ageism Archives

Ageism and Your Job Search: How Older Workers Can Position Their Resume

December 15, 2021 by Sharlyn Lauby 11 Comments

sign replace fear of the unknown with curiosity to fight ageism

I recently saw a discussion on LinkedIn about older workers, job search, and ageism. Sadly, I wish I could say that ageism doesn’t exist. I believe it does. But as I’ve said before, I also think there are times when we might not be doing ourselves any favors and, as a result we may be contributing to our own ageism.

Back to the discussion on LinkedIn. A colleague of mine, Lisa Rangel, weighed in on this conversation with a similar comment about contributing to your own ageism and that the key was making sure your resume was positioned for success. So, I asked Lisa if she would be willing to share her expertise here and thankfully, she said yes.

Lisa Rangel is an expert resume writer and job landing consultant with Chameleon Resumes in New York City. In her role, she works with clients to help them successfully navigate the job search process. She’s been featured in CNBC, TIME, Forbes, and Fox News talking about how to position your resume for success and get hired.

Lisa, thanks so much for being here. In terms of the hiring process, can you give us an example where a candidate might be contributing to their own ageism?

[Rangel] Where candidates may be contributing to their own ageism is labeling behaviors as ageism that are better categorized as ‘outdated’. This is important to distinguish since we can’t change how old we are, but we can change an outdated behavior.

For example, some senior-level candidates don’t have a LinkedIn profile, or if they do, they don’t put value in keeping it updated or using the platform. This is a mistake. Companies will look up a candidate on LinkedIn after seeing their resume. If the profile doesn’t exist or isn’t updated, it sends a subliminal message to the hiring manager that the candidate is not up to date on personal marketing practices. So what else may they not be updated on?

Additionally, if the role being pursued involves attracting top talent, or developing sales, or courting suppliers, and one’s LinkedIn profile or network isn’t current, the prospective employer can doubt how effective that candidate will be in their job if they are still doing their work in a traditional manner only. The prospective employer may also be concerned how this job seeker will gain credibility with their new team if their personal marketing is outdated.

In addition to LinkedIn, another place that a candidate might contribute to their own ageism is in their resume. For example, AARP has said that individuals should consider only sharing the last 15 years of work experience on their resume. Are there any tips that you would give someone who has a lot of work experience and is trying to update their resume?

[Rangel] One main way to reduce or eliminate ageism from a resume is to focus on recent, relevant achievements only. Do not emphasize seniority. Don’t start your resume (or LinkedIn profile) with something like ‘senior professional with over 30 years of experience’. That’s called leading with the chin. You can’t lead with age and then be upset if a hiring manager (wrongly) factors in the age that you led with in your documents. Remember your age or seniority doesn’t qualify you for a job—your recent, relevant achievements and skills do, so focus on leading with those points.

Technology is regularly mentioned in the same sentence as ageism, as in “older people don’t know how to use it well.” If you could offer one suggestion to older candidates when it comes to tech and their job search, what would it be?

[Rangel] Whatever technology you need that you are most afraid of learning, jump on a class or hire someone to help you learn it (or both!). Don’t hide behind the fear or discomfort—face it head on and commit to learning it! This is unfair, but it’s true: there is a stereotype that older employees aren’t tech savvy. And while some of us in the senior demographic may embody this stereotype, not all of us do.

No matter what, the key is to do all you can to buck the stereotypical assumption and educate yourself on what you need to stay relevant.

During the pandemic, many people have decided to retire early. Honestly, I could see them trying to “unretire” at some point. Is there a way to position unretirement without getting too deep into the age conversation?

[Rangel] I agree that many who retired during the pandemic could start to resurface to re-enter the workforce in the next couple of years. I would suggest focusing on the ‘gap’ the way one would focus on other types of gaps: what did you do during the gap? (i.e., education, hobbies, personal projects, part-time work, volunteer experiences, etc.). Employers are looking for intrinsically motivated people so demonstrate how you did this in your activities during the retirement gap.

Last question. I’m a big fan of utilizing the services of career coaches and resume writing professionals. How can someone who provides these services help an older candidate right now?

[Rangel] Resume writers and career coaches can help the senior job seeker focus on their recent, relevant achievements and promote themselves in this direct, factual manner. Many senior-level job seekers have been brought up to promote loyalty and seniority, as we are a product of our parents from The Greatest Generation who valued these traits.

