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'm unsure how much it actually helps to list personal software projects when looking for a job. I've been a lead several times and did not receive any resume' with a link to a github/gitlab project. I will say I'm seeing requests for this in recent job searches. Anyone actually been asked about their projects?

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".

With all the layoffs and general anxiety about what's next, I’m seriously overworking myself. I’m scared that if I don’t, I’ll get let go and never find anything else in this field. If you recently went through a job search, how long did it actually take?

Is anyone else nervous about getting pushed out of tech as you age? I love software engineering and can’t imagine doing anything else, but I worry the industry won't love me back in ten or fifteen years. Is this a realistic fear, or is it just standard mid-career anxiety?