Is it true? Damn right. What can you do about it? Not much. Maybe go into business for yourself, or work in a company that doesn’t care, where your skill set is so valued that it doesn’t matter if you’re 28 or 78. I’d like to say I have the answer, but I don’t.
The only thing I can go back to is relevancy and network. As a recruiter I can’t do much to help the “not so young.” I have to give my clients what they want or they won’t hire and I won’t make money to send my kids to camp. So what should someone do if they are in their 50’s, have a skill set, and want to work. Here’s what I’d do:
1. Create a Linked-In profile, see who is on it that they know and connect. Then research the thing to death. See what other people with the same skill set are called, how they are positioning themselves. Get ideas on how to position yourself.
2. Get a damn good resume together and put together as many versions as you need to. Show it to someone like me for comments.
3. Get a website and/or blog together. Figure it out. If I can figure out how to do this, you can too. Write relevant things. At some point someone will look.
4. Put together a killer portfolio of things that you do especially if you are in the creative field.
5. Speak with everyone you know–tell them what you can do and that you are available. Ask them if they know people you can contact.
6. Volunteer if you have to. Do a marketing plan, photograph, write, set up a website for anyone who will let you.
7. Check out freelance agencies that may need people. Once you’re somewhere/anywhere, prove yourself and referrals will come.
8. And last but not least, set up your own business on the web selling something that you do well. What you may ask? I have no idea–you figure it out!
Filed under: Job Search | Tagged: ageism in hiring, executive recruiting, getting jobs
So Ellen, why is it that recruiters and clients who know that it is illegal to ask age routinely ask for your year of college graduation? It’s pretty obvious that when it’s asked very early in the process it isn’t being used to verify credentials, it’s a proxy for age. I’ve (politely) refused to answer it by asking why the year I graduated is relevant. it’s not on my resume nor my linked in profile.
Having done a fair amount of interviewing IMO just as companies are risking becoming irrelevant by not embracing new media and communications (another post of yours about texting vs calling)…. the employers who will win the “talent wars” will be the ones that don’t ask about the year of graduation because they are smart enough to know that it doesn’t matter. They are out there, and I have interviewed with many of them – and they don’t really care what year I graduated, just what I can do for them today.
Some companies ask that question as a way to descriminate–you should stay away from those companies. No matter if you can do the job, it wouldn’t be a good place for you to work. And recruiters work for companies not candidates. If they are a good recruiter they know what kind of skill set works within a company and that includes how that person fits in. Sometimes it’s not so much an age thing, but a style and personality. I know many people in the 50’s and early 60’s that are youthful and knowledgeable and may fit into a company filled with the under 30 crowd. I know just as many who wouldn’t.
Also consider that some recruiters/companies ask that question as way to determine if you had other jobs in-between your graduation date and your first listed job. Sometimes people do not account for that and companies may have a policy that they want all jobs listed, whether relevant or not.
Age discrimination shows itself even in Government employment. For example, if you try to become an educator at 50 or 60, they will hire 20 year olds instead. Hiring someone older can save the educational system a lot of money since they probably won’t have 30 years in any system to collect the generous retirement benefits. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no way to prove age discrimination in these cases. It’s every discouraging.