The problem is these traits aren’t valued as much by today’s hiring manager as much as nimble accomplishment and effective pivoting in chaos are valued. So, the writer/coach can help the senior level job seeker reposition their incredible backgrounds in the way hiring managers evaluate candidate backgrounds’ today, so the interviews start rolling in again.

I want to extend a huge thanks to Lisa for sharing her knowledge with us. If you want to learn more from Lisa – and I know you do – check out her websites Chameleon Resumes and the Job Landing Academy.

Lisa made a valuable point at the beginning of our conversation together about “ageism” versus “outdated”. No one is saying that we have to act like we’re in our 20s again. But we do need to show that we are able to be successful in today’s modern business world. If you are actively looking for a new job or just considering getting back into the workforce, think about how you would do that and if there are any gaps you need to address.

How to Handle Ageism In the Workplace

November 20, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby 1 Comment

workplace sign against ageism showing a place for all people

Last year marked the 50^th anniversary of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which prohibits discrimination against individuals 40 years of age or older. In a survey on ageism from AARP, nearly 2 out of 3 workers have experienced some form of age discrimination or age bias. This is a huge issue for organizations and employees.

I recently received this note from an HR Bartender reader. Given the statistics above, I think it’s a very appropriate conversation for over here as well. The story is a bit long, but one that might resonate with many.

I’m looking for some advice and came upon your site. I’m asking for a friend (honestly). My friend is 62 years old, not computer savvy, and barely knows how to use email. EVERYONE knows this. We are nurses, working at a small surgery center with less than 50 employees.

Our company does ALL pay increases and raises at the same time. Strange, I had never heard of that. Anyway, our boss emailed everyone a self-evaluation performance appraisal form to complete and return.

My friend didn’t get our boss’ email because she has no access to email here at work. Thankfully, someone printed out the form and gave it to her, telling her it was the self-evaluation for her review and pay raise. However, she didn’t submit her self-evaluation. Later, she asked our boss about the status of her review and pay increase. Our boss informed her that all the reviews were completed and since she didn’t return her self-evaluation, she doesn’t get a review or a raise. ‘Maybe next year’ they told her.

Everyone else I know got their review and a pay increase.

Anyway, my friend is afraid to ask anybody about it, because she thinks she will get fired. Personally, I don’t know how this type of action can be legal. I also feel she may be discriminated against due to her age. Can you help or direct me to the proper place? Thanks in advance.

I know there’s a lot going on in this story. To help us understand more, I asked employment attorney and friend Kate Bischoff to share her knowledge. Kate is the founder of tHRive Law & Consulting LLC. She’s shared her experience on HR Bartender several times. One of my favorites are her comments in this post about “Reporting Workplace Bullying to HR”.

Please don’t forget that Kate’s comments should not be construed as legal advice or as pertaining to any specific factual situations. If you have specific detailed questions, they should be addressed directly with your friendly neighborhood attorney.

Kate, let’s start our ageism discussion with a tough question. Do organizations have an obligation to provide employees with email and computer access? I understand that a lot of people have smart phones and internet access for their personal lives, but is it a professional requirement?

[Bischoff] No legal requirement, but if they are going to conduct business over email, like completing a self-review to determine raises, fairness would dictate that the employer provide access. Giving access is not hard, so it saddens me that this person couldn’t access it.

This also adds fuel to a discrimination fire. If there was other evidence of possible discrimination and the employer didn’t give access, a jury might very well find that the employer was setting the employee up for failure.

Another tough question. If an employee isn’t tech savvy, does the company have an obligation to train them?

[Bischoff] Again, sadly, no. While many professions don’t require computer savviness, this is quickly changing with employers and they are expecting employees to come with those skills. The lack of skills is likely to disqualify someone from a position.

Follow-up question. Obviously, if using technology is part of the job, that’s a different story. Are activities like completing a self-evaluation or using employee self-service technology considered part of the job?

[Bischoff] Absolutely. If these activities were completed in furtherance of the job, they are part of it.

Regardless of the age of the employee, if an employee doesn’t complete the self-evaluation and that’s part of the overall performance management process, can companies respond by not doing the appraisal or awarding a pay increase?

[Bischoff] Yes, and it appears this employer is going to get away with it. We know that employees want feedback (positive and negative) and pay increases. If this happened to one employee, it likely has happened to another.

The lack of fairness is going to breed morale and employee engagement problems, especially as employees start talking about it. And, employees have every right to talk about their situation at work under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and many state laws.

