Repost: Thoughts from a headhunter

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What was seen on the jellyfish page – take a look; it’s not about the chemical industry. But there are similar aspects in terms of occupations. For positions in Nanjing, I recommended a candidate from company S； Graduated with a master’s degree in 1999; 10 years of professional experience, with 4 different jobs throughout that time ； At first, he worked at a large state-owned enterprise, Company Z. Today, this company is the largest R&D center in Nanjing, but back then it was just an ordinary company that wasn’t highly regarded. He worked there for 2 years before leaving to join a small joint-venture company. Although this company had foreign investment behind it, its product range was limited and its investment in R&D was insufficient; finding this unsatisfactory, he left again. This time, having learned from his experiences, he went to a relatively larger domestic company, but it was still far inferior to his first company. He worked there for over 3 years, and when an opportunity arose at Company S, he left once more ； S is a South Korean company; it’s quite good. His 3-year contract has now expired, and he is facing unemployment ； Looking back at his 10-year career in 2133, the last 6 years were relatively stable; however, he worked on low-level software during the first and third periods of his career, and on high-level software during the second and fourth periods ； Although it involves writing code, there are actually significant differences ； He is not proficient in either the lower layers or the upper layers ； Has always been at the Senior Engineer level ； Those in the software industry usually stop writing code after 5 or 6 years and gradually move on to technical management roles, but he, at nearly 40 years old, is still looking for jobs as an engineer ； I didn’t dare ask about his family, but I could sense his sadness ； When the Line Manager asked about his age, I highly recommended him in the hope of securing an interview opportunity for him ； But the other person said helplessly that he is much older than me. . . . One sentence left me speechless; I couldn’t push any further. That sentence contained too many doubts about him – doubts regarding his coding skills, his ability to integrate into this young team, and also his salary. His salary of 100,000 is unbelievable; he’s a master’s graduate born in 1999 ； For Huawei, it would cost over 600,000; for ZTE, it’s at least 400,000. . . . Life is truly short. Look at his 10 years: if he had stayed at his first company, even if he didn’t hold a high position now, he could at least retire in peace and work on designing plans – why go through the hassle of coding every day? . . If I could go straight to the fourth company, I should be living a comfortable life by now; an annual salary of 400,000 wouldn’t be a problem either ； It’s a pity; suddenly I realized that the word “opportunity” is truly fascinating. . . After the age of 40, men have few opportunities in their careers, unless it’s for senior positions; but these roles are also becoming increasingly reserved for younger people ； As for women, they are even more pitiful; at 35, they basically have no chances left ；