I’m a software engineer that jumped into management and I got to make the hiring decisions and I lived your problem from the other side of the road. The problem is not about being old, it’s about salary.

The language or framework shifts levels out the playing field between veterans and young engineers and when the vet is twice as expensive as the young…. The decision to hire the veteran gets harder and harder .

My counsel it’s to start as a software developer, but to jump to another segment midway, like consulting, managing, project managing, teaching or other. I don’t believe software developer it’s a career for life.