Our conversation so far hasn’t focused specifically on the age of the employee. Let’s switch gears a little from ageism. What is age discrimination? And how does it differ from ageism?

[Bischoff] Age discrimination is the unlawful use of age in employment decisions. Under the ADEA, if an employer doesn’t hire someone because they are too old, then they are discriminating. The same is true if the employer has different terms and conditions of employment based on the age of the employee. Paying an older employee less than young employees would be discrimination.

Ageism is prejudice against someone because of their age and is often displayed by comments like ‘hey, geezer’ or ‘digital native’. Ageism is often evidence of age discrimination like racism is often evidence of race discrimination.

Last question. I’m sure we don’t know the entire situation. And because the organization has less than 50 employees, there’s a chance they don’t have an HR department. What can employees do to express their concerns?

[Bischoff] Employees must speak to a manager. Managers are ‘the organization’ even if there is an HR department. They have a legal responsibility as ‘the organization’ to prevent and stop age discrimination in the workplace. If they fail to do so, ‘the organization’ can be on the hook for discrimination.

If speaking to a manager doesn’t work, then employees could speak with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or a state agency that deals with discrimination laws.

I want to extend a HUGE thanks to Kate for sharing her knowledge with us. Please be sure to check out Kate’s blog for more insights.

According to AARP, older workers are the fastest-growing segment of the workforce. This is important to organizations who are looking for good workers. It makes absolutely no sense to treat older workers badly or discriminate. Older workers can provide value to the company’s bottom-line.

I can’t help but end today’s post with a message of tough love to older workers. Technology isn’t going away anytime soon. If you’re one of those people who is thinking about staying in the workforce as long as possible, then learning a bit more about technology is important. You don’t have to become a computer programmer to be proficient. Just something to think about…

How to Deal With Ageism During Job Interviews

October 30, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby 5 Comments

you be you sign confidence is in you ageism during interviews

I ran across this article on Harvard Business Review titled, “5 Ways to Respond to Ageism in a Job Interview”. It’s worth checking out.

It’s unfortunate but ageism exists. And there’s a real debate going on right now whether ageism is being perpetuated by organizations or individuals. Meaning, are companies really the villains when it comes to pointing out that age is a factor in employment decisions OR are individuals the victim for not keeping up with the times. Personally, I think there’s a bit of both happening in the workplace today.

Organizations need to realize that older workers bring value. Especially when businesses are really struggling to find talent. Meanwhile, job seekers and employees need to realize the world is changing. Technology is a big part of our personal and professional lives. As individuals, we need to evolve and stay current.

Back to the Harvard Business Review piece. I thought the article had some great interview tips for individuals who are trying to find a new opportunity in today’s job market. Regardless of age. Here are five from the article:

Demonstrate energy, enthusiasm, and curiosity.
Adopt a consulting mindset, meaning listen more than talk.
Express a willingness to work in a non-hierarchical organization.
Connect with the recruiter and hiring manager.
Show the ability to work with a diverse group of people.

But I have to tell you, IMHO, the author blew it big time with the suggestion to “look the part”. [Warning: Rant Ahead]

No, the author didn’t suggest that we all start wearing hoodies and Allbirds. That being said, I felt even adding comments about department store styling services, buying some modern jewelry, and getting new eyeglasses were out of place. I thought the author negated all of the useful tips they shared by saying, “It’s not enough to showcase your knowledge, skills, and abilities. You have to look like you’ll fit in.”

As a human resources professional, here’s my two-cents regarding interview attire: You should be who you are. That includes wearing what you want. Wear what makes you happy, comfortable, and productive. My only advice for individuals about their clothing is wear what fits, make sure it’s clean, and don’t offend anyone. If you want to buy some new clothes because you’re looking for a new job, go right ahead. But do it for you. Not because some company – or writer – says you need to. [Rant Over. Thanks for listening.]

I recently learned about a new term called “covering”. This is when organizations hire individuals because on the surface, they appear to bring diversity, but once the person starts, the new employee feels the need to “cover up” who they are to fit in. Take that principle to the interviewing process. If you have to cover up who you are to get a job, how happy are you really going to be once you get hired? I’m not just talking about clothes.

Looking for a new opportunity is a long and sometimes stressful process. Do your homework on the companies you’re interviewing with. Make sure you feel you can be yourself there. Because that’s where you’ll be happiest and most productive.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the streets of Denver, CO