25 years pay off every day. There are many nuanced things to learn about freelancing -- how to write the perfect proposal letter. How to present yourself. All the subtle, unspoken pratfalls that punish you and nobody even tells you why. 

I'm pretty close to you guys in age, and half my proposals get positive responses. Of course, my proposal letters don't mention my impending decrepitude ... or my receeding hairline ... you get the idea ... but the only thing stopping me thesee days is me. 

I've done some humor writing, not that Steve Martin ever noticed, but I am certainly in the "expert" class. If anything, this makes us (yes, you guys included) immune to a few things, mostly price gouging. The advantage of expert status is ignoring the minnows and concentrating on the sailfish.

However, there are dynamics beyond our control that nibble away at opportunities. AI is like putting arsenic in the drinking water. COVID, of course, flooded the freelancer pool many times over. Upwork, in general, is a blessing, but this is where the minnows feed, so if you're focused primarily on Upwork for opportunities, you have over-invested. The big game is still organic. I kid you not, Speilberg is not looking on Upwork for scriptwriters. 

So, ignore those aging pains and revamp your style. If you need proposal help, just let me know. 

[#12]

On in Silicon Valley - that and being an American are not helpful.