Ageism

No doubt, at least in part because of my Hire Seniors service, many people tell me that employers are discriminating against them because of their age. Ironically, while some claim it is because they are too young, the majority feel that it is because they are too old. Here's my advice:

As I will discuss in next week's article, it is important to read job descriptions carefully. If an employer is looking to hire someone with "a minimum of 2 years' experience," they are not looking to hire someone with 15 years' experience - or more. By the same token, if they want someone with "at least 15 years' experience," they don't want someone looking for their second "real job." Don't apply for jobs for which you are over- or under-qualified. If it is a judgement call, apply and let the employer decide. You have nothing to lose.

It is human nature to believe that rejection is the result of discrimination. Everyone's default excuse for why they did not get the job offer is because of their minority status. It is easy to blame discrimination. It is difficult to contemplate the fact that someone could be a better candidate than you, more knowledgeable, more experienced, more accomplished or, simply, a better interviewee. We never like to blame ourselves when things go wrong.

The problem is, that if you default to discrimination, so to speak, you will miss the opportunity to improve. There may be perfectly legitimate reasons why you did not get the job offer. Perhaps you lack some qualifications (which brings me back to the importance of reading the job description carefully) or you simply do not interview well. You can't improve unless you acknowledge your deficiencies and do what you can to eliminate them.

But let's assume that you are correct and you are being discriminated against because you are "old." What does that mean?

Appearance and deportment matter. No one wants to hire their grandparent. I had a woman come to my office who had told me she needed help interviewing. She arrived carrying shopping bags in each hand. She looked like a grandmother. She was a grandmother. When I told her that the bags gave the impression that she was not just "old" but "elderly," she responded by telling me that she needed everything in the bags. Of course, she didn't. At least she didn't need everything in the bags at a job interview. I finally convinced her, after taking inventory of the bags' contents, that she could do without most of what she was carrying. She relented and, at the next interview, bagless except for a purse, she did very well.

No one wants to hire someone who gives the appearance of being frail. Maturity is good. Frailty is not. Having an older employee on staff can be a great asset as it can send the message, to prospective and current clients, that the company is staid, dependable, and respectable, not the message a young person covered in tattoos is likely to relay.

There is, however, a danger of an older candidate being seen as a threat. It is only natural for someone who is interviewing a candidate who is more experienced than they are, and may be willing to work for a smaller salary than they are earning, to think that the candidate might take their job. The way to counter that, if it is true, is for the candidate to impress the interviewer with examples of how they have helped younger colleagues advance in their careers. They should also use that as their focus when given the opportunity to tell the interviewer about themselves.

Another concern of an employer will be that the older candidate will leave after a short amount of time, perhaps only a couple of years. The way to counter that, if it is true, is to tell the interviewer that one of the things you like about their company is that their employees stay for a long time and the company promotes from within, something that can be gleaned from the LinkedIn profiles of current employees. Telling them that that is the type of company you want to work for should relieve their concerns.

Finally, older workers should focus on the one thing younger candidates will lack: experience conquering adversity. The worse the situation the better. This will show that you can deal with problems calmly and maturely, and will not make bad situations worse.

In summary, wear your age as a badge of honor. Stand straight, be confident, and let the interviewers realize that they want your strength working for them and not their competition.

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Future Articles:

• How to Write and Read a Job Description
• Fake Job Postings
• Impressions vs Reality (Views)
• Hiring Thieves
• Ask for a Nominations