A new way employers can determine your age on job sites

[jeffreysjohnson]

This is actually pretty clever.  You don't have to give your age, but you DO have to record that date you graduated from college.  It helps employers legally skirt the age issue because they are not asking for your birthdate, but they are getting the info another way.

Should AARP champion the removal of this requirement?

Jeff Johnson

[BillH423850]

Hello Jeffrey,

I am a Professional Recruiter with 40+ years of recruiting experience. If you search for "Talent Attraction Consultant" on Bing or Google, I am the #1 organic result of over 3,000,000 results.

Oh, I am 73 and still having fun Recruiting and Career Coaching (3 published Career Search books).

My Disrupt HR speech is "Delete Recruiting From HR". Believe it or not, some companies are leaning that direction. My most recent 5 STAR reviewed book is "EXPECT SUCCESS! The Science Of The Over 50 Career Search".

May I humbly suggest that you do the same? Delete Your Job Search from HR. They are an important organization within a company - Benefits, Compensation, Culture, Employee Development, Employee Relations, HR Technology, etc. Did you notice that ALL of those functions are either Administrative or Compliance functions? When was the 1st time that you Ever saw a Compliance Officer lead any company in Sales? Short answer - Never.

Recruiting mirrors the SALES Process line by line perfectly through Employee Retention. My suggestion is to reorganize Recruiting into Operations - where they are feeling the pain.

As someone else mentioned, Managers are most interested in finding the talent to do their jobs.

Forget the "Age Problem". Become Proud of your age, experience, and skills! You deserve it! Then network your way into your next position. Posting on Job Boards and praying the right person will see your resume is frustrating. Why? Most job descriptions are poorly written. You write your resume to mirror the verbiage in the Job Description - and since the description doesn't match the job, neither does your resume. Make sense?

You got this!

.

[carolem8]

I’m 66, though didn’t graduate until 2006.  Boy are they going to be surprised when I show up.

[RossM846371]

If the information is missing the person will infer what should be there.  This is more true with HR people than with actual hiring managers who are more focused on the job at hand than in the games that the HR cretons are into.    Even so its a huge problem especially for those who have been out of the job market for a while and are trying to get back in.   HR considers them to be damaged goods.    AARP can use its lobbying prowess to help get a grip on this form of discrimination.     

[a137061p]

I've been looking for part-time proofreading work. I'm a retired English teacher and published writer. I glide through the application process until I hit the questions about when I received my degrees. This has happened three times. I suspected it as a way to get around asking about age.

[RossM846371]

If you can find the person who can say yes and reach him or her directly you have a better chance than sending in a application over the transom.    When I worked for a larger company applications sent in over the transom were tossed out regardless of the age of the applicant.   

[Capricornian57]

Here's another way, and I'm pretty sure it's not new: whitepages.com. Given your name, phone number, and address or at least location, an employer can simply look you up. Results indicate your age (I did it just now with my name and zip code). Sure, it's illegal, but how would you ever know it happened?

To my thinking, if an employer is unethical enough to discriminate on the basis of age, they're going to find a way to do it, whether with a birthdate, a graduation date, a hairdo or anything else.

[rb43447542]

I received my college degree when I was in my 30's.  Saying that, an employer would be unable to accurately know my age.  Is it inappropriate to put your birthday on your resume?  I would rather do that then go for interviews that may be declined due to my age.  Of course, that won't be the their reasoning but its a waste of both our times if age makes a differance.  Thanks

[PatrickR720159]

That is downright stupid.  Some of these idiots needs to be blistered for this.  In the back of some of these employers' heads, they seem to have an upper age limit similar to what American Idol has.  And we know that American Idol's age limit of 28 is stupid.  I know the law states that employers don't have the authority to know what year you graduated from high school.  This is another tool that employers will pull to age discriminate against you.  They know age discrimination is illegal.  The only way for you to hide it is that if you went to college again and graduated recently, it could make it harder on the employer to uncover your age.  I am really 57, but my hair makes me look more like if I am 22.  Some people our age may hit the gym as a way to shave some years off of our appreance.  

[sm5972]

Legislation is needed to remove all implications of age in hiring: 

NO video interviews (determines age, race, sex)

NO video submissions

NO electronic forms requiring dates of employment

NO more than 10 years of history required.

NO requirement of graduation dates on electronic forms 

I was able to find another engineering job at 56 after layoff and 9 months of unemployment - no severance from previous employer (most engineering companies operate this way). Although I had Younged-up the resume, there were so many electronic forms that required full dates, that there was no way to avoid them.  Complete fodder for discrimination.  AARP - there is the platform; just need some support.  

I am 57 and have a high school sophomore, college junior (so 5-6 more years of tuition) and a 61 year old pilot husband. Not working was not an option. 

[SonyaG363152]

I am curious about how anyones hair could make them look 22 if their real age is 57??

[JanP230302]

Hair makes a HUGE difference, whether it's the style of your natural hair or a beautiful wig that looks like real hair. When I wear my wig, I get so many compliments, and people (even my doctor) can't believe my true age (62). They usually guess I'm in my mid-40s. I am also blessed with incredible skin (no work done).