On the consultant glidepath, still dealing with the 30 year olds…

[OddGuy]

The recent thread on being relegated at work got me thinking, particularly the parts about being managed by a younger boss.

Looking back on my career, I see I was happiest in the early years, and started to feel mounting annoyance as I had to deal with the cohort of ambitious workers in their 30’s. Then once I reached a management peak and started to relax, I was annoyed to see those 30s workers come charging on, playing their politics, aiming at impressing my bosses so they could get their claim of the resources I enjoyed (I would specifically hear them say, “Someday when I’m sitting in your chair” or “When I get a company car like you” etc.). It was exhausting, as I’m not an inherently competitive person, and I didn’t seek out promotions - they were awarded to me to my surprise, so seeing these younger colleagues so actively and obviously claw and climb the ladder was a bit alarming.

Being RIFed at 45 was a relief. The management grind was not for me, and I was happy to let the next wave enjoy their moment in the sun. I was content to have a good package that bought me time to set up a consultancy, and I started actively planning a FIRE path that could have me comfortable at 59.5.

I’m now 58, and that goal is close. My consultancy has been a refuge for me to still practice my craft while not being drained by constant exposure to the same people and office environments. I like to say that I don’t completely avoid office politics, but instead I skim the surface of multiple examples of it, spread across my different clients.

I used to think I could conceivably keep this up far longer. I’m in a creative field, so when things mesh, it really is enjoyable. I thought I may never actually completely give up the work, but instead get pickier about which projects I accepted.

But as my clientele ages and changes and older clients are replaced by new ones, I again find myself dealing with more 30’s clients, and again the irritations rise. The younger set just seems programmed to react to older consultants with a mixture of skepticism and condescending passive aggression. And now I’m at the point where being asked to cut my rate is something I’d consider for a contemporary, but no way am I letting clients 20 years younger suggest that I’m not worth what I’m due.

It’s just amusing to have a career in which I’ve twice fled the 30’s folks.

 

[chemEguy]

I think you’re hitting on the same theme as my post which you alluded to…respect.

With my current 30 something manager I’ve now had two managers younger than me. The first was also a former engineering colleague who knew her stuff and actively built consensus. She respected the older and more experienced engineers she managed and was given respect right back. She knew how to defer and go to bat…a natural leader.

The current 30 something seems to think the position grants by decree wisdom and knowledge that exceeds the rest of us after 2 weeks in the role.

I suspect we’re seeing different sides of a similar coin.

 

[jazz4cash]

Hate it when the 30 yr old is the customer taking calls and texting constantly during a meeting and then asking you to repeat yourself because, you know, your time isn’t valuable. I walked out on a couple of those.

 

[pb4uski]

I was lucky in that I was a subject matter expert consulting in a fairly narrow niche, so the younger folks, both in the firm and clients, sought and prized my expertise because they didn't know much of anything about the subject.

My last boss was younger than me by about 10 years but also prized my expertise and also having an experienced gray-haired guy in the room for client proposals, which were often to other experienced gray-haired clients.

Since teamwork as a prized attribute at the firm, it was less cutthroat than many corporate environments.

 

[someguy]

One nice thing about being "older" in the workplace is speaking your mind directly but professionally. It's enjoyable for me to do that and I've found generally positive responses across the board in terms of job rank and age. I believe I'm often giving voice to what others are thinking but are hesitant to say for all the various typical reasons. A related version of that is warning of doing something that will be regretted in the foreseeable future and bluntly pointing that out, often times along with this will cost $x the proposed way, $2x the right way now, or $4-6x undo and redo the right way later.

Also in that vein are rates. I'll consider small discounts for larger deals, but outside of that it's "this is the rate we get". I'm not a fan of making such a consideration based on the age of the asker -- that feels awfully close to the same ageism in not giving due consideration to experienced people.