Ageism sucks. And I see older folks constantly subjected to it. But let's be clear, ageism isn't *just* towards older people. A common occurance is older people trying to pull rank on younger developers, even when the younger devs are clearly more qualified. It seems the more meaningful distinction is not age or years of experience - but whether or not you care about your work, and have continued to refine your taste and explore new ideas. Maybe we need a new metric: "Years of new experience".

Am I overreacting or is this a completely reasonable thing to be anxious about? My company has been doing surprise layoffs with no heads-up whatsoever. You'll notice someone is just gone from Slack one day, and leadership stays completely quiet until gossip starts spreading. It's been really hard to focus, knowing anyone could be next.

I'm job searching again due to being laid off after a long tenure. I have 8 YOE and a modern stack, but I never finished my degree. Recruiters are reaching out, but my cold applications get zero traction. I'm seeing that CS degrees are required everywhere now. Is finishing my degree a smart move to help me get past these automated filters, or is it a waste of time at my level?

In my ten years as a software engineer, I’ve discovered a bizarre trend that smooth projects often get less recognition than chaotic ones. It may be due to a perception that it must have been an easy project if it was so smooth. On the other hand, projects with multiple day follows, dramatic reverts, etc get a ton more visibility. Have others seen this on their organization?

I keep blowing past my own estimates, and I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to get more accurate. Every time I think I've scoped something out, the actual work takes way longer than I planned. What's helped you close the gap between what you think something will take and how long it really ends up